Michigan, be honest, how is the district model?

[Aren Siekmeier]

Originally Posted by XaulZan11

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the cost of attending 3 regionals and the Championship Event significantly more expensive than 2 districts, State Championship and then the Championship Event? If so, wouldn't that be an advantage to the district model and not a drawback?

Only if you are one of the few teams who attend 3 regionals and the Championship every year (or pretty regularly anyway). That is a pretty small percentage of all the teams out there. For the teams who only attend their home regional every year, I'd think there's a huge advantage to going to a bigger regional event that potentially draws teams from elsewhere, as opposed to a small, local district event that just shelters them. It's a lot more inspiring to go a larger regional with some different people every year than just the same old district with the same old locals, and for the teams who have just attended the same old regional for years, having never attended Champs or tried something new, some inspiration might be in order.

On the other hand, the smaller district events do give a bit more playing time (I think?), and I think I've heard that Michigan attend a minimum of 2 district events? So maybe it's a wash.

[Joe Ross]

A good place to start would be the Brandeis evaluation of FiM after the 2009 season. http://www.usfirst.org/uploadedFiles...Summary_09.pdf

90% of the respondents thought the cost of participation was the same or better than 2008. 86% thought the logistics were the same or better.

Team leaders and mentors estimated that the average team cost for the District Tournaments in 2009 was approximately $9900; costs for teams attending the State Championship averaged an additional $5900. Total estimated costs for all teams in 2009 were $12,000. Teams that participated in prior years estimated that their team budget in 2008 was $25,000.

There were lots of other topics covered also, all overwhelmingly favoring the district system.