[Swan217]

Originally Posted by Karibou

However, I don't support the idea of implementing the same system in other states, because of the travel constraints it would impose. If we were to shut out all of the events in the Northeast, all of the events in CA, and all of the events in MI...well, that would put the teams who don't live in those areas in a VERY difficult situation. Teams from Nevada wouldn't be able to go to their CA events. You wouldn't see 217 at FLR, and you wouldn't see a lot of the Canadian teams outside of Canada... Somebody mentioned that MI kids aren't as exposed to the rest of the FRC world outside of MI, and I completely agree. Soon, very few MI kids will recognize names like Wildstang, MORT, Exploding Bacon, etc.

The district format has many positives from a robot perspective, yes. More matches, more robot access, more benefit to building a strong "winner" robot than a GP helper bot. But it's not a model that solves all problems, and it's not a model that works everywhere. I see it working in CA & MI, Florida maybe, and New England if you include all of the states and let outsiders "opt-in." One problem with districts is that you can't "Opt-Out." Tech Fusion was lucky because they're physically half-Ohio, but for the rest of MI teams, it would cost $11,000 to attend one competition if you didn't want to be part of MI. This puts teams in border areas like the UP at a disadvantage, because it may be easier for them to attend MN or WI regionals than MI districts. It also inconveniences border teams on the other side, that are forced to go to a regional, when there are two districts physically closer, but behind the Steel Curtain.

I think a great advantage that I had as a student in FRC is the ability to go to Midwest and Epcot and see all of the teams from different cultures that you don't see with a homogeneous population. It gives you different perspectives, seeing how different areas of the country handle the engineering challenges. I've heard more than once how some people miss how the MI teams, the "West Coast Offense" of FIRST, come into a Midwest or Pitts or FLR, kick butt, and inspire their own teams to be more "Michigan." There's also an indescribable professionalism that I see with regionals that you miss out if you're stuck behind the Steel Curtain.

I agree that some things, like the crating procedures and the all-Thursday practice, are archaic, but the main benefit I see of the district format is that it has forced the FRC to compete with it. You see that this year with Thurs Quals next week, the pilot bagging at Pitts and KC, and faster match turnaround at regionals this year, leading to more matches. I think if we maintain the current status-quo, with an "opt-in/opt-out" clause, the two competitions FRC and FiM can feed off of each other and benefit each other by forcing the other to innovate and push the envelope.