Georgia Districts confirmed for 2016!

[Anupam Goli]

As per an email I received today:

We are excited to announce that Georgia will adopt the District model for the 2016 FRC season. We realize that your team will have many questions about the coming changes. The basic information for the Georgia District model is attached in this email.

Over the next month we will develop a Georgia District FAQ webpage on the GeorgiaFIRST website. Please send us an email if you have questions after reviewing the attached information. We will add your questions to the FAQ's.

Also know that District event locations are being finalized. As soon as we have more information on locations we will share it and post it to gafirst.org.

I'm definitely excited about this. I'm hoping to have enough events where I can take my team to 3 districts + district championship at the least.

Link to attachment in email: Georgia FIRST District system

[MARS_James]

I am really happy for our neighbors to the direct north. I would love to hear from someone involved with the planning about more of the logistics of the change over as Georgia just got it's second regional last year and are now making the switch to districts.

[Carl C]

Within the next few years, NE, MAR, North Carolina, and now Chesapeake and Georgia will all be moving to the district model. That is a very significant portion of the East Coast!

[Anupam Goli]

Originally Posted by MARS_James

I am really happy for our neighbors to the direct north. I would love to hear from someone involved with the planning about more of the logistics of the change over as Georgia just got it's second regional last year and are now making the switch to districts.

I'm not on the planning committee but I can provide a little bit of background on what the state was looking at in 2015:

For starters the second regional did leaps and bounds to improve play in the state and give teams a second shot at competing. However many teams in the state still only played 1 event. After Peachtree many teams were upset at getting only 8 qualification matches, but having to pay so much for the registration and venue associated costs. Given that a large percentage of teams are based in the metro Atlanta area, there was an interesting optimization problem to solve, involving cost per play, team distribution, and individual team expenses. Hopefully the venue selections solve this problem.

[Jacob Bendicksen]

Great to hear that more regions are moving to the district system. It's been fantastic for teams in the PNW, so best of luck and have fun to our friends in Georgia!

[Brandon Zalinsky]

I'm hyped! More events to go to that will fit better with my schedule! I hope to see all your wonderful faces at some Georgia Districts and Georgia Champs!

[FrankJ]

The down side of districts is that you have to be in a district to go an event. I am going to miss the out of state and country teams we have competed with over the years.

[ttldomination]

Originally Posted by FrankJ

The down side of districts is that you have to be in a district to go an event....

Not 100% correct. Looking in the 2015 rules, there is still a decent amount of flexibility.

- In-district teams can travel to other regionals, where they will play under standard regional rules (qualify for all awards, a win gets you to worlds, etc.). However, you do not gain any points from these events.

- In-district teams can also travel to other districts. However, the team will not get any points from that event and they do not qualify for specific awards (Chairmans, etc.).

But the primary restriction still remains that 'regional' teams cannot come 'into the district.'

It will definitely mean that GA will become a little more isolated, but that could be a good thing.

- Sunny G.

[Brian Maher]

I'm really happy to see more regions going to districts. I've been in MAR on Team 1257 since the district's implementation four years ago.
Being able to compete twice for the same price and having the extra chance to grow, learn, and improve have helped our team escape a rough few years. The intermediate, more reachable level of success (District Championship) increased our drive to be successful on and off the field.
Districts really increase the value of FRC not just in terms of cost per match but in terms of the inspiration and impact FRC makes on teams, especially struggling ones. I'm really glad more teams will be able to take advantage of the system that has helped us so much.

[boxerbaby30]

Team 108 will sorely miss competing at Peachtree in Atlanta. Our past couple of years traveling to Georgia have been great. Thanks to all of the teams that made competing there such a great experience for us. Special shout out to teams 4188 and 343 for making our last year at Peachtree a victory we will never forget.

[logank013]

Originally Posted by Carl C

Within the next few years, NE, MAR, North Carolina, and now Chesapeake and Georgia will all be moving to the district model. That is a very significant portion of the East Coast!

Isn't texas going to the district model next year too? I don't know how regionals were since I wasn't on the team last ear but I know being in the IN district this year was great. I felt like I knew almost every Indiana team front to back. Plus, it's a really good representation of who they best bots are all year vs. just 1 event.

[logank013]

Originally Posted by ttldomination

Not 100% correct. Looking in the 2015 rules, there is still a decent amount of flexibility.

- In-district teams can travel to other regionals, where they will play under standard regional rules (qualify for all awards, a win gets you to worlds, etc.). However, you do not gain any points from these events.

- In-district teams can also travel to other districts. However, the team will not get any points from that event and they do not qualify for specific awards (Chairmans, etc.).

But the primary restriction still remains that 'regional' teams cannot come 'into the district.'

It will definitely mean that GA will become a little more isolated, but that could be a good thing.

- Sunny G.

I know at IN Kokomo, we had 2 FiM teams at our event. Team 68 and 107 played in the IN district but it was just for fun. It didn't add any points to there FiM district. Plus, I know that we could have gone to regionals as well.

[logank013]

Originally Posted by BMSOTM

I'm really happy to see more regions going to districts. I've been in MAR on Team 1257 since the district's implementation four years ago.
Being able to compete twice for the same price and having the extra chance to grow, learn, and improve have helped our team escape a rough few years. The intermediate, more reachable level of success (District Championship) increased our drive to be successful on and off the field.
Districts really increase the value of FRC not just in terms of cost per match but in terms of the inspiration and impact FRC makes on teams, especially struggling ones. I'm really glad more teams will be able to take advantage of the system that has helped us so much.

I wasn't on the team last year but i know we only went to 2 regionals for the cost of $10,000. This year, our first two districts cost $5,000 and our 3rd district cost only $1,000 more. Then the district championship was $4,000. In my opinion, 4 events for the same price as 2 events is worth it. Plus, it is a better representation of who the true good teams in the districts are. I loved how the point system was layed out for this year.

[Oromus]

Congratulations to Georgia! It's great to see more states switching over to the districts system. We're gonna miss competing with you guys, though; we had a great time at GSCE this year!

[Mr V]

It is interesting that the announcement says that teams are required to attend two district events. Yes it is unlikely that you can move on to DCMP and then CMP if you only attend one event. You could however do it as winning Chairman's, Engineering Inspiration and Rookie All Star at a district event automatically qualifies you for DCMP. Winning those awards or being on the winning alliance at DCMP automatically qualify you for CMP. However if you can only attend one event you can only attend one event. What is the penalty if you only go to one district event other than it hurting you chances of moving on to DCMP and CMP? I know we have had that happen with one team in the PNW, and no they didn't qualify for DCMP.