Texas districts!

[thatprogrammer]

Note: I did not find any threads on this. If there are any please delete or merge this.
all goes well, Texas should have districts soon!

Districts are coming to Texas. Update from the committee is below. Texas has very great representation on this committee.

Thank you all so much for applying to take part in the Texas District Model Competition Committee. We received far more applications from qualified, enthusiastic individuals than we could select for the committee. It was quite difficult to narrow down the group. The Texas District Model Steering Committee worked with the Texas Regional Directors to finalize committee membership with fair region-based representation. Below, you will find the list of the individuals that we are inviting to participate on this committee. The committee will develop a District Model Competition Proposal through conference calls, meetings, and online collaborative work this summer. NOTE: This work is entirely separate from UIL discussions and will be focused solely on the application of the District Model in Texas.

Committee representatives will be tasked with collecting feedback from FIRST teams and supporters in their region. Please make sure that your thoughts and ideas do not go unheard!

We also have included data on various characteristics of the committee membership. We attempted to select a group of representatives that accurately reflect the diversity of teams throughout Texas. Please see below.

Once again, thank you for supporting this process. We'll be reaching out to Committee members with further instructions soon. You can send questions to FRCTXdistricts@gmail.com.

ALAMO
Jeffrey Erickson - Central (Manor/Austin)
Allison Rich - Central (Austin)
Mary Baughman - South Central (San Antonio)
Yolanda Woods - South Central (San Antonio)

Nelson Carrasquero - South (Pharr)
DALLAS
Greg Burnham - North (Allen)
Rachel Moore - North (Dallas)
Greg Needel - North (Dallas)
John V-Neun - North (Greenville)

HUB CITY
Sam Black - Northwest (Lubbock)
Wendy Parker - Northwest (Amarillo)
Virgilio Gonzalez - West (El Paso)
Andrew Peters - West (Marfa)

LONE STAR
Allen Gregory - East (Houston)
Scott Rippetoe - East (The Woodlands)
Robyn Segrest - East (Lufkin)
Dee Wallace - East (Houston)

OTHER
Kara Antal - Other-Border of Regions (Waco)
Ray Laplante - Judge Advisor
Non-Voting Observer/Contributor:
Cynthia Stong - Other-Out of State (New Mexico) + Judge Advisor

FIRST REPRESENTATION (District Model Steering Committee)
Chris Culbert - FIRST in Texas Board/ Lone Star Deputy RD (Houston)
Mike Henry - Senior Mentor (San Antonio)
Jess Jankowitsch - Alamo Assistant RD/Volunteer Coordinator (Austin)
Georg Tan - Senior Mentor/Volunteer Coordinator (Lubbock)
Joe Varnell - Senior Mentor/FTA (Dallas)

DATA
Sub-Region Breakdown:
Central: 2
East: 4
North: 4
Northwest: 2
South Central: 2
South: 1
Other: 2

Gender:
Male: 11
Female: 9

Team Type: (Overlap in some cases)
Public School: 11
Private School: 4
Multiple Schools: 3
Community/Scouts: 3

Setting: (Overlap in some cases)
Urban: 7
Suburban: 11
Rural: 4
Isolated (from other teams, competitions, sponsors): 3

Regionals per Season:
1: 9
2: 8
3: 2

Years Involved:
10+: 8
5-9: 6
3-4: 3
1-2: 2

Roles/Experience: (Overlap in some cases)
Administrator: 2
Alumni: 6
Mentor (Non-Technical): 7
Mentor (Technical): 14
Sponsor: 8
Teacher: 8

FRC Volunteer: 11 (several key volunteers)
Off-Season Organizer: 4
Qualifier Organizer: 6

Career Affiliation:
High School: 9
Collegiate: 4
Industry: 7

Texas District Model Steering Committee
FRCTXdistricts@gmail.com

Ps: this is a quote from Team Appreciate.

[MichaelMcQuinn]

When is the estimated time that districts will be introduced?

[Coach Norm]

2017 is the target we have been told.

[BSV]

Originally Posted by Coach Norm

2017 is the target we have been told.

I guess that it's not possible for an Oklahoma team to join Texas districts, is it?

[Alex Webber]

Any idea how many teams are from Texas? Just want a number to help benchmark other states progress.

Can guarantee there will never be a Kansas district.

[ehochstein]

Originally Posted by Alex Webber

Any idea how many teams are from Texas? Just want a number to help benchmark other states progress.

136 this past year.

[Alex2614]

Originally Posted by Alex Webber

Any idea how many teams are from Texas? Just want a number to help benchmark other states progress.

Can guarantee there will never be a Kansas district.

Eventually, you will be included somewhere, I'm sure. Here in West Virginia, we could never support districts on our own in the foreseeable future, but Ohio, PA, and WV together can (keep an eye out in the coming year or so).

This is why districts based solely on state lines is, in my opinion, not a great model for FIRST. It makes much more sense to base things on where the teams are, not arbitrary state borders drawn hundreds of years ago. And we will end up with huge clusters of teams that are without any competitions to attend, and not enough teams to sustain districts or a regional on their own. But hey, they never asked me

[tindleroot]

Originally Posted by BSV

I guess that it's not possible for an Oklahoma team to join Texas districts, is it?

Districts are based solely on location. Therefore, the only way an Oklahoma team could be in the "Texas" district was if Texas included Oklahoma (or part of it) in the district.

It appears Texas is forming a district themselves, so my answer for your question is no, it's not possible.

[BSV]

Originally Posted by tindleroot

Districts are based solely on location. Therefore, the only way an Oklahoma team could be in the "Texas" district was if Texas included Oklahoma (or part of it) in the district.

It appears Texas is forming a district themselves, so my answer for your question is no, it's not possible.

Thanks. That takes away a lot of regional options. I guess this is the last year to head to Texas for a regional!

[2789_B_Garcia]

Originally Posted by BSV

Thanks. That takes away a lot of regional options. I guess this is the last year to head to Texas for a regional!

There are some great teams just outside of Texas and I hope the committee takes into consideration how much fun we have with teams from outside the state as well as teams from outside the country, for that matter...and besides, wasn't inter-district play opened up this past year?

[MrTechCenter]

Originally Posted by 2789_B_Garcia

There are some great teams just outside of Texas and I hope the committee takes into consideration how much fun we have with teams from outside the state as well as teams from outside the country, for that matter...and besides, wasn't inter-district play opened up this past year?

Yes, but only for the third district event which is essentially just practice, meankng you don't get qualifying points from it. I don't see teams traveling to Texas for practice.

[mklinker]

Originally Posted by MrTechCenter

Yes, but only for the third district event which is essentially just practice, meankng you don't get qualifying points from it. I don't see teams traveling to Texas for practice.

After participating this year in the Indiana District I would travel for practice during weeks 1 or 2. Having the ability to test and modify without the results counting within the district is a HUGE advantage. We did not travel this year because there was no week 1 or 2 district event with an opening that we could find.

[Zebra_Fact_Man]

Originally Posted by MrTechCenter

Yes, but only for the third district event which is essentially just practice, meankng you don't get qualifying points from it. I don't see teams traveling to Texas for practice.

Furthermore, right now, only District teams are allowed to compete in other region's districts. Non-district teams cannot. Hopefully that rule will change at some point, but I don't foresee that happening.

[AllieR2012]

My understanding is that Texas will have to be some sort of hybrid district system; we don't have the population/team density that other district models have and quite a few teams that are not from Texas compete in Texas because it's their closest competition (for example, New Mexico teams come to Hub City Regional in Lubbock). We also don't want to close the border because competing with teams from out of state (and city for that matter) is a large part of the FRC experience. That being said, the committee's first meeting is next week so everything at this point is just speculation.

I am representing the Austin area on this committee and would really love constructive feedback on the district model as a whole (I love playing the devil's advocate). If there is anything that you love about your district or know of something that could be improved, please message me! Ideally, the Texas district model will incorporate everything we've learned from the models already in place.

Also, if you know of any students who have opinions on the district model I'd love to include their perspective in this conversation as well.

I can be reached through Chief Delphi's messaging system or through FRC Team 2881's facebook page
If you are a mentor from Texas and want to contact the committee rep from your area, you should have gotten an email with everyone on the committee and their emails.