Proposal for Wildcard Reform

[Gregor]

Originally Posted by Jon Stratis

The problem with this comes down to expectations and bag and tag. A team leaving a week 1 regions that has no more events, may not bag their robot or prepare for champs in any way. Then, over a month later (here in MN it's likely a week 1/week 6 difference, with how out events are scheduled) we give them a "retroactive" wild card? Not only is their robot now illegal for having been unbagged all that time, they probably aren't prepared for it financially either. It just introduced a whole lot of uncertainty into the equation for teams.

The current system makes sure teams know what to expect when they leave their event. For regionals, you know if you earned a spot or not before you leave the venue. For districts, hopefully you'll have a good feel for your odds of making it to the district championship, although that can be a little up in the air (but you should know if it's definite, borderline, or no way). Teams on the waitlist know they are on the waitlist and are planning for the eventuality of getting selected.

Any team that is eligible for (and has intentions on accepting) a retroactive wildcard has to bag their robot after their final event is a simple solution for this. Doesn't help with last minute travel plans, but that's the same as if you qualified at a late regional anyway.