MAR 2017

[Brian Sherman]

To be transparent, I wanted to explain the decision process and approach in generating the MAR schedule for 2017 as I've heard both positive and negative comments from a few people both on CD and in person.

Overall Goals & Approach:
-Spread out events based on geography and team density
-Minimize overlapping events in the same region
-Week 6 Champs per FIRST request
-MAR has event "regions" that are not based on state lines but rather are determined by our equipment transportation method. As many know, we use PODS. There are 2 franchise hubs within our region, Hatfield, PA & Edison, NJ. To limit costs, we try to avoid crossing the franchise territory boundaries. Southern NJ (Seneca) is part of the Hatfield hub. Central NJ is within Edison's. So, our south field has an event week 1-2-3-4 and north field has an event 2-3-5.

Venue Specific:
-Mount Olive was shifted to week 2 due to venue availability.
-Montgomery was shifted to week 5 due to venue availability and the shift of district champs to week 6.
-Bridgewater was shifted to week 3 to not overlap with Seneca and Montgomery so that there are not double events in central/south NJ weeks 4 or 5.
-Westtown was shifted to week 2 due to venue availability and to not overlap SCH and Seneca weeks 3 or 4. We also prefer district events to be earlier in the season to allow teams to qualify earlier for district champs. If we even could have had Westtown week 5 again, it would force teams into the position of fundraising or preparing travel in 2 days for district champs, week 6. We already have that condition with Montgomery, week 5, which is not desirable.

While we have very flexible and generous host venues, venue availability is the number 1 factor that creates our event schedule. If any teams would like to have more options to create a different schedule, please consider hosting an event yourself. It's a very rewarding experience for both the host team and local community.


And just to clarify. Congrats and welcome to all the new MAR board members, who represent MAR as a whole, single community: Randy Coren, Kevin Dieterle, Bill Garfield, Jim Hobin, Chris Lester, & Priscilla Zawislak. It's a strong addition.