More than One Regional?

[smurfgirl]

After reading posts about teams like 1114 and 1024 which won 2 and 3 regionals, respectively, I'm wondering how many regionals most teams attend each year. How many does your team attend?

We're a sixth-year team, and for all six years, we've only attended one regional (the once UTC New England, now Connecticut Regional). We started going to the Championship Event our fourth year (2006). After winning this regional for the third consecutive year, we're starting to think about broadening our horizons.

With this, I have some questions:

• Why does your team choose to/not to attend multiple regionals?

For teams that attend more than one regional,

• What is that experience like?
• Is it worth the extra expense in time and money?
• Do you send the entire team to both/all regionals? If not, how do you determine who goes where?
• How far apart (weeks) do you like to space your regionals?
• Do you do multiple regionals and the Championship Event?

Thanks for the input!


(I apologize if a post like this already exists- I searched, but I didn't find any similar posts. Also, none of the more specific forums fit as a place to post this from what I can see- the mods are welcome to move it if they see fit.)

[Bongle]

I crunched the numbers on this once, and it turns out that something like 75% of teams only attend one regional.

That said, I have been on teams that attended double-regionals:


Why? Because after 6 weeks of hard work building the robot, it doesn't make much sense to only go to one regional. Regionals are the funnest part, why not go to as many as you can financially and mentally afford to?

What is it like? The first one has a much lower level of pressure ("this is just a warmup, don't worry about it"). You can try out more tactics, there is less of a feeling that you can't try anything novel because if you blow this regional, that's it for the year. The second one you feel much more confident because you have a fairly good grip on what works and what doesn't. There is obviously also the bonus that your robot will generally work better at the second than the first because of fixes you may have applied during the first regional.

Worth it? Yes

Send Entire Team? Just the mechanical team went to the first regional, as it was a 'warm-up' regional. Many more school members, parents, sponsors, etc came to the 2nd one.

How far apart? Being in Canada, the least expensive option is to do Waterloo and GTR, which means 1 week apart. School-wise, I suppose it'd make more sense to have a wider spacing.

Multiple Regionals + Champs? We did in 2006, because we qualified and had never been before.

[Storcky]

Why: A mentor suggested it to our team in 2006 (our second year) and it was unanimously decided that we would go.

Originally Posted by Bongle

What is it like? The first one has a much lower level of pressure ("this is just a warmup, don't worry about it"). You can try out more tactics, there is less of a feeling that you can't try anything novel because if you blow this regional, that's it for the year. The second one you feel much more confident because you have a fairly good grip on what works and what doesn't. There is obviously also the bonus that your robot will generally work better at the second than the first because of fixes you may have applied during the first regional.

For 1629, this year was the opposite of that. At Chesapeake, we were applying for Chairman's, so every night we would stay up to at least midnight working on our submissions. It's also our "home" regional - the one nearest to us, so we always feel more pressured there. The Buckeye regional was supposed to be the "fun" regional where we didn't have to worry about anything. It's also a lot of fun to meet twice the number of teams or even work with the same team at two events. Our team has become fairly close to others, such as 1727, because of this.

Worth it: Absolutely. As I know others have said, the first regional lets you work out the bugs and work better for the second. Also, we finished the robot really late this year, so our drivers didn't get enough practice working together. By Thursday of our second regional, they were working like (forgive the pun) a well-oiled machine.

Sending Everyone: We have a relatively small team (only 20 student members), so we bring everyone to both, because otherwise, we would not have enough people to fill all of the jobs that are required at a regional: scouts, drive team, and pit crew.

Space between: In the past, we have always done back-to-back regionals, only because those are the two nearest regionals, although I have heard talk of having two weeks between the ones we attend in the future.

Championships: We have plans to go to the Championship event every 4 years to ensure that all student members of the team are given the opportunity to attend. We also fundraise like crazy if we are invited because of an award or a regional championship so that we can attend as well (like this year!!!).

[Jeff Waegelin]

In my eight years in FIRST, I've done 2 regionals six times, 3 regionals once, and 1 regional once. I've also been to the Championship every year. In my opinion, two regionals and the Championship is the perfect balance. Three regionals can get to be overwhelming, especially if you end up doing back-to-back events (a common problem if you're tied to a "home" event in Week 2 or 4). One regional can be a little underwhelming - after six weeks of build, I always want to compete as much as I can, and the long layoff between one regional and the Championship makes me restless.

For the longest time, I had only done 2 + Champs, but due to favorable (and unfavorable) money and school scheduling concerns, I did 3 in 2007, and one this year. Having seen it all three ways, I definitely prefer two regionals and the Championship - it's the best balance, by far.

[Tom Bottiglieri]

We are in the same boat as you. We have always done 2 events (Hartford + another regional or Championship), but think we are getting to a point where we can expand to two regionals and the Championship.

[waialua359]

Save your money for next season and come to Hawaii. I promise it'll be a blast!
Aloha!
Back on topic: We are going to try and attend every regional in the US for as long as our program continues.
The only ones we cant do are the ones that are concurrent with the Hawaii one from this year on. We will try and average 2 or 3 regionals per year.

[cziggy343]

our first year, we wen to just won regional and the then nationals. since then, we have gone to two regionals + the championships each year. i believe that it is worth the expence just because of how fun the competitions are. and now that you need to qualify for the championships, that second regional looms a little larger if you want to get to the big dance. winning a regional is difficult, so i think that the second (or third) regionals are a good thing. usually, for one of our regionals, we only take a short bus full of students (chosen by the amount of work they contribute). then for our second (palmetto) we take everyone.

[nikeairmancurry]

Okay.. we (Team 326) have been doing 2 reginoals for about 5 years now. One reason is that we travel abit outside of the main competetion.. which alot of the teams around us are very good.. We always compete at the home event (Great Lakes) what yyou can consider as one of the harder reginoals to win each year. The expirence is great to do other things.

This year we traveled out to Pittsburgh for the first time and really enjoyed the venue and the atomsphere around us.

It is worth the extra money if you really want to see how your robot appears to 60- 70 different robots like you will see at atlanta and you have an extra 10 or 12 competeion matches to work out bugs that you wouldn't catch until you got to atlanta which can hurt alot of teams.

The way our team deterimnes who goes is all who fundraises enoguh money to go to the event. We have a set amount of money needed to go and if you get close enoguh we let you come. When we went to Pittsburgh about 200 miles from home we had all but 3 members go.. so just under 25 people.

We really only like to have them one week apart so like week 3 than week 5.. it keeps the team memebers freah after the long weekends endurance test.

Pretty much 2 regionals and the championship... our robot has always gotten better at atlanta then it was at our first event.

Anyother questions PM me or take other peoples imput which can be better than mine..

Off topic but Team 555 are doing 4 regionals and the championship

[George A.]

For most years 11 goes to two regionals, one of them being the NJ regional (our home town regional) and then the Championship depending on the year.

The second regional usually varies from year to year (04-06 they went to Palmetto, 07 was NYC and 08 was Chesapeake) and my advice is that if your team can afford it, go for it.

The second regional, especially events farther away from your area gives the students an opportunity to see teams, and interact with people that they normally wouldn't. For instance, if an east coast team went out to play in the MWR or Boilermaker it would be far different, than if they stayed local the whole time.

As far as qualifying and cost? With NJ anyone on the team is allowed to go, buses take us to and from the event Thurs/Fri, and the students are responsible for getting their own rides on Saturday, since it's free most students go. For the events that require travel, it usually boils down to whoever contributes the most gets first shot. We're not punishing the students that don't contribute as much, we're just rewarding the students that contribute more.

With cost always being an issue, the students are encouraged to go out and fundraise for the team, and for every dollar they fund raise, a dollar is deducted from their trip. So in the end a student could wind up traveling for next to nothing.


Myself, I go to 3/4 events and the Championships, but usually as a volunteer so it's a bit different.

But that's just my advice, let us know what you decide.

[Jeff Rodriguez]

We go to two regionals and championships a year. We started this in 2002, our 8th year. We decide on a second regional with a few rules:
We always go to Hartford.
No week 1 regionals (we need a break, although it doesn't come).
No back-to-back regionals.
Within bus ride distance.

Being in New England though (as you are) there's usually something that fits those requirements. There's even more if you take one or two rules out. Regionals we consider within a bus ride are BAE, Boston, FLR, NYC, SBPLI, NJ, Chesapeake, and Philly.
We hire a bus to our second regional and anyone that can afford the cost can go. There are multiple opportunities for students to fund raise and offset their costs for any traveling the team does. We also try to bring to cost down as much as possible for students with other fundraising money we earn. For example, last year our second regional (Boston) was a flat $50 for all students. They can then apply their fundraising money to that if they want.

[rfolea]

You can see who is going to which regional this year in the spreadsheet in this thread http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=63045 (Go towards the end of the thread to see the most recent spreadsheet).

Sort on number of regionals and you will have your answer ..

[Greg Perkins]

ok, I don't mean to insult anyone here, but in my honest opinion, if you are attending a "regional" shouldn't that mean you are competing in your "region"? I by all means am a promoter of experience, but for those teams who NEED to win regionals to qualify (I haven't done first this year so I don't know if that applies anymore) isn't that giving them a handicap?
To make this a logical situation, if a team wants to compete at more than one regional, I think they should be unranked in doing so if it is just for "experience" then who needs wins or points? Also the cost situation, I do agree that attending multiple regionals instead of champs is a good idea, but there should be boundaries somewhere.
I don't mean to be negative but I have seen many GREAT teams be knocked out of a chance to go to the championship because another regional winner decided to come and dominate. If you want to flaunt your skills do it at the champs not at another regional.

[smurfgirl]

Thanks for all of the responses, you're definitely offering me a lot of insight. More responses to my first questions are certainly welcomed and encouraged, but I also have one more question to add:

For a team who wants to attend two events, is it better to do two regionals, or one regional and the Championship?

Edit: I also thought of something else I'd like feedback on- some posts have mentioned a "warm-up" regional, with lower pressure. Our team recently started using a full-scale practice field, and we simulate competitions with loud music, spirit teams, defensive robots, running pep rallies, etc. We also go to a scrimmage before ship date. I know this is not the same as a regional, but it does get in a lot of individual driver practice for technique, as well as six-robot driver practice. Does this change the idea of a first regional as a "warm-up" at all?

[cziggy343]

Originally Posted by smurfgirl

Thanks for all of the responses, you're definitely offering me a lot of insight. More responses to my first questions are certainly welcomed and encouraged, but I also have one more question to add:

For a team who wants to attend two events, is it better to do two regionals, or one regional and the Championship?

that is a risk since you must qualify by having to win your only regional. so then you may end up with only one event. id go with two regionals, then try (if you qualify) to find the money to go to the Championships... thats what we have to do this year... find the spare change under the counch

[lilBcos]

CougarTech choose to attend more than one regional this year and it paid off. during the FLR our robot preformed poorly but during the buckeye we had time to fix everything and had a great robot. so the extra regional gave us a chance to have a good season