pic: FIRST USA MAP

[EricH]

Originally Posted by logank013

Out of all states, why hasn't California gone to districts.

Let's just say that there is a really "interesting" mix of factors that is not exactly conducive to districts despite the massive interest from mid-top level teams.

Weather, for example, is one of the factors. Because our weather is so nice, our schools tend to have minimum-size gyms. No fieldhouses. No covered football stadiums. If you're lucky you get two connected gyms or a double gym. This kind of puts a crimp in venue hunting.

There's also the volunteer problem (not enough)--but that can be worked around.

We also have a LOT of single-event teams.

And, perhaps more to the point, there isn't one single overarching organization that can help cover. WRRF, LARobotics (SCRRF section), and San Diego's organization are the main players in northern CA, LA/Inland Empire, and San Diego, respectively, and if you go full-state, they've ALL got to work together (which can be done... it's just harder because WRRF has a pretty long commute to LARobotics, and longer to San Diego).


BTW, Jacob, a DCMP in Sacramento would NOT be in the middle by any stretch of the imagination. That's called "putting your DCMP at one end of your team concentration". Long story short, north of Sacramento there really isn't much, and especially not much FRC activity. Best bet for "in the middle" is the southern Central Valley: Bakersfield would be where my money would go in that case, as the most likely area to be a reasonable travel distance for the most teams AND the most likely to have a suitable venue.