Wisconsin District Rankings

[Kevin Kolodziej]

Personally, I have never understood the "state money" argument for transitioning to districts since most of those same sponsors probably already sponsor the local regional event that is bringing in many out of state teams...

[Christopher149]

Originally Posted by rich2202

Any reason for WI and IL not to form one Midwest District? Most of the IL and WI teams are near Milwaukee and Chicago. District Champs could alternate between Milwaukee and Chicago.

Even so, Superior WI to Carbondale IL (about the furthest span) is 11h20m according to Google Maps. By comparison, Calumet MI to Temperance MI is only about 10h. If the WI-IL district had a team density like Michigan, that would be rather a far distance. And geographically, the LP of Michigan is the vast majority of teams, and is a land area comparable to Wisconsin or Illinois individually.

PS: The only time I know of so far where there has been a change to a district border happened (in 2016?) with PNW where the one Alaska team wanted to be part of the district, and so PNW is now WA, OR, and AK.

PPS: Woo! 1,000 posts!

[Chief Hedgehog]

Originally Posted by Jon Stratis

The "mandate" to do districts within some sort of regional border is logistical. When placing an event (whether it's a district or a regional), you need to ensure its properly located close to teams, that it serve the teams properly. Allowing teams to "opt in" or "opt out" makes doing that a whole lot harder, especially in the border areas. You end up with a chicken/egg scenario - you need to know which teams are in before you plan events, but teams want to know where events are going to be before they decide if they want in or not. So, you have to draw some border ahead of time. Having teams from relatively far away truck in creates even more problems, as you need to ensure two plays for everyone in your district, and you often don't have many extra plays to go around.

So, you draw a line and say "everyone on this side is in this district" and go from there. Often, it's easiest to draw the line at the state border, but that isn't a strict rule. I can picture a geographic situation that would encourage a state to split in half - for example, if there are two distinct clusters of teams a long way apart, or if there is a single large cluster with only a few outliers near the border of another state with a nearby large city.

The other benefit to going by state boundaries is support - many locations (like Michigan) receive support specific to their state. It would be difficult to include outside teams with the same level of support from the local FIRST organization if things like money or state competitions had to stop at the state line due to external reasons.

Essentially - the further west you go, it makes more sense for individual states to go their own way. At least as long as there are enough teams to do so viably. My concern is always with ND and the partnership that MN has with our State High School League (MSHSL).

[Knufire]

Originally Posted by Kevin Kolodziej

Personally, I have never understood the "state money" argument for transitioning to districts since most of those same sponsors probably already sponsor the local regional event that is bringing in many out of state teams...

I think it's more targeted towards recieving government grants/funding directly to the local district organization.

[Joe Ross]

Originally Posted by Jon Stratis

So, you draw a line and say "everyone on this side is in this district" and go from there. Often, it's easiest to draw the line at the state border, but that isn't a strict rule. I can picture a geographic situation that would encourage a state to split in half - for example, if there are two distinct clusters of teams a long way apart, or if there is a single large cluster with only a few outliers near the border of another state with a nearby large city.

You've just described Pennsylvania which is partially in MAR.

[notmattlythgoe]

Originally Posted by Joe Ross

You've just described Pennsylvania which is partially in MAR.

Most people prefer to think of Philly as part of Jersey and not part of Pennsylvania. Because, well, it's Philly...

[Brian Maher]

Originally Posted by notmattlythgoe

Most people prefer to think of Philly as part of Jersey and not part of Pennsylvania. Because, well, it's Philly...

The Pennsylvania portion of MAR isn't just Philadelphia. It extends all the way to Harrisburg, which encompasses the entire eastern third or so of the state.

[EricLeifermann]

Discussion on districts for Wisconsin is on the agenda for the June 1st town hall meeting. If your team hasn't rsvpd for this event do so soon.

[rich2202]

Originally Posted by EricLeifermann

Discussion on districts for Wisconsin is on the agenda for the June 1st town hall meeting. If your team hasn't rsvpd for this event do so soon.

Where?

[EricLeifermann]

Originally Posted by rich2202

Where?

An email was sent out to all teams main contacts with information on the meeting. To RSVP for the meeting I would email Jeff Fenstermaker, you can find his email on the Wisconsin regional website.

[nerdrock101]

Will this event be streamed or will a video of the discussion be posted at a later date?

[XaulZan11]

Originally Posted by EricLeifermann

Discussion on districts for Wisconsin is on the agenda for the June 1st town hall meeting. If your team hasn't rsvpd for this event do so soon.

Is this event open to all stakeholders or just teams?

[EricLeifermann]

Greetings Wisconsin FRC Coaches!



Hopefully you and your teams enjoyed another amazing season!



As in past years, the RPC is pleased to host a post-season Team Forum.

Coaches and Mentors from all Wisconsin FRC teams are invited, even if your team didn’t attend the Wisconsin Regional in 2016.



Dinner will be provided.



When:

Wednesday, June 1st, 6pm-8pm.



Meeting location:

GE Healthcare Magnetic Resonance Center

3200 N. Grandview Blvd., Waukesha, WI 53188

Enter at Door 30. Meeting is in the WTE Training Room



Please provide me with a list of names from your team of who will attend the meeting by Friday, May 27th, so we can make sure the guards are aware of who is coming and we can make food arrangements.



Please also provide as much feedback as possible in advance, so we can help prioritize discussion points:

Things to consider:

· Constructive feedback on the WCTC Kickoff event and/or the Wisconsin Regional Event

· Thoughts on the growth of FRC in Wisconsin and how to support new teams leveraging State Grant Funding

· Ideas, opinions, perceptions, etc., with respect to the Regional model vs. District model in Wisconsin



Our goal is for this to feel more like a roundtable discussion than a presentation-style meeting.



Even if you are unable to attend, we still value your insights and would love to hear your feedback!



Thanks, and we look forward to seeing you!

Jeff and the RPC

Email that was sent to teams

[Ben Martin]

Originally Posted by notmattlythgoe

Most people prefer to think of Philly as part of Jersey and not part of Pennsylvania. Because, well, it's Philly...

The line is pretty fuzzy going North-South somewhere around Harrisburg. 4266 (when they were still around) was given the option to join MAR, and they opted not to.