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Unread 23-06-2002, 22:24
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Join Date: May 2001
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Re: my little analogy

Posted by Chris, Coach on team #308, Walled Lake Monster, from Walled Lake Schools and TRW Automotive Electronics.

Posted on 4/5/99 8:01 AM MST


In Reply to: DEJA VU 2 posted by Joe Johnson on 4/4/99 1:07 PM MST:



I know I've created a big stir on this issue before, but I figured it's time to let everyone know where I'm coming from (I never really stated much background before).

First, let me state that Dave was correct, we had planned to go to multiple regionals this year, but having switched schools we didn't know if we would be able to get the students out of school for that many days so we decided not to take a chance on losing our entry fees. We ended up only going to the Great Lakes regional.

This may seem weird to a lot of people that someone from a team that would go to multiple regionals (and I voted to go to the extra regionals) is against it. It's not that weird. Like Joe said, we would like to win this thing as much as anyone, so we will try to do what it takes. However, that doesn't mean I don't feel for 'the little guy' or that I don't want any changes in the interest of equity.

Most of my reasoning for this is based on past experiences with other competitions. This is where 'my little analogy' comes in. I would like to compare the FIRST *competition* (note I said competition, not ideals, etc.) to auto racing; specifically open wheeled racing (one of my favorite sports).

In the early days of a famous open wheeled racing series, teams were allowed virtually unlimited testing and practice time. What everyone should realize is that this practice time is expensive. The team needs to pay for travel, lodging, renting the track, fuel, tires, damage to the car, etc. Many of the low budget teams couldn't afford to do more than a few practice / test sessions per year. The high budget teams could practice about every other week in the off season. What happened was obvious. The high budget teams with all the practice got the bugs worked out of their cars, the drivers got practice, and when the race came the low budget teams were no where near the high budget teams.

This lack of parity among the teams had a lot of negative impacts on the series. First of all, the fans knew that only a handfull of teams had a real shot at the championship, so the series started to be viewed as not very competitive.

Second, and more important, was the reaction of the teams. The sponsors of the teams demanded that the team be more competitive (to get more recognition for the sponsor), or the sponsorship money would be withdrawn. Noting that the budget required to become competitive was out of reach, some teams started to fold up and withdraw. Other teams voiced concern to the governing body before they dropped out. They stated that if the governing body didn't try to control spending in some way, they, along with other teams, would be forced to remove themselves from the series.

In devising a solution, the series had to determine what leveled the playing field the most along with reducing spending the most. The solution was to place a cap on testing. Teams were only allowed a certain number of practice / test sessions per year. The big money teams were of course very upset because they lost a lot of their competitive advantage. The big money teams still have an advantage over the small teams in many areas like R & D, but the small teams are now much more competitive, and many that were going to drop out were able to stay. Their sponsors stayed around a few years not because they were immediately more competitive, but there was hope that the playing field was leveled that they would become competitive. This series is now regarded as one of the most competitive series in the world from top to bottom.

Many people have speculated that this changed has saved a series that might have died otherwise. If all of the teams dropped out that threatened, they couldn't have survived, it was speculated.

This is where I'm coming from. This is why I would like to see a cap on the regionals. I'm concerned for the future of FIRST. Granted, there are so many teams in FIRST that the demise of FIRST is unlikely. But the goal of FIRST is to reach as many people as possible and grow very fast to accomplish this. Has anyone noticed that FIRST's goal a few years ago of 1000 teams by the year 2000 is not even close to being reality? Has anyone noticed the teams that have dropped out? I was looking through a program from 1997 and about 25% of the teams in that program aren't around anymore. Doesn't that concern anyone else but me? Or is it that no one else has noticed this but me? Let's face it, FIRST isn't going to publish or brag about its drop out rate.

The reason for these drop outs and this lack of large scale growth is that the competition is very cost prohibitive for a lot of sponsors. When you throw in the extra cost that it takes to compete for the championship, it REALLY becomes cost prohibitive. I agree that FIRST needs to have a good element of being first class and have a big show to grab people's attention, so a lot of the costs aren't going to come down. But I really believe that going to one regional is just as beneficial to the students as going to three. They've seen it once, done it once, no need to do it again. This is an area that I feel that FIRST can cap the costs so small money teams can become more competitive and share the limelight on occasion with the likes of Delphi, WildStang, etc. I feel that this is in the long term interests of FIRST.

Does anyone not believe that controlling costs is in the interest of FIRST? If you believe this, I would like to know why. Also, if anyone believes that controlling costs is a good idea but still doesn't want to limit regionals, what are your suggestions for controlling the cost?


As a quick side note (more background), I never really thought of limiting regionals until the nationals of last year. In our last qualifying match of the day we beat Chief Delphi (do you remember that, Joe?). When we were walking back to our pits, a crowd of about 50 people standing around the TV in the pits started cheering for us for the big upset. Someone then came up to me and said something like, 'Congratulations. That was a great win. It's really hard for us small guys to compete with these teams that go to all of the regionals. They need to do something about that. I'm glad you guys knocked 'em off.' That got me thinking. Before long, I began to agree that it was difficult for these teams to compete and maybe something should be done. Hence my first post on this subject. So I know I'm not alone. Afterall, it wasn't even my idea.

Anyway, I hope a few more people understand where I'm coming from. I hope I never have to raise this issue again.



: Dave,

: You should talk to Chris on your team. We had a huge discussion about this very topic a few weeks back.

: Read this message thread.

: I encourage you to add to the discussion if you think that you have some more to offer.

: Joe J.


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