Ontario Moving to District Model in 2017

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by Pauline Tasci

Guess we have to push even harder.

Don't push. Pull. Lead from the front. If you want your region to "go districts", help to make everything ready, and make it inviting enough for it to happen easily.

[Pauline Tasci]

Originally Posted by Alan Anderson

Don't push. Pull. Lead from the front. If you want your region to "go districts", help to make everything ready, and make it inviting enough for it to happen easily.

Way easier said then done, especially with all the politics that play into FIRST CA.
"Leading" the district push is great but nearly impossible when other people demand the reigns.

With that said I don't want to take away from the OP.
I'm very excited that Ontario is going to districts!!

[GreyingJay]

We're... cautiously excited?

I know feedback has been positive from all the areas that have gone to districts. A lot of it sounds good on paper. Cheaper fees. (And fees in Canadian dollars will help a lot with currency fluctuations.) Same great regionals that we know and love plus a few more. Personally I'm hoping for a new district event closer to Kingston or Ottawa...

District Championships can be seen as an added "hurdle" between here and Worlds, but at the same time, being able to say "We made it to the provincials!" isn't anything to sneeze at either.

[Karthik]

I had a chance to dig a bit through the numbers last night and I'm thrilled at the deal Ontario teams will be getting on registration through the new district system. Look at this comparison of costs taken from the Ontario District Announcement FAQ. As stated in the document these costs for 2017 are just projections at the moment, with exact details and invoices coming out in November. All prices are below are in Canadian Dollars based off today's USD-CAD exchange rate of 1.28.



For a team who currently goes to two events, there's an instant savings of over $4000.00 CAD. That savings increases further if you compare the cost of attending 3 Regionals vs 2 Districts and the discounted District Championship. Teams will be having a lot of money put right back into their pockets to start the season.

For years teams have been pushing for this transition to districts in order to take advantage of these savings. Now that FIRST Canada has made the jump it's up to the teams to give back and help make this happen. This transition to districts will need a huge new influx of volunteers. Going from 5 to 9 or 10 events next season will be a big change. This can't happen unless Ontario teams step up and provide/recruit more volunteers to make this new format success. So if you're on an Ontario team, please consider signing up on VIMS to be volunteer for next season. Heck, sign up for one of the three off-season events happening this fall to get trained and to meet the people you'll be working with. Let's give back to our community so we can lead FRC in Ontario into the future.

[Christopher149]

How does the team in Thunder Bay, ON, (4732) feel about the transition? It's a 12-hour drive or couple hour flight to the nearest event (North Bay). Two events will be a step up from their usual of attending only one Toronto-area regional.

[nbetik]

As much as I think the move to the district model is great, with lower prices and all that, I'm going to miss competing with teams from far away at the Waterloo Regional (only a 5 minute drive from my team's high school!). Being on an alliance with 148 this year was absolutely incredible. Plus, even though I wasn't on the team in 2014, just seeing 254 at that year's WR was wicked cool.

[Basel A]

Originally Posted by nbetik

As much as I think the move to the district model is great, with lower prices and all that, I'm going to miss competing with teams from far away at the Waterloo Regional (only a 5 minute drive from my team's high school!). Being on an alliance with 148 this year was absolutely incredible. Plus, even though I wasn't on the team in 2014, just seeing 254 at that year's WR was wicked cool.

We're at the tipping point where you don't lose all that much potential for diversity by going to districts. For example, Texas is considering going district, so 148 or 118 could still come to Canada, and it would actually be cheaper for them than it was before.

[Lil' Lavery]

Originally Posted by Basel A

We're at the tipping point where you don't lose all that much potential for diversity by going to districts. For example, Texas is considering going district, so 148 or 118 could still come to Canada, and it would actually be cheaper for them than it was before.

That really depends on how many open spots are left. For most districts, they pick the lowest number of events required to support two plays for their district teams. That leaves few spots for third plays. Given the scheduling for registering for 3rd plays, very few spots are available for inter-district play.

[WelderManiac]

Originally Posted by Christopher149

How does the team in Thunder Bay, ON, (4732) feel about the transition? It's a 12-hour drive or couple hour flight to the nearest event (North Bay). Two events will be a step up from their usual of attending only one Toronto-area regional.

We're quite concerned right now. It's a fifteen hour drive to send the robot down unless we were to ship it in a crate. Having to go to two events would be a logistical and budgetary nightmare for us. We're trying to go to the Northern Lights Regional next year instead of down to GTRE, like we did this year.

I'm also worried for team 4704 (Timmins), which I assume would have an even harder time raising the funds to do districts.

[Christopher149]

Originally Posted by WelderManiac

We're quite concerned right now. It's a fifteen hour drive to send the robot down unless we were to ship it in a crate. Having to go to two events would be a logistical and budgetary nightmare for us. We're trying to go to the Northern Lights Regional next year instead of down to GTRE, like we did this year.

I'm also worried for team 4704 (Timmins), which I assume would have an even harder time raising the funds to do districts.

Not really knowing how rural Timmins is: they have events about 4 and 8 hours away (according to Google Maps). When Michigan went districts, our closest events were about 8 and 10 hours away (now down to ~3 and ~5.5). So it's not the worst drive, but it does raise their travel costs.

[ratdude747]

If Michigan Districts fill up, there are usually a few open slots down in Indiana. Not as close as Michigan, but it's only one state further south.

[dtengineering]

Originally Posted by WelderManiac

We're quite concerned right now. It's a fifteen hour drive to send the robot down unless we were to ship it in a crate. Having to go to two events would be a logistical and budgetary nightmare for us. We're trying to go to the Northern Lights Regional next year instead of down to GTRE, like we did this year.

I'm also worried for team 4704 (Timmins), which I assume would have an even harder time raising the funds to do districts.

That is a down side of having illogical district boundaries. For the past two years BC teams have had to compete in Calgary, rather than in the PNW district event taking place about one hour's drive south of them in Washington state.

To add to the irony, Alaska is able to send teams to PNW district events, meaning that Vancouver teams are surrounded by a district they cannot (at present) join.

Nothing against the Calgary regional (both teams had a great time there), but it makes poor environmental and economic logic to drive over 12 hours to get to an event when you have events one hour and three hours drive from your school.

Knowing several key people involved in both Ontario and PNW, I have faith that over time they will be able to make districts work out really well for ALL the teams... not just the 95% of teams that currently see a huge benefit from the district model.

Congratulations to Ontario on going district. I've been volunteering in the PNW for a few years now, and while I'm blown away by the commitment of the key volunteers, it has been great for the teams that can take part in it.

Jason

[IKE]

I am very excited to hear Ontario is making the transition.

Some tips:

1. Have at least 1 mentor or former student from your team sign up to be an inspector. Commitments for inspecting can be relatively light, and a lot of inspectors make light work. Students heavily involved in build (typically electrical or mechanical) tend to work out well.
2. Refs are also typically of high demand. I will not pretend I know what it takes, but I know a lot of former students a couple years out of the program tend to do a good job for us in Michigan. This is a higher pressure role than inspecting. I have heard former competition team students do well in this role as long as they do not hold grudges.
3. Try to get parents involved with some of the other non-key volunteer roles for events. I smile every year that I see one parent of students that graduated in 2009 still helping with scoring table at a couple events each year.
4. Talk with your sponsors about whether or not they could spare someone for Judging.


For many regions, the switch to District system can be a great spur for growth. Keep this in mind and have key volunteers look for other prospects to help in their roles for future years.

Congratulations again. The first year can be very scary and will be a lot of hard work, but once you have completed a District Championship, it is hard to imagine going back.

Hopefully I will see a couple teams from Canada next year at my Michigan events.

[P.J.]

Originally Posted by IKE

2. Refs are also typically of high demand. I will not pretend I know what it takes, but I know a lot of former students a couple years out of the program tend to do a good job for us in Michigan. This is a higher pressure role than inspecting. I have heard former competition team students do well in this role as long as they do not hold grudges.

I'll take this one.

Yes, referees always seem to be in high demand. As Ike said, alumni are a great resource to pull from. Speaking as an alum turned referee (turned unofficial referee recruiter and trainer), it's great to have people familiar with how FRC games typically work transition to reffing. It's much easier to train them than, say, a parent from a team.

I've noticed the "best" alumni referees seem to have either been on drive team or the head scouts on their former teams. These are the positions that usually know the games and rules the best.

It's a high pressure job, but you also get the "best seat in the house" as one of my former head referees used to say. I highly recommend it for alumni who want to remain involved in first without necessarily mentoring a team.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by P.J.

I'll take this one.

Yes, referees always seem to be in high demand. As Ike said, alumni are a great resource to pull from. Speaking as an alum turned referee (turned unofficial referee recruiter and trainer), it's great to have people familiar with how FRC games typically work transition to reffing. It's much easier to train them than, say, a parent from a team.

I've noticed the "best" alumni referees seem to have either been on drive team or the head scouts on their former teams. These are the positions that usually know the games and rules the best.

It's a high pressure job, but you also get the "best seat in the house" as one of my former head referees used to say. I highly recommend it for alumni who want to remain involved in first without necessarily mentoring a team.

Ditto this. The other good element for a ref is practice at offseasons. It'll at least give you a feel for how the game is played as a ref, even though it'll change before the next year.

As far as "in high demand"... can I double that? I'd like to not end up in stripes at 4 events again next year (two of them I wasn't planning on that...). (Though I've got a funny feeling that I'll be recruited to do just that...)