Micro-District Model

[Siri]

Originally Posted by bduddy

So we're taking the Regional experience and diluting it even further? Is it really as inspiring for team members when every event most of them are ever going to go to is in a high school gym playing against the same 30 teams over and over again? Maybe it's just me, but I don't think so...

We're playing 7 local events this year--I could drive between each and every one of them in a total of 3:45 hours (thanks Google)--and virtually every team at every event is in MAR. Usually overlap is much, much more than that. (Almost half the teams that played Chestnut Hill '12 had just played Horsham the week before.) It's far from a bother. In fact, it has incredible upsides and can really help teams and students directly, in particular the sense of community it builds. And some friendly rivalry too--after all, it's quite similar to the way other sports work. It's a different model, but it seems to be working well enough.

I'd opt for the model with any "boredom"* it'd entail just for the sense of community it fosters alone, much less the additional playing time/lower cost, etc, etc. Throwing on a "regional-like" championship would just be icing on the cake.

*I have yet to experience this in FIRST, even with District play in an area that has among the highest density of off-seasons.