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#361
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Re: Registration 2013
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Truly remote areas do have travel problems; our friends in the UP can attest to that. Districts are not the perfect solution, but something will have to be done as the number of FRC teams continues to grow. Districts provide capacity, and also provide for growth in areas that have few teams now. Why doesn't Iowa have a dozen or more teams? |
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#362
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Re: Registration 2013
In my estimation, the district system doesn't have a major impact on driving distance from Iowa. We'd probably be going to Kansas City, St. Louis, etc, which are the same places we're going anyway.
I would be pretty happy to get into a district system because of the lower cost per event. I'd be sad to lose some of the current flexibility to travel in any direction to a regional event, but in the end we might retain that if everything goes district. Quote:
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#363
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Re: Registration 2013
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I like to think at some point district events won't have to be tied into certain regional or state championships, but you register saying you want points to be tallied for eligibility for an available regional or state championship event so you can maintain flexibility some rural teams may need while still moving over to the low cost district format. I feel like regions should be competing against each other to have the best representation possible at CMP. When MAR and MSC teams are playing twice as many matches as my team for the same price, I would like to do something to level that ASAP. Last edited by PayneTrain : 10-01-2013 at 16:41. |
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#364
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Re: Registration 2013
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#365
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Re: Registration 2013
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Last edited by AcesPease : 10-01-2013 at 21:48. |
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#366
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Re: Registration 2013
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#367
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Re: Registration 2013
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Tab over really quick and google-map "Potsdam, NY". We normally attend either Rochester, or a New England event, because those are the things in the closest driving distance - Rochester is 4 and Manchester is 5 - (barring Canada- of which Montreal is 1 hour away, GTR E/W are 5 hours away...We have a lot of students who live on the reservation up here, and crossing the border can get very complicated) Assuming New England and Rochester/Ohio each become districts of their own... We don't fall into either. So, where do we go? Last edited by Libby K : 10-01-2013 at 19:17. |
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#368
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Re: Registration 2013
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#369
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Re: Registration 2013
I don't think I made this apparent in my post, but I am in favor of the District system. I want more matches. I want to attend multiple events. I want to see more teams in FIRST because the barrier to entry is lower. What I wanted to bring up though is that many of the benefits of going to a District system aren't there for rural teams or when clusters of teams are very far apart from each other. The District system may be new in name only if few of the teams in these areas can afford the travel costs to go to the 2nd event that they now have free entry into and it doesn't produce any closer events for them.
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The low quantity of teams in the Mountain West and Northern Plains is largely an issue of population and density. Iowa as a state has 3 million people and they're spread out over a fairly large region; a list of high school sizes I pulled up shows only 18 high schools with more than 1500 students and 42 high schools with more than 1000 students. If you had a FIRST team in every one of them it wouldn't be a problem but given the typical rate of FIRST teams relative to total high schools in a state the numbers just work out to a low total. The lower population density also means there are less businesses in any given area to be potential sponsors, and less potential mentors, etc. Two things working in Iowa's favor: 1. Iowa launched a STEM initiative this year that more or less covers the cost of competition for FLL and FTC teams. There has been an explosion of growth in both of these programs in a few years, and I would suspect it could spill over into more FRC teams in the future. 2. Iowa has a really strong manufacturing base, so I feel that the percentage of the population that are engineers or some sort of skilled trade is higher than in some other states (just a personal observation). Quote:
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#370
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Re: Registration 2013
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As the district system expands, remote teams will have to go somewhere, and it probably won't work in their favor. It's not as big of an issue in MAR, since the region is small in size. When (if) larger states start moving to districts, it's going to be a more widespread issue, and there's no way to make it fair (easy travel) for everyone. The best thing that can be done is starting up district events farther away from the central "hub" of teams for the region (which is Metro Detroit, in Michigan), if possible - it encourages the other teams to travel and still gives students the opportunity to experience the fun of a travel event, which the district system has kind of taken away. And, as Gary mentioned, it encourages growth in the less dense areas. |
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#371
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Re: Registration 2013
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#372
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Re: Registration 2013
An update.
Currently showing 2548 teams. Things have slowed, but not stopped. Some events are still adding and dropping onesies/twosies. Since formal registration closed on December 6...
So, the registration total for this season has dropped by a dozen teams so far. Last night we did get two more teams though, so we're not done yet. Last edited by Mark McLeod : 16-01-2013 at 15:10. |
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#373
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Re: Registration 2013
Looks like Lake Superior & Northern Lights just swapped 6 teams around (3 from each) to balance things out I suppose.
One pre-qualified team (842) dropped off the Championships team list. I hope it's only temporary. Last edited by Mark McLeod : 22-01-2013 at 15:38. |
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#374
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Re: Registration 2013
FiM has begun assigning third District slots by assigning 9 for the Bedford District (the one with all the space left).
One Michigan team dropped out of Waterford & Livonia to make it 208 Michigan teams this year. Overall, FRC has 2540 registered teams right now. Last edited by Mark McLeod : 05-02-2013 at 14:47. |
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#375
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Re: Registration 2013
Another team (23) dropped off the list for Championship.
The Michigan Bedford event is still being filled with 3rd district event teams. Total teams has been unusually volatile after registration closing this year. I'll add a graph later tonight. |
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