Registration 2014

[Mr. Van]

Originally Posted by Mr. Van

FIRST does not publish the waitlist for any event. The reason is that teams are not taken in order from the list. Any of a large number of factors might determine which teams are given an opportunity to attend any regional or the Championship (who your sponsors are, how long it has been since you attended, specific team makeup, special events at any particular regional or the Champs, are you a local team, etc.). Of course one of those factors is when you joined the list, but is certainly not the only one.

Originally Posted by Gregor

Do you have a source for this, or is it a (probably pretty good) assumption?

I do have some direct experience in this situation. I'm not saying that any of the reasons for selecting teams are good or bad. It is just the way the system works. What seems perhaps "unfair" to one team is "fair" to another. I believe that FIRST works for the overall good of the program, which in turn benefits all of the participants.

Regarding ideas on how to improve the registration process to avoid the "fastest fingers/internet" wins we currently have, how about this:

What if first regional registration had a longer period for teams to apply for admission to their regional of choice (perhaps a week) and then a lottery was held for the guaranteed spaces. Then all remaining teams are in the wait-list pool (in a random order?). Notices go out to coaches indicating their acceptance or wait-list status and they can switch to open regionals or stay and take their chances. Process repeats for 2nd regional registration. Open regional registration stays the same.

Would that help/be more "fair"?

BTW, this was year was the easiest registration process I've ever been through! THANK YOU FIRST!

See you at Inland Empire and Sacramento!

- Mr. Van
Coach, Robodox