KC Regional Considering District Model

[Alpha Beta]

Originally Posted by Tom Line

That's an interesting idea. How many robots are in the KC area?

Somewhere between 39 and 48.

In the Michigan District system we get a bag window before the event. It's much more beneficial to have your bag window with your robot at your facility, with your full set of tools and resources.

Exactly. This would provide that same bennefit to KC area teams that FiM and MAR teams currently enjoy.

In addition, with an event that big you are going to have a horrid amount of time between matches. In the Michigan system it's unusual to have more than 1 hour between matches, and many times it's a 30-45 minute turn around. Going to worlds and having huge downtime between matches stinks, quite frankly.

I imagine the event would have to be capped at 48 teams to fit in a high school venue. This happens to matches our current numbers locally.

In addition, that means a full field teardown in the middle of your event.

One of the consequences of trying to create a "season" for our sport instead of just an "event".

Would it be possible to do it at two venues, have individual competitions, and simply go on a point basis of who qualifies for worlds? Especially for the mentors, taking off multiple vacation days for the same event would really stink.

Currently FiM mentors take off 3 weekends (Two district events and MSC) before qualifying for Worlds. This would only be 2, albeit one of those weekends does not have elimination matches. FiM and MAR were created by folding in multiple regional events and thus had more than the traditional 6 berths for Worlds to offer. The point system helps decide who deserves them. Since this is a single event making the transition there are no additional berths to give out besides the standard 6. There is also no intermediate district championship to "pay for" before attending Worlds.

Full Discloser: I am not on the committee making this proposal but I was able to attend the meeting and hear the information first hand. I'll admit this proposal does not sound like a permanent solution, but rather a transitionary state before we grow large enough (or combine with enough other more distant areas) to develop a FiM style super regional.