Michigan, be honest, how is the district model?

[Katie_UPS]

Are there any hidden down-sides to districts? Is it awful to have to win a regional twice to go to champs? How exactly are robots picked for champs? (I understand 3 state champs, 3 chairman's, 3 EI's, and 3 RAS... but aren't they supposed to send 18 teams because they replaced 3 regionals? Who are the other six then? How are they picked?)

[GaryVoshol]

Originally Posted by Katie_UPS

Are there any hidden down-sides to districts? Is it awful to have to win a regional twice to go to champs? How exactly are robots picked for champs? (I understand 3 state champs, 3 chairman's, 3 EI's, and 3 RAS... but aren't they supposed to send 18 teams because they replaced 3 regionals? Who are the other six then? How are they picked?)

First, it's not 3 IE's and 3 RAS's - it's 2 of 1 and 1 of the other, and I forget which is which right now.

That leaves 9 teams that still go. They are based on the point totals earned during the season - the 2 districts weighted 1/3, and the MSC rated 2/3.

What this does is give deserving teams - for example, a team that was a Finalist in MSC - a chance to qualify for the Championship.

[DonRotolo]

Originally Posted by GaryVoshol

The thing I miss most in the District system is not getting to see out of state teams.

Originally Posted by Basel A

-While there is less interaction with outside teams, that results in more interaction with inside teams. When you see the same team at 2-4 events (even 5, possibly) in a season, there's more camaraderie. The end result is greater cooperation and fewer failing teams

Originally Posted by mesamb1

I would be curious to hear from the people who attend the New Jersey Regional and New York City Regional about how much diversity they see at their regional now.

I don't speak for my team here, just for myself.

The ONLY significant drawback to the district system is this lack of diversity. I highly cherish meeting teams from Israel, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, Turkey and several near and distant states. I see the kids getting a lot from it as well*. And as the world continues to get smaller in the professional world, understanding and accepting this diversity becomes more important at this stage.

All the other drawbacks are surmountable IMHO.

@Basel A: interesting take on camaraderie and reducing failing teams, that is something that had not occurred to me. Thanks for that.

Originally Posted by gblake

Amen - Concentrations of teams do not respect state boundaries.

Yes, and so Mid-Atlantic Robotics does not use state lines as boundaries.

*Like teaching Brazilian kids how to play Extreme Duck-Duck-Goose, even with a steep language barrier. Or hearing how schools work in Mexico. Or just seeing that people are essentially the same, no matter where they're from.

[Joe G.]

Here's a thought on the "closed" nature of the district system.

It wouldn't really make sense to open district events up to teams from non-district regions. The qualification systems are completely different, and an outside team couldn't qualify for championship from the district. Additionally, it would arguably deny teams from the district region another chance to gain points.

But is there any reason that teams from a district region couldn't travel to outside regionals (as some already do), and earn points for it? At a regional, they play the same game, and earn the same awards. The events are usually as big, or bigger. The opposing teams are usually just as good. A team that can do this should be able to work closer to a state/region championship event.

Taking this further, once multiple district regions are setup, cross-registration could occur. Michigan teams could compete in Mid-atlantic districts, and vice versa, earning points towards their home region. And as more regions add the district system, FRC comes closer to letting anyone compete anywhere they want.

[DSM33]

Originally Posted by Joe G.

Taking this further, once multiple district regions are setup, cross-registration could occur. Michigan teams could compete in Mid-atlantic districts, and vice versa, earning points towards their home region. And as more regions add the district system, FRC comes closer to letting anyone compete anywhere they want.

but what separates this from the current regional system? i feel like that would be the same system taking place now (aside from Michigan) with just the addition of a local State Championship. i think the point of the district system would be to grow teams in a local environment so that teams could grow and thrive and increase the competitive nature of FIRST

[Joe G.]

Originally Posted by DSM33

but what separates this from the current regional system? i feel like that would be the same system taking place now (aside from Michigan) with just the addition of a local State Championship. i think the point of the district system would be to grow teams in a local environment so that teams could grow and thrive and increase the competitive nature of FIRST

-An additional tier to go through for qualifying for championships, which in turn helps fine-tune the number of teams that qualify, allowing FIRST to keep championships at a reasonable size.

-Lower cost, district style events, giving teams more play time for the same price.

-More events, allowing teams to keep travel costs down if they wish to.


The fact is, most FIRST teams do not travel longer distances than they need to in order to compete, and stick to relatively local regionals, because its cheaper and easier. This wouldn't change, under a looser district system. The vast majority of Michigan teams would stick to Michigan, and the vast majority of mid-Atlantic teams would stay in the mid-Atlantic region. If a team wishes to, they can go outside their region and meet teams from far away, addressing the main complaint about the current system in this thread. I just don't think enough teams would leap up and run away from home to break the sense of community the district system creates.

[J_Miles]

Originally Posted by Joe G.

Taking this further, once multiple district regions are setup, cross-registration could occur. Michigan teams could compete in Mid-atlantic districts, and vice versa, earning points towards their home region. And as more regions add the district system, FRC comes closer to letting anyone compete anywhere they want.

I like the idea. I would have suggested the very same policy. It seems to me that no matter where a team competes, it should be able to accumulate points towards its own regional championship. This way, teams would compete against the best of the best teams in their own region to qualify for championship, but would also have the opportunity to compete against whoever they wish during the regular season events, traveling if they so chose or staying local if that was their preference.

[Lil' Lavery]

I'd be wary equating one district system to another at this point. They could have very different rules and structures.

[DonRotolo]

...and goals.

[pafwl]

FIRST has already said they want the same rules to apply to all districts. Otherwise how can they manage the computer system for registration.

To some extent I agree with this position but we can't run a competition at the bare minimum of what the computer programmer in FIRST can accomplish. As I have said a few times we have a lot of smart folks working with us who can write a system that can cover everything we want to do. We just have to get FIRST to listen.