2014 Lessons Learned: The Negative

[Brandon_L]

Originally Posted by Libby K

I like this shift, but it made me think of something else.

At the two MAR districts my team went to, we didn't have a 'practice day', but rather a load-in/unbag/inspect/maybe-practice night. We're allowed to get to the venue ~3, and can unbag and inspect, then could practice from 5-10pm. (Or maybe it was 9 and pits closed at 10.)

At that point, why not just go back to having a traditional practice day like we used to at regionals? We're already there for 7+ hours. It was shifted WAY too late, and my students were exhausted by the end of the night. Falling asleep in the pit exhausted. At another district event where I was volunteer coordinator, the volunteers weren't able to leave until almost 11, and then they were expected to be back at 7. It was great to have practice time, but at the cost of sleep for volunteers and teams? Maybe time to seek alternative solutions.

I think you're missing the 6 hour unbag time in the week leading up to the event which is supposed to replaces the practice day. The first day is supposed to just be a load-ing/unbag/inspect and at some events practice is thrown in. I've been to events where we were allowed to practice Day 1 (Bridgewater) and events where we weren't, and practice was a couple hours at the beginning of day 2 (Chestnut Hill, Lenape 2013).

Of course, the 6 hour unbag time can't really replace true on-field with other team practice time. The issue with having a full practice day, at least in MAR, is probably the fact that the MAR events run Friday-Sunday in a highschool gym which would involve invading a high school during school hours.