3 is the number and the number shall be 3...

[OtakuRob]

I'm not too surprised that FIRST asked teams to drop out.. Just due to the sheer number of new teams in it this year, things are gonna get hectic and readjustments will be made each year.. FIRST is still growing at an insane pace, and perhaps it will be detrimental to the development of other teams.. Who knows..

[Ben Piecuch]

If FIRST is going to limit the number of regionals/comps this year, how are teams expected to generate enough points for this years', or even next years' Championship? It seems as though multiple regional winning teams will grab all the points, and many other teams will be right on the fringe of qualifying. I don't want to start the debate over qualifying again, but this rule further limits a team's chance to qualify.


BEN

[Nate Smith]

Originally posted by Ben Piecuch
If FIRST is going to limit the number of regionals/comps this year, how are teams expected to generate enough points for this years', or even next years' Championship? It seems as though multiple regional winning teams will grab all the points, and many other teams will be right on the fringe of qualifying. I don't want to start the debate over qualifying again, but this rule further limits a team's chance to qualify.


BEN

Of course, you have to keep in mind we don't know what the formula will be for qualifying next year...they may change the number of points needed...

[Kit Gerhart]

Could it be that FIRST is wanting to try to force us to "have a life" beyond FIRST during the January-April time frame. Their not allowing teams to participate in more than 2 regionals does at least a little to accomplish that.

Also, as may have been previously mentioned, not all that many teams are able to enter more than two regionals, and the limit would serve to equalize things to some extent. From our team's experience, each regional is a major learning experience leading up to National, and while we have never entered more than two regionals, I suspect that if we did, we would continue to learn at the third (or fourth) regional as we do at the first two.

[Joe Johnson]

My impression is that FIRST is just trying to keep room available for teams.

I doubt that they actively wanted to limit teams to fewer than 4 events.

To me it seems pretty clear that it is just a numbers game. Given that they didn't have slots for everyone that wanted to go to regionals, they had to cut back somewhere. The logical first place to start is to limit the number of competitions that a team can go to.


Joe J.

[Brian C]

I believe that the folks at FIRST are attempting to do the best they can with the situation that is before them.

Faced with the almost overwhelming growth of the robotics competition coupled with the tremendous logistics of running an operation of this magnitude they need to enforce limitations somewhere and I believe this is just the beginning.

Hey, let's be realistic 3 regionals for one team is A LOT of time, travel and $$$. Team members missing school/work and everything else associated with attending any event is something that must be considered. I don't think that 3 is a bad number at all.

I would much rather there be some sort of reasonable limt such as this rather than see a team get "shut out" of even attending just one event.

Eventually we will find some sort of compromise for the Nationals situation. As has been mentioned somewhere here before the idea of an East Coast/West Coast championship with the semi-finalists, finalists and various award winners moving on to the Nationals may be a viable option. Who knows for sure.....

Two things are for sure:

It takes time for things to evolve and not everyone is going to be happy with the results.

[Ed Sparks]

What is bugging me about this whole issue is that FIRST is limiting the number of EVENTS that each team can sign up for not the number of regionals.

-so-

I could sign up for two regionals and the championship ....

-or-

I could sigh up for three regionals and increase my chances to win a 4th event (the championship).


hmmmmmmm..........

We chose to guarentee our attendence at the championship since we are an even number team. Next year, will be a different matter if the rules carry over.

My crystal ball says that eventually we all will have to earn our way to the championship by performing at a single regional.