Official: New England Districts in 2014

[Tetraman]

This is how I sum up this news: http://youtu.be/VbxgYlcNxE8?t=13m59s

Now just waiting on NY....

[Siri]

Congrats, guys! Welcome to the District Model. Paraphrasing Woodie, you're in for a new iteration of the hardest fun you'll ever have.

I'm intrigued by the setup of ingenuityNE vs NE FIRST. I can't tell from the description--is this essentially the FiM/MAR setup, or have you adapted it? If so, how and why so?


Best of luck, NE! Remember you've always got district veterans in reach if you'd like (especially for the sure-to-be-interesting first year).

[Kevin Leonard]

Farewell New England. We hope one day we may once again be able to compete with one another.
But seriously, good luck NE. Come visit the Tech Valley Regional if you get bored of district play!

[Peter Matteson]

I'm glad to hear that this is official now.

Since it isn't mentioned on the nefirst site yet and I can't log in to the site from work I just wanted to ask here has the number of district events had been finalized?

[Pault]

Actually they did say it in an earlier nefirst.org blog post.

Originally Posted by NEFIRST

Currently (2013 FRC Season), New England is home to five Regional Competition events (one each in CT, ME and NH, and two in MA). These five events will be replaced with nine District Events and one District Championship. The locations of these events have not yet been finalized – we currently have a team working to identify the optimal location for each of the Events.

Anyways, I am extremely excited for this transition. There are a lot of this I am going to miss (the big one being the Boston regional), but it is definitely a change for the better.

[Rosiebotboss]

Originally Posted by Peter Matteson

I'm glad to hear that this is official now.

Since it isn't mentioned on the nefirst site yet and I can't log in to the site from work I just wanted to ask here has the number of district events had been finalized?

9 District events plus 1 District CMP.

Sites and dates will be released shortly, not all venues are under contract yet.

[Peter Matteson]

Originally Posted by Rosiebotboss

9 District events plus 1 District CMP.

Sites and dates will be released shortly, not all venues are under contract yet.

Thanks for the info.

I had a feeling negotiations were still under way so I didn't want to ask location. (I have a good idea of the breakdown by state based on team concentration maps I've seen.)

Knowing the number of events is helpful though.

[Steven Donow]

Can't wait to experience these districts as a college student/my first events in New England!

[Caleb Sykes]

This is how I sum up this news: http://youtu.be/VbxgYlcNxE8?t=13m59s

Now just waiting on NY....

Love this!

[DonRotolo]

To all NEFIRST teams: Be sure to give very serious consideration in your 2014 design to durability and repairability. Now your robot will have to endure at least two events, possibly 3 or, if you make it to STL, 4 and a half. All with more matches than usual.

The robots you used to build might just fall apart, so think Robust.

I think you will really like the district model.

[IKE]

I agree with Don. Plan on making it to Worlds and plan on doing 60+ matches with your bot.

[Siri]

Originally Posted by DonRotolo

To all NEFIRST teams: Be sure to give very serious consideration in your 2014 design to durability and repairability. Now your robot will have to endure at least two events, possibly 3 or, if you make it to STL, 4 and a half. All with more matches than usual.

The robots you used to build might just fall apart, so think Robust.

I think you will really like the district model.

Yes - also think about maintenance. Not only are there more matches in districts, there's less time between them. It's not actually true, but think perpetual quarterfinals. It's definitely a change! You do (presumably) get unbag time at home, though.

You'll grow love it, don't worry.

[MooreteP]

From ingenuityNE (our new Overlords)

There are still many details to be worked out, but this is what we can share right now. We will have a total of 9 District Qualifying Events throughout New England 2 in New Hampshire, 1 in Maine, 2 in Massachusetts, 1 in Rhode Island and 3 in Connecticut. Teams will play in two of these events, collect points from both on- field play as well as awards and the top teams will then have the opportunity to play at the Region Championship to be held at the Agannis Arena in Boston. Teams from the New England Championship will then qualify for the FIRST Championship in St. Louis. We in the process of finalizing contracts and as soon as we do, we will share the locations of the District Qualifying Events.

This is our future.
Let's make it work.

[Jay O'Donnell]

Originally Posted by MooreteP

From ingenuityNE (our new Overlords)

There are still many details to be worked out, but this is what we can share right now. We will have a total of 9 District Qualifying Events throughout New England 2 in New Hampshire, 1 in Maine, 2 in Massachusetts, 1 in Rhode Island and 3 in Connecticut. Teams will play in two of these events, collect points from both on- field play as well as awards and the top teams will then have the opportunity to play at the Region Championship to be held at the Agannis Arena in Boston. Teams from the New England Championship will then qualify for the FIRST Championship in St. Louis. We in the process of finalizing contracts and as soon as we do, we will share the locations of the District Qualifying Events.

This is our future.
Let's make it work.

Interesting choice of Boston for District Champs, How many teams can the Agannis hold? I personally loved Boston when my team went there in 2012 but I'm having trouble remembering how much space there was.

[mdituri]

Originally Posted by DonRotolo

Odd way of putting it.

Much like the quote from Pogo, the MAR overlords are us. Any person wishing to become a member of MAR becomes one, with voting rights. We control (to a reasonable extent) what happens in MAR.

If you are not 100% totally satisfied with ingenuityNE, join the board and change it. Or don't complain.

Don

Here is the link to join MAR if you are in our district reading this:
http://www.midatlanticrobotics.com/contact-form/

We hold board meetings every month or two except during build season. We hold committee meetings ALL THE TIME. Get on one of them and give your opinion.

I am sure that NE feels the same way. Don't complain, join, and do something about any problems you might see. Don't just give us the problems, propose a solution. MAR runs MAR...and we try to get better each year.

Also, I must agree with the posters on the previous page...build a ROBUST robot. In MAR we play tons of matches and have lots of off season events as well as joint community outreach events. Our robots get beat up. Our robots play DEFENSE. You have time between matches, but it is limited; you must build spare parts to just switch out. I know many budgets don't allow it, but if you have to hunt for a 1/4-20 of a certain size it takes too much time. Your teams really need to take a different mentality when going to district. You may go two or three matches without a huge break. Be prepared to fix during lunch and really plan out your day. It is a big help to look at the entire day. My drive team is not my pit team. They used to be, but now it is better that we have a dedicated pit team like in NASCAR. It is overwhelming for your drive team to be on the go non-stop for 10 hours. They need down time or they get burned out.

And...you are competing more. You need to adjust your homework, project, schedule as well. Discuss it upfront with your teachers. Tell them you are gone the entire weekend. Use the time during the week before your competition wisely. Have your mentors schedule days where you are just doing homework and projects, not robots. I get frustrated when my team tells me they can't come to robots because they didn't do their homework and I find out they were playing videogames for four hours. I don't watch TV from Jan to May. There just isn't time and honestly...you just wasted an hour you can never get back. And really, does Game of Thrones truly affect your life?