[FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!

[notmattlythgoe]

Originally Posted by Monochron

I agree, they are growing every year. It seems like the strain on the given FIRST state organization would be reduced by partnering with a nearby state though. Right now a district NEEDS at minimum 3 events where the old regional model only needed one. Having at least two states involved would allow for those 3 events to be put on by the combined resources of those states rather than leaving one to do it themselves. Ideally you would have more than 3 events total, but going from 1 event one year to 3 the next is no small challenge.

By making the switch you are always going to have more events, and combining states likely means increasing the number of events even more. I'm not sure the transition is any easier by combining states together and in fact it might be harder since you combining organizations.

Originally Posted by marshall

I would agree. Organizing a multi-state district requires a lot of communication and organization that doesn't exist at the moment.

I'm on the fence about districts right now. There are some downsides with teams having to raise additional funds to go play at district championships. There are upsides too, mind you.

For us, it's a right royal pain because we now will likely have to find hotels and accommodations for students at multiple events along with the district championship. We also have a lot more paperwork than the average team for transporting some of our students due to the nature of our host school (It's a boarding school).

I'm very much on the fence about this and I'm curious if these smaller district events are going to be as well organized as the more focused regionals were... particularly with the change in venue and the field equipment, AV setups, etc.

Those are a lot of the same concerns that the teams in VA having moving into next year. I guess it all depends on the team and what they are used to doing. Since year 2 2363 has attended 2 Regional events each season, and has had to travel to both. For us the cost stays exactly the same if we attend the District Championship.