Proof that districts work: PNW

[Navid Shafa]

This year, the PNW made up 6% of teams at the Championship and we managed to bring in ~6.5% of Division Awards:

Division Finalists: 4488, 1983 and 1318.
Gracious Professionalism: 4077
Innovation in Control: 1540

The PNW also managed to have an above average seed placement, with an average Rank of ~41/100 per division.

Originally Posted by Thad House

The PNW has never been a superpower at worlds. We have sent teams into eliminations at worlds, but getting far has not happened much. Before this year, only 2 teams have ever made it to a division finals from the PNW, and neither one of them made it to Einstein.

I know the PNW has never hit Einstein, but I'd have to do some more digging, because I think we might be missing something.

Off the top of my head I know 1983 went to Division Quarters and Semis twice each with a Finals run this year. I thought that 1318 might have gone to the finals in 2009, or that Mean Machine might have gone to the finals in 2012 with 1717/469. Both went out in Semis though. I know 488 went to the Finals on Archimedes in 2009, because I remember watching it. Looking it up I saw 1510 also went to the Finals in 2005 on Curie. Are those the Finalists you are referring too? I think we might be missing one...

[Patrick Flynn]

Could someone do a comparison removing teams that qualified to champs only based on being the 3rd alliance pick?

This is a really bad conclusion to say that districts made the area, PNW, MAR, FIM, NE better. They forced these regions to send better teams to champs because of the points systems.
I believe if you do compare apples to apple you will see much closer numbers. Yes more matches help teams.

[PaW]

Originally Posted by Navid Shafa

... I thought that 1318 might have gone to the finals in 2009...

The IRS alliance (1318,973,25) was knocked out in the semis on Galileo that year.

[Navid Shafa]

Originally Posted by PaW

The IRS alliance (1318,973,25) was knocked out in the semis on Galileo that year.

Originally Posted by Navid Shafa

Both went out in Semis though.

Yep, it was a shame too. What a great robot...


*Edit: Paul, I'd love to hear about your experience this season. Not getting to attend any events with 1899 was strange, and one of the downsides of districts. You put out another beautiful looking machine and I'd love to hear how 2014 was and what you have in store for 2015. Hope to see you next year!*

[Link07]

I'll put up some MAR stats while we're talking about districts

There was a MAR team on the finals of each division this year (including Einstein)

Since 2012 and the foundation of MAR, we've had 4 unique teams on Einstein (25, 303, 1640 x 2, 2590).

25 won Einstein in 2012.

2014 Champs:

MAR represented 5.75% of all teams at Champs, at 23 teams.

MAR made up 7.03% of elimination teams, at 9 teams selected to play on an elims alliance (11, 25, 193, 225, 341, 1218, 1640, 2590)

2590 was the only alliance captain.
341 was taken in the first round
11, 25, 225, 1640 were taken in the second round
193, 1218, 2016 were taken in the third round. 193 and 2016 did not play any elims matches.

Awards:

Archimedes Winner - 2590
Newton Winner - 1640
Newton Finalist - 341
Galileo Finalist - 1218
Curie Finalist - 2016
Einstein Finalist - 1640
Archimedes Entrepreneurship - 2590
Newton Creativity - 25

Total - 8

[jbsmithtx]

Praying that Texas moves to a district system this year. We've got some serious competition already, and moving to a district model like this would only make it better and would send all of the right teams. Really looking forward to this...

[safiq10]

Originally Posted by jbsmithtx

Praying that Texas moves to a district system this year. We've got some serious competition already, and moving to a district model like this would only make it better and would send all of the right teams. Really looking forward to this...

Could you imagine Texas teams in 2-3 years if we went districts!!! We have 2 world champs in the last two years. Im scared to think on how good texas would become.

[tkell274]

Originally Posted by jbsmithtx

Praying that Texas moves to a district system this year. We've got some serious competition already, and moving to a district model like this would only make it better and would send all of the right teams. Really looking forward to this...

From my understanding officials where approached in Texas about joining the district model and they were uninterested about that idea because they are able to stay financially feasible with the regional model and are able to produce very good teams from it. That said I would love to see Texas join the district model and match FIM for a total power house district that would significantly boost the excitement of elimination matches at championships.

PNW and NE FIRST both sent a lot of teams to eliminations this year because of the district model and I can't wait to see even more areas adopt it and make the competition at championships that much more intense and fun to watch.

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by Dunngeon

The best part about the district model from my perspective, was that we were able to bring upgrade packages throughout the season. Increasing our competitiveness as the season progressed. This was likely helpful to many other teams, which overall increased the competitive nature of the PNW this year.

My biggest problem with districts, is how much school I've missed over the last month. Between 1 day for OSU, 2 for DCMP, and 3 for CMP, it's too much. Especially in the middle of AP study season.

To be fair you only missed one more day of school vs attending a single regional and winning your way to CMP at that event. Note when selecting the schedule for the PNW district events we specifically offered to have Sat-Sun events and none of the venues wanted that schedule, they all wanted to do Fri-Sat events.

Originally Posted by tkell274

From my understanding officials where approached in Texas about joining the district model and they were uninterested about that idea because they are able to stay financially feasible with the regional model and are able to produce very good teams from it. That said I would love to see Texas join the district model and match FIM for a total power house district that would significantly boost the excitement of elimination matches at championships.

PNW and NE FIRST both sent a lot of teams to eliminations this year because of the district model and I can't wait to see even more areas adopt it and make the competition at championships that much more intense and fun to watch.

The reality was that in the PNW the cost of the first year of the district system was not that much higher than running the Regionals of the past, particularly the 2011 and 2012 seasons. That included purchasing fields, fleshing out our AV equipment to have enough for 2 fields, Pipe and drape, floor protection, pit power distribution system, and the materials to build the road cases to transport all of those items. Now that the initial significant capital expenditures have been made the cost in future years will be significantly less than running multiple regionals.

With the change to the district system some of the initial registration, and all of the 3rd event fees go back to the district, so overall in the long run it becomes much more financially viable and sustainable than multiple regional events. Though if the district chooses to rent things like pipe and drape, floor coverings and pay an outside vendor for catering and AV production the long term savings may not materialize or be as significant.

[Mr V]

To me the proof that the district system works has nothing to do with more teams from a district making it to finals and more of those teams advancing farther in those finals, that is just a nice side benefit.

The real proof lies in the students of the teams that didn't make it to CMP or even DCMP.

As the FIRST Senior Mentor for Washington state and a RI or LRI at 5 district events and the DCMP I spent a lot of time talking to team members, both students and coaches about the District system. Every single student I talked to and the vast majority of Coaches and Mentors were very happy about the change.

Students who had been on teams who have traditionally only attended a single Regional and have never had the chance to make it to CMP were particularly happy about going to the District system. They were now able to have what I call the full engineering experience. In the past they got one chance to test their solution to the problem at hand. With two events they were able to take the lessons learned at the event and then iterate and improve their designs.

Students loved the fact that a higher percentage of teams at an event were able to make it to finals and win awards.

Students loved the increased number of matches.

Some students and mentors shared how they were initially concerned that not playing in a big stadium would some how cheapen the experience but instead found the high school gyms more intimate and just as good of an experience and the viewing of the matches generally better.

The majority of the Coaches and Mentors also shared the feelings of the students and many said they saw even greater growth in their students than they had in the past. They also preferred the 6hrs of unbag time at their shop as they found it much more productive than time at a venue. They were able to gather all the parts and tools needed and lay them all out so they were ready to go when the bag was opened. Some teams even set up stations for the different things they planned and moved the bot to the next station for the next modification or repair. Others used some of that time to practice driving and test their changes.

Teams that did make it to DCMP expressed satisfaction and found the greater level of competition inspiring.

Yes teams that did make it to DCMP and CMP did improve their robot, strategy and driving thanks to having 3 or more chances to make changes and many more matches than they had in the past. But again I consider this a nice side benefit and one that will go away as more Districts come on line.

In conclusion if you in one of the areas where the critical mass is high enough to go to districts now or in the near future I suggest you share with your RD and other leaders in your area that you are ready to make the switch. That means that you also need to step up to the task and encourage others to do the same. Shadow volunteers next season, if you don't go to the districts, so you are prepared to take on those roles when you do go to the District system. If you do go next season step up and volunteer. It is a lot of work moving to the district system, particularly in the first season, but the benefits far outweigh the increased work. If more people step up to the task there really won't be an increased work load for the majority of those involved.

[wet_colored_arc]

I think Districts would help our students regardless of what happens on Einstein.

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by wet_colored_arc

I think Districts would help our students regardless of what happens on Einstein.

As I've said a couple of times based on talking to students, coaches and mentors that is highly likely and is the best reason to go to the district system.

[PingPongPerson]

Personally, I liked the districts because the increased number of matches really tested your team's design. A chassis or end effector that may have withstood 10 matches may not be able to stay together after 50 matches, and it really challenges the students to build more robust robots or at the very least make spares of everything.

I also have to say that I was really impressed with the quality of the coverage provided in the PNW districts. Some matches were uploaded to Youtube within hours of being played, which was really great for analyzing our strategies before eliminations.

[tickspe15]

As a student, I love the district system. We had the opportunity to tune the little things that usually only get caught in the off season. With 86 matches and well over 100 when you include practice matches we had time to really get to know our machine.

I also have loved the increased opportunities for connections between teams due to the increase in events and the more intimate settings. This season I have gone from being friends with teams that we see a few times every year; to truly knowing people from these other teams. Thru volunteering and just hanging out the PNW has become a much more tight knit community this season.

Lastly the increase in awards is very inspirational. Teams that have never won awards before are now winning awards and gaining fulfillment from all their hard work thus being inspired to improve.

[Samwaldo]

As a student in the NE District, it is obvious that in only 1 year the robots and play are better than last year. With every single team playing 2+ events. Many playing 3 and 4! (And 125 playing 5 official events). Teams have been constantly improving stradegy, driving, robots, etc.

My team has never focused on improving our robot between events. This year we did in between every event. Districts are alot more competitive since you play the same people and they learn your weaknesses.

I LOVED districts and wished I could see one more year (senior). As a driver, at the end of the day, i felt we had too many matches, which was a great feeling. In addition wth only 40 teams max, your chance of eliminations is increased. Another benefit I didnt expect was that due to smaller events and seeing the same teams over and over, I met many new people.

New England I KNOW has been only strengthened because of the district model. Michigan, you better watch out.