F4 - Episode 7 (Regionals Vs. Districts)

[itsjustjon]

Originally Posted by EricLeifermann

I like the premise of this specific episode, and kudos to you for putting yourself out there with this type of show.

That being said, no student or mentor can truly be against districts without having been apart of the district system. The general arguments that come out is about the "quality" of the show put on at a regional VS district as well as "sponsors don't want to see their money go to things that get shown in a high school gym". The 1st one can potentially be seen as a true argument but until people have been in the district system their opinion is invalid. As for the 2nd argument all the district areas would probably give you many reasons why that is wrong.

There are more arguments that come out, but most of them aren't seen on the student end of the spectrum. The 2 above have the most potential to affect a students experience.

You've touched on several of my points that I will be making on the Sunday episode, and I totally understand what you mean.

As a student, the individual experience at a competition means a lot to my team and I. The production value displayed at our local regionals helps us get more members, sponsors, and mentors interested because it pushes the "after-school robotics club" motif into the zone of "professional and official varsity sports".

Yes, I haven't been to a district event in my FRC career, but I have been to six regionals, and those six regionals have heavily influenced the way I viewed robotics as a freshman member on 3309.