pic: Indiana Team Distribution and Events 2017

[Collin Fultz]

Originally Posted by logank013

Did IN not consider week 7? Or is week 7 not allowed anymore due to HalfChamps?

Edit: With that said, Houston is week 8 and St. Louis is week 9 so I'd think they would allow a week 7 champs for HalfChampsN but that might be seen as an unfair advantage.

We were encouraged to have a Week 6 CMP. Additionally, it gives our teams who qualify for St. Louis more time to plan. Also Week 7 is Easter. We had an event on Easter weekend last year and are happy we can avoid that this year.

[logank013]

Originally Posted by bam-bam

I figure the Penn event up north is to at least be a bit more inclusive to the Michigan and Ontario teams.

Please... let 1114 and 2056 come to this event. All the Michigan events will be too full for them to get in. IN is the next best option and they'll be forced to come to IN for inter-district play.

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by bam-bam

I figure the Penn event up north is to at least be a bit more inclusive to the Michigan and Ontario teams. Winter wasn't too nice for a few interested MI teams.

Given the economics of inter-district play, it makes perfect sense for IndianaFIRST to make those slots available if they can manage it. And I certainly see a northern event getting more of those plays since they're closer to FiM/Ontario. (A southern event wouldn't have nearly the same effect on North Carolina, since the western district event there had exactly 24 teams and that's before considering the Tennessee-and-Kentucky-sized distance in between. Georgia? Even worse. MAR/Chesapeake/NE? It's basically a wash at that point.)

[S1LK0124]

This was really helpful! Now I can kinda better understand how our team comes up with its budget for this year. Lol thanks Logan!

[Carolyn_Grace]

Originally Posted by Richard Wallace

Looking closer: not only does this event fall on the same weekend as ours, it has the same name! Maybe a little cross-district coordination would be good next time.

Oh man! That is a huge bummer. Unfortunately, it's difficult to coordinate this with other district areas, especially FiM, due to how large FiM is. I'm sure that they're restricted by some of the similar things that we are: venue availability dates being the first.

I really hope that we are able to still get some teams playing back and forth. INF teams can play in FiM week 2, without getting points for it. And FiM teams can do the same in INF. So it's a good practice opportunity.

[Richard Wallace]

No worries, we'll get it right next time, Carolyn. In the mean time I agree having the INF event at Penn HS is good for many teams that want to cross the border. Someday, mine will be one.

[Mike Schreiber]

Originally Posted by Richard Wallace

Looking closer: not only does this event fall on the same weekend as ours, it has the same name! Maybe a little cross-district coordination would be good next time.

Yea this one is a little goofy. For those wondering it's called that because it's in St. Joseph County. Wouldn't be as confusing if they weren't the same weekend, but at least that means no one is going to both.

[Design006]

Originally Posted by Richard Wallace

Week 2 at Penn HS will be the closest event we could attend, after our own. No hotel required.

Looking closer: not only does this event fall on the same weekend as ours, it has the same name! Maybe a little cross-district coordination would be good next time.

Maybe 3620 will at last get to play in Indiana! Maybe next year.

Thanks for reaching out Richard! Brett has done so as well. We would love deeper coordination between the teams in our area. Lets chat about how we can do this. Tim D. has been a great connection point; we all can do more to connect our teams. grant@michianafirst.co -- get with me there and we can coordinate : )

A third play for MI teams is certainly able to be played in Indiana!! We'd love to have MI teams in, we usually have a hand full each year. I am happy to connect you with Renee Becker-Blau about wanting to jump into an IN district event.

Looking forward to meeting more of your team this year! Volunteers, Mentors, and Outreach Events; lots of resources to connect on!

[Design006]

Originally Posted by Mike Schreiber

Yea this one is a little goofy. For those wondering it's called that because it's in St. Joseph County. Wouldn't be as confusing if they weren't the same weekend, but at least that means no one is going to both.

Looking forward to deeper connections between teams in the Michiana area! : ) Great communities all over southwest, MI have various teams sprinkled into them and their families/sponsors are connected with the northern Indiana area; same vice-versa. This will be a great chance for teams beyond our area to learn more about the strengths these communities bring to the table.

Good clarification Mike; indeed the IN district is named for the county while the MI event is named for the venue. More interestingly, Mishawaka has a high school named St. Joseph (where the event is not), and MI has a county - just north of the IN district event - named St. Joseph. haha : ) good synergy around here! Lots of connections and similar influences in our area!

Be well. Onward.

[Design006]

Originally Posted by Jon K.

I think it's great that Indiana is doing this! I look forward to seeing where the event moves to in the future. New England has made it their mission to move their district championship every year to allow all teams to have it be closer of an event, and to allow some teams to still have a "travel event", and I am sure that is something that is being taken into consideration by the competition committee in Indiana as well.

Ditto. Love it.

[Design006]

Originally Posted by Billfred

Given the economics of inter-district play, it makes perfect sense for IndianaFIRST to make those slots available if they can manage it. And I certainly see a northern event getting more of those plays since they're closer to FiM/Ontario. (A southern event wouldn't have nearly the same effect on North Carolina, since the western district event there had exactly 24 teams and that's before considering the Tennessee-and-Kentucky-sized distance in between. Georgia? Even worse. MAR/Chesapeake/NE? It's basically a wash at that point.)

Looking to make more of that happen. Creating the connection point for us to practically make that happen is what we see starting here. Incremental steps forward : )