New District Events for 2013?

[DonRotolo]

Originally Posted by Jacob Paikoff

With a number of regions moving towards districts I'm surprised there hasn't been any discussion about an open districts system.

Sure there has, just not in this thread. Once there are several districts, teams can earn points in any district they like. MAR took the FiM points structure absolutely whole just for that (potential) reason. So long as all districts have the same system, they're compatible and comparable.

Originally Posted by Jeff Pahl

Figure 225-250 teams across the 5 state area (WI, MN, ND, SD, IA).

I think that's twice the size of a good district. Can you cut it into two? That allows for growth and manageability.

Originally Posted by P.J.

I realize geography is at work in your idea, but you have to look at it this way: 2 regions means (theoretically) twice as many teams going to St. Louis (or wherever the Championship is), and I don't think it would be fair to send say 30 out of 190 California teams there and only 18 out of 180 (those numbers are just guesses) Michigan teams.

The number of teams a District sends to CMP is determined by the number of regionals that are replaced. So FiM had 3 regionals, MAR had two, and the relative number of teams sent are in that ratio (18 to 12). If California replaced 5 regionals, I would expect them to have 30 slots, right?

Originally Posted by PayneTrain

1676 has gone to 4 events and will go to a fifth this competition season assuming they go to CMP). Both districts were Saturday/Sunday, NYC was Friday-Sunday, MAR was Thursday-Saturday, and CMP is Wednesday-Sunday (travel).
They missed 6 days over 5 events. Meanwhile, a two or three regional team is going to be missing more days if they go to CMP..

This is HUGE. I work for a living, and I am loath to burn all my vacation time to attend regionals. So far, I've missed 2 days of work (didn't go to NYC on practice day), which is a much better deal for me.

Originally Posted by EricH

You could do first two events.

First 2 events is fair, since the learning curve allows for great improvements in later events. First event is too small a sample, average is NG because of the improvement over time favors wealthy teams, first and last the same. Most every team should be able to make 2 events, especially if they are Sat-Sun (no school lost) and closer to home...and the cost is the same (or less) than the previous single Regional.

MAR is superior to the regional model in almost every way. The only negative so far is that "outside" teams can't play (love those Brazilians!)...but once there are more Districts, and we can intermingle again, we're back to where we started, but with another tier between district and CMP.

As for CMP: Just find a larger venue. Ever seen Cobo Hall? McCormick Place? There are several that size.

Imagine that: CMP too big for a single dome.