Ontario Moving to District Model in 2017

[Michael Corsetto]

Originally Posted by frcguy

One day...

Based on emails I have gotten from RD's in CA, that day is very far away.

[Pauline Tasci]

Originally Posted by Michael Corsetto

Based on emails I have gotten from RD's in CA, that day is very far away.

Guess we have to push even harder.

[MailmanDelivers]

Originally Posted by jwfoss

I'm sure NE would welcome some visitors from the north as well.

We will. We always enjoy visits from Canadian teams!

[Michael Corsetto]

Originally Posted by Pauline Tasci

Guess we have to push even harder.

[Richard Wallace]

Originally Posted by Michael Corsetto

Look, it's Robo-Sysiphus!

I hope California's transition to districts will be easier than this.

[ratdude747]

If Indiana districts weren't as likely to keep me busy next season, I'd be tempted to pay one of them a visit. Now that I have a career that sends me to London, ON on a semi-regular basis, I have a passport so I can go past the border.

[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.

[IndySam]

Originally Posted by Karthik

Of course. Even better, Ontario teams can go back to Michigan for the first time since 2008!

Good luck getting into a Michigan event. They barely have enough spots for their own teams every year.

That's a great problem for them to have.

[IndySam]

Originally Posted by mman1506

Yup, In the GTA at least if your school has more than one gymnasium or a pool it is considered to be a huge school. Most public schools aren't setup to handle a sports event attended by more than a handful of people. IRI's venue was the biggest high school I had ever seen by far.

In Indiana basketball is the high school sport. We have the majority of the largest gyms in the country (seating wise.) Also large indoor facilities do to weather.

If you want to see a big school, drive on down to Warren Central, south of Lawrence North, where we have more that a million square feet under roof.

[cbale2000]

Originally Posted by IndySam

Good luck getting into a Michigan event. They barely have enough spots for their own teams every year.

That's a great problem for them to have.

Basically this, Gail has been prodding us for a few years now to host a second district and/or find another suitable venue for an additional district competition in our area because of the lack of available slots in the state (possibly getting worse this coming year as there may be one or two districts that stop being hosted from what I hear).

If I'm not mistaken, there were something like less than 10 slots left over this year after initial registration for teams that wanted a 3rd event or coming from out of state.

[first3234]

Originally Posted by Karthik

Of course. Even better, Ontario teams can go back to Michigan for the first time since 2008!

If so come to the west Michigan district what FIM considers there premiere district of all of FIM

[Sperkowsky]

Originally Posted by IndySam

In Indiana basketball is the high school sport. We have the majority of the largest gyms in the country (seating wise.) Also large indoor facilities do to weather.

If you want to see a big school, drive on down to Warren Central, south of Lawrence North, where we have more that a million square feet under roof.

If you want to see a big school go look at team 5417's school. Its a short drive down to Allen Texas but that Football stadium is probably bigger then most of our team's schools.

http://www.pogueconstruction.com/wp-...-Stadium-1.jpg

Oh yea Ontario Districts whoops.