Current Districts Map. Who is next?

[Gregor]

Originally Posted by jajabinx124

I understand your opinion and the districts system would be awesome here in MN, but IMO Minnesota isn't going to districts anytime soon. From what I've heard, MN has issues getting enough volunteers for the 4 regionals we have in our state, so thinking about districts and the number of events that may need to be put up for districts here is insane.

Maybe in the next 5 or so years it may switch to districts.. but that's just my guess.

Half the issue of volunteers in Minnesota is that there are only 2 weekends available. Many volunteers won't compete at an event their team is at, so they can't volunteer anywhere if their team does 2 Minnesota events. If the 4 regionals were on four separate weeks I'd better you'd see many more volunteers appear.

The fifth Minnesota regional will probably help disperse the teams and actually free up some volunteers.

[jajabinx124]

Originally Posted by Gregor

Half the issue of volunteers in Minnesota is that there are only 2 weekends available. Many volunteers won't compete at an event their team is at, so they can't volunteer anywhere if their team does 2 Minnesota events. If the 4 regionals were on four separate weeks I'd better you'd see many more volunteers appear.

The fifth Minnesota regional will probably help disperse the teams and actually free up some volunteers.

I don't know whether there will be a 5th MN regional. The new Iowa regional is technically the "5th MN regional" I think.. I think the MN volunteer base is going to be heavily involved with helping set up/run the new Iowa regional, but this will help free up some volunteers hopefully and give IO, MN, MO, etc. teams another choice for a regional to attend.

[Ginger Power]

Originally Posted by Gregor

Half the issue of volunteers in Minnesota is that there are only 2 weekends available. Many volunteers won't compete at an event their team is at, so they can't volunteer anywhere if their team does 2 Minnesota events. If the 4 regionals were on four separate weeks I'd better you'd see many more volunteers appear.

The fifth Minnesota regional will probably help disperse the teams and actually free up some volunteers.

The other half of the issue is that we have such a young volunteer base. While having more volunteer weekends available increase the number of raw volunteers, it won't change the fact that we only have so many key volunteers. I just don't see us getting enough key volunteers in just 2 years... and this from somebody who desperately wants to change to districts.

[notmattlythgoe]

Originally Posted by jajabinx124

I understand your opinion and the districts system would be awesome here in MN, but IMO Minnesota isn't going to districts anytime soon. From what I've heard, MN has issues getting enough volunteers for the 4 regionals we have in our state, so thinking about districts and the number of events that may need to be put up for districts here is insane.

Maybe in the next 5 or so years it may switch to districts.. but that's just my guess.

The thing is, this is the same concern that every region switching to districts has. No one has a cache of people sitting around to step in and take all of the additional volunteer spots that are added in the switch. Unfortunately, until you make the switch you won't have the volunteer base you need.

Build it and they will come.

[Michael Hill]

I'd like an Ohio/Eastern Kentucky/Western PA/West Virginia district, but the problem is volunteers in the region. For some reason, we just can't get enough of them to run a good district.

I can definitely see either a SoCal+Arizona and a NorCal+Nevada district, or just a combined California (but that is A LOT of driving...we drove from SF to San Diego on our honeymoon, and I would NOT want to drive it for a competition). I'm surprised Texas isn't already a district. New York+Southern Ontario is a possibility as well, but I'm sure that district would get swallowed up by the Canadian teams there, so I'm not sure how much New York would really WANT to be in that district.

[bigbeezy]

I keep hearing Illinois will eventually. I think ideally Indiana, Illinois, and southern Wisconsin should join up.

[stopyourself]

Forgive me, for some reason neither of the images are showing up for me on either of my computers, probably the school blocking it. I'm from Kansas City, and from a few looks of great scrutiny at the US FIRST website, I could not find the GKC Regional on the list for this year. Am I simply not seeing it? Or is there no GKC Regional this year?

[Lil' Lavery]

Originally Posted by stopyourself

Forgive me, for some reason neither of the images are showing up for me on either of my computers, probably the school blocking it. I'm from Kansas City, and from a few looks of great scrutiny at the US FIRST website, I could not find the GKC Regional on the list for this year. Am I simply not seeing it? Or is there no GKC Regional this year?

Not all events are confirmed/posted on the FIRST webpage. You'll find that many other regionals are still missing, as well. Once a contract is signed with the venue, it should be on the webpage. According to this post, GKC is happening and will be week 2.

For future reference, questions like that can be posted in the regional competitions sub-forum or the regional dates thread.

[MARS_James]

Originally Posted by dodar

Florida, regretfully, will probably be one of the last holdouts for districts. The size and makeup of the state geographically along with the decline of teams hurts that chances pretty hard.

The last statement is a little misleading yes Florida has less teams then our peak but lets look at the long term situation say 5 years:

2011: 55 Teams
2012: 76 (+21, The first year of the South Florida Regional, the last year of the JC Penny Grant)
2013: 72 (-4, No more JC Penny grant, NASA removes some grants for South Florida, South Florida moves to a more expensive location)
2014: 63 (-9, Rookie Teams from 2012 can no longer receive the grants from NASA based on age)
2015: 64 (+1)

So over the last 5 years we have had a net gain of 9 teams not spectacular but still not an overall loss. Also in 2015 50% of our teams attended 2 or more regionals while in 2011 that number was 18%, yes there wasn't a second event in our state at the time but it shows that half of our teams are already paying near the $10,000 required for districts and district championships.

Florida is closer to being able to sustain districts then our loss of 12 teams in 4 years say especially with a possible 3 off season events potentially leading to an increase of volunteer base. That being said your statement about geography as well as the way our highschools are designed (very open and airy lacking space big enough to host districts) lead to our issues.

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by jajabinx124

I understand your opinion and the districts system would be awesome here in MN, but IMO Minnesota isn't going to districts anytime soon. From what I've heard, MN has issues getting enough volunteers for the 4 regionals we have in our state, so thinking about districts and the number of events that may need to be put up for districts here is insane.

Maybe in the next 5 or so years it may switch to districts.. but that's just my guess.

The problem with MN's constant maybe in a couple of years is that as every year passes it gets harder and harder to make the transition. Every time another 16-20 teams is added it means another event is required. The 195 teams they had last season is already past the point that I consider a good size for start up. With 195 teams you need 390 plays at a minimum. So 390/36= 10.8 events and 11 events is the most I would want to do the first season so that you can have a single event week one to work all the bugs out. Now if you can find enough venues that can hold 40 teams you can get away with a start up number of 220 teams but you are preventing any additional plays at that point. Once you exceed 240 teams you will need at least one week with 3 events.

Because they are only 2 day events and there are fewer volunteers needed at a 36-40 team event than at a 60 team event it is about as easy to come up with enough volunteers to run 2 district events as it is one large Regional. Because there will be more dates to choose from your base of potential volunteers increases significantly. No the volunteer count doesn't scale perfectly since there are a number of positions that need the same number of people no matter how big the event is, for example you need 1 LRI no matter the number of teams but you need fewer RIs the smaller the event. Assuming that as others have speculated that a lot of the MN contingent is going to cross the boarder for the new 5th event in the general vicinity and you are basically there with your volunteer base. Getting volunteers at DCMP is relatively easy because a huge number of the people who did a district event want to be at the big show.

[AlexD744]

Originally Posted by MARS_James

The last statement is a little misleading yes Florida has less teams then our peak but lets look at the long term situation say 5 years:

2011: 55 Teams
2012: 76 (+21, The first year of the South Florida Regional, the last year of the JC Penny Grant)
2013: 72 (-4, No more JC Penny grant, NASA removes some grants for South Florida, South Florida moves to a more expensive location)
2014: 63 (-9, Rookie Teams from 2012 can no longer receive the grants from NASA based on age)
2015: 64 (+1)

So over the last 5 years we have had a net gain of 9 teams not spectacular but still not an overall loss. Also in 2015 50% of our teams attended 2 or more regionals while in 2011 that number was 18%, yes there wasn't a second event in our state at the time but it shows that half of our teams are already paying near the $10,000 required for districts and district championships.

Florida is closer to being able to sustain districts then our loss of 12 teams in 4 years say especially with a possible 3 off season events potentially leading to an increase of volunteer base. That being said your statement about geography as well as the way our highschools are designed (very open and airy lacking space big enough to host districts) lead to our issues.

Agreed, we have turned the tide of team losses, have 3 coordinated off season events, and the volunteer base at south florida is more and more a different group than in orlando. Locations are a problem, but I doubt it would be impossible to find the right ones. Florida is on its way to districts, but it'll take some time to get there. And while we still have many hurdles to cross, the signs are finally starting to be good, which they haven't been for a long while.

[BenGuy]

Originally Posted by notmattlythgoe

The thing is, this is the same concern that every region switching to districts has. No one has a cache of people sitting around to step in and take all of the additional volunteer spots that are added in the switch.

What a few Michigan districts do is require teams to provide volunteers in order to attend the competition... for example we had to provide one volunteer each day of the competition last year.

[logank013]

Originally Posted by BenGuy

What a few Michigan districts do is require teams to provide volunteers in order to attend the competition... for example we had to provide one volunteer each day of the competition last year.

Now this isn't robotics, but I'm also involved on my school's Speech Team. For that, we need to bring a judge (a volunteer) for every 5 students we bring. I'm sure state FIRSTs' could implement a rule like that if needed in that state.

[notmattlythgoe]

Originally Posted by BenGuy

What a few Michigan districts do is require teams to provide volunteers in order to attend the competition... for example we had to provide one volunteer each day of the competition last year.

My point was, using the excuse that there aren't enough volunteers means they will never make the switch. Supply and demand, if the demand for volunteers isn't there the supply won't grow.

[Doug Frisk]

Originally Posted by notmattlythgoe

The thing is, this is the same concern that every region switching to districts has. No one has a cache of people sitting around to step in and take all of the additional volunteer spots that are added in the switch. Unfortunately, until you make the switch you won't have the volunteer base you need.

Build it and they will come.

Minnesota would need 15 district events just for the teams in Minnesota. If only Minnesota teams were allowed it would orphan the teams in North Dakota, northern Iowa and north/western Wisconsin. Add those teams into the district and there would need to be 17 to 18 districts minimum. Minnesota would be running 3 or 4 events per weekend during competition season.

You can't expect the key volunteers to work for six weekend straight. To make districts work you need six or more event leads, FTAs, FTAAs, Head Refs, Lead Queuers, Pit Admins, Lead Robot Inspectors, Judge coordinators, Lead Safety inspectors and probably a couple more I'm forgetting. That's fifty plus people all making a commitment to train and work four weekends during competition season.

Minnesota has some really committed key volunteers. But it's a small group that's maybe a third of what would be needed. Right now its a group of people who do Duluth's double regional and then Minneapolis' double regional. I've already committed to Iowa next year and I expect there will be enough of the core group that the key positions there would be covered.

It's the minor volunteers that are where Minnesota has trouble, and that I suspect has to do with the size of the events which have all of the teams in the area competing, so most of the natural volunteers are already occupied.