2017 New York Regionals

[Bluman56]

Originally Posted by rpaulsen

Suffern is a lot closer than you may think, especially for teams from Uptown or the Bronx. There are two ways to get there, either by crossing the GWB or Tappen Zee, and each way it is only about 45 minutes of travel in each direction. Last year I brought my team down from New Rochelle to Long Island, an identical distance to Suffern, and we took the bus back and forth each day. Sure it was a little tiring, but it was fine. We skipped load in on Wednesday night, only brought our pit crew on Thursday, and bused the Friday/Saturday.

I expect that we will start seeing a bit of a split in the NYC area teams, where uptown/Bronx teams start favoring HVRA and downtown/Brooklyn/Queens/SI favoring Long Island. Realistically, we probably would need at least one more area event in either Suffolk or Brooklyn to make this area work best in a District model.

With all due respect, look at the attendance rate of the HudsonValleyRally offseason event. Not every team has access to a parent with a car or a mentor with a car (for example our team has access to a car through our Lead Mentor who is a dean of the school and through a fellow mentor, both of which work in jobs that require them to be on call at all times. I imagine given the attendance rates of this event and the event in 2010, other teams share the same struggles. To be clear, if an event cannot be accessed by public transportation (MTA trains to Javits for example), many NYC teams would not attend.

I've been on the most well funded team in NYC before joining the team I'm helping now and the dynamic is strikingly different. Everything that seems like a nonissue to a medium-well funded team is a huge issue for low resource teams.

I completely agree that we need more events in the 5 boroughs. HVR is the right step towards districts, but inner city teams are being completely ignored at this point.

[ollien]

Originally Posted by Bluman56

With all due respect, look at the attendance rate of the HudsonValleyRally offseason event

Just wanna point out that the original date overlapped with the SAT, which I would chalk up to be part of the reason so few teams attended.

[plnyyanks]

Originally Posted by Bluman56

I completely agree that we need more events in the 5 boroughs. HVR is the right step towards districts, but inner city teams are being completely ignored at this point.

Definitely agree on this point. Here's my back of napkin math (as best I remember it, using last season's numbers): New York state has about 130 teams, split roughly evenly between NYC+Westchester, LI, and the rest of the state (about 45 teams in each area).

That means, for proper execution of the district system, NYC teams would require 90 plays, which 3x36 team events. Same for the LI and "upstate" regions. NYC+Westchester has two district-sized events this year, and LI has a regional approximately the size of two district events.

Now this year, there are only 122 spots for ~90 teams across NYC+LI (assuming NYC and HVR hold 36 teams and LI holds 50). That's cutting it awful close (not even including second plays and the rest of the state)...

[bdaroz]

Here's a post I had done w/ a map and breakdown of the 2016 teams:

Originally Posted by bdaroz

Now that the season is over, I've posted an updated FRC team map for NY state teams:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Hg...PU&usp=sharing

Note: The map is 1 pin per location and for locations with multiple teams (eg "New York, NY") the label is prefaced with the number of teams in parenthesis. This is culled from the TBA data for 2016 events, so only "active" teams are listed. (I believe "active" in this case is registered, but if a team did not play despite being registered, they are listed... but I don't think it applies to any teams here.)

Some stats on this data:

• 150 Teams in NYS for 2016
• 53 of those are Upstate (North of Kingston)
• 97 Downstate (furthest northern team is 5943 Carmel)

Of the upstate teams:

• 21 are within 30mi of the Finger Lakes Regional
• 10 are within 30mi of the Tech Valley Regional
• Only 9 teams are beyond 30mi away from I-90/NYS Thruway. (Sorry Clarkson teams.)

[Jessi Kaestle]

So I would just like to say that every year the NYC Regional would keep an exorbitantly large percentage (comparatively) of their capacity as waitlist spots so that they could ensure that NYC teams would have access because they were (and still are) aware of the average NYC team's financial situation.

That being said please don't treat the open capacity as an accurate reflection of the total capacity for either the NYC regional or HVR and please stop bad mouthing an organization who is doing everything within their control to give teams an opportunity for more plays

[Sperkowsky]

Originally Posted by Jessi Kaestle

So I would just like to say that every year the NYC Regional would keep an exorbitantly large percentage (comparatively) of their capacity as waitlist spots so that they could ensure that NYC teams would have access because they were (and still are) aware of the average NYC team's financial situation.

That being said please don't treat the open capacity as an accurate reflection of the total capacity for either the NYC regional or HVR and please stop bad mouthing an organization who is doing everything within their control to give teams an opportunity for more plays

Well for 1 its a totally different venue. NYC First had a lot of flexibility with the inordinate amount of space they had at Javits. The armory is significantly smaller so I am guessing they have less room to grow the regional.

And unless I am missing something I have not read anything bad about NYC First. The real problems came from the RPC's up north but I am sure there were reasons both FLR and TVR were on the same week so I am not going to jump to conclusions and act like they just blatantly messed up.

SBPLI from what I hear is working on a second regional on the island for 2018. That will help alleviate overcrowding and if FLR and TVR are on different weeks 2018 will run a lot smoother. Although despite it probably not affecting me fingers crossed NY goes districts for 2018.

[Bluman56]

Originally Posted by Sperkowsky

Well for 1 its a totally different venue. NYC First had a lot of flexibility with the inordinate amount of space they had at Javits. The armory is significantly smaller so I am guessing they have less room to grow the regional.

And unless I am missing something I have not read anything bad about NYC First. The real problems came from the RPC's up north but I am sure there were reasons both FLR and TVR were on the same week so I am not going to jump to conclusions and act like they just blatantly messed up.

SBPLI from what I hear is working on a second regional on the island for 2018. That will help alleviate overcrowding and if FLR and TVR are on different weeks 2018 will run a lot smoother. Although despite it probably not affecting me fingers crossed NY goes districts for 2018.

Ditto with this. Did not mean to bad mouth NYCFirst as they've gone to great lengths for us in the past, but this change is concerning and without any communication those concerns only grow. It's particularly worsened by this years scheduling is all.

[Brian Maher]

Originally Posted by Sperkowsky

And unless I am missing something I have not read anything bad about NYC First. The real problems came from the RPC's up north but I am sure there were reasons both FLR and TVR were on the same week so I am not going to jump to conclusions and act like they just blatantly messed up.

Both Tech Valley and Finger Lakes are held at colleges (RPI and RIT, respectively). This year, both schools have the same spring break, which severely impacts venue availability. No one wanted this. Many teams who have traditionally attended TVR and FLR (such as 2791) are upset that now we have to compete with both upstate and downstate teams in order to attend a second regional in NY.

[Sperkowsky]

Originally Posted by Brian Maher

Both Tech Valley and Finger Lakes are held at colleges (RPI and RIT, respectively). This year, both schools have the same spring break, which severely impacts venue availability. No one wanted this. Many teams who have traditionally attended TVR and FLR (such as 2791) are upset that now we have to compete with both upstate and downstate teams in order to attend a second regional in NY.

Yup I know of this detail. Honestly though it may have made sense for the RD's to find another college to host one of the events at. There are so many colleges in upstate NY presumably a few would be willing to host an event. I am no regional planner but to me this seems like it would have been a solution that would make life harder for the RPC's but help the transition to districts by gaining another potential venue as well as benefiting teams. And, FIRST is here for the teams. But I am preaching to the choir here so I am going to stop. Hopefully stuff just goes better next year and hopefully we get into a second regional without a problem being its the first year we have the chance to do so.

[Jay O'Donnell]

I have a feeling there will be a severe lack of teams from upstate at HVR since that would mean playing back to back weeks, but there will be more upstate teams at LI and NYC than usual. Hopefully it balances out overall.

[bdaroz]

Originally Posted by Jessi Kaestle

So I would just like to say that every year the NYC Regional would keep an exorbitantly large percentage (comparatively) of their capacity as waitlist spots so that they could ensure that NYC teams would have access because they were (and still are) aware of the average NYC team's financial situation.

That being said please don't treat the open capacity as an accurate reflection of the total capacity for either the NYC regional or HVR and please stop bad mouthing an organization who is doing everything within their control to give teams an opportunity for more plays

Let me be clear, I have the upmost respect and appreciation for the RDs and the organizations that put on these regionals, and that will hopefully come together in 2018 to form the NY District (I hope ) What we have are the first round available slots, and some historical capacity figures. Given the change in venue for the NYC regional, it's understandable to consider the final number an unknown, which is what I did. I would not take, nor would I intend to imply, these are final, or as a knock on any of the RDs or organizations.

This is simply another data point for the teams to use in trying to determine where to play next season.

(Note: I did try to find how many of the slots at the Javits center were released to start, but was unable to get that info.)

Originally Posted by Jay O'Donnell

I have a feeling there will be a severe lack of teams from upstate at HVR since that would mean playing back to back weeks, but there will be more upstate teams at LI and NYC than usual. Hopefully it balances out overall.

I went and looked to make sure, but 2015 and 2016 both had FLR/TVR back to back weeks, and a good number of TVR teams attended FLR as well. I'm not so sure, this being the third year in a row of back-to-back scheduling, if it'll have a material impact on TVR teams looking at HVR for a 2nd play. Perhaps FLR teams may take pause because of the added distance, but I don't know.

In reality, I have a feeling that HVR is going to be the tough ticket to get with FLR/TVR-area teams looking for a 2nd regional in that direction.

[Dominick Ferone]

Originally Posted by Sperkowsky

Well for 1 its a totally different venue. NYC First had a lot of flexibility with the inordinate amount of space they had at Javits. The armory is significantly smaller so I am guessing they have less room to grow the regional.

And unless I am missing something I have not read anything bad about NYC First. The real problems came from the RPC's up north but I am sure there were reasons both FLR and TVR were on the same week so I am not going to jump to conclusions and act like they just blatantly messed up.

SBPLI from what I hear is working on a second regional on the island for 2018. That will help alleviate overcrowding and if FLR and TVR are on different weeks 2018 will run a lot smoother. Although despite it probably not affecting me fingers crossed NY goes districts for 2018.

I am not sure how true this is with SBPLI running two events. As it stands they are barely running as an organization last I checked. (albeit a few years have passed since I was heavily involved with Long Island.)
But back when I was in high school me and a few other students were working hard to gain more money for SBPLI to keep it afloat. I have heard from a few people in order for them to afford Hofstra, they are given a really discounted rate on the venue. I mean things could have changed in the past few years.

Also this is only the fourth year TVR has been around, so as much as it sucks that its the same week as FLR, I feel many teams understand the struggle or searching a bit for a second regional. Also back to back regionals while it is annoying isn't the worst thing ever. Many teams are already packed up and just need to possibly restock inventory for the next event, and the students can get both competitions out of the way quickly. (If they're lucky and it lands during a break they can possibly miss minimal amount of school.) With back to back you also can get a bit of a break, get packed for champs if you're attending and not really worry as much. Coming from a team that had done late week competitions, the season gets harder and harder as the weeks go on and with your first competition in one of the last weeks, you struggle.

When many teams have their first event late and others have already competed they can have a bit of an advantage.

[Sperkowsky]

Originally Posted by Dominick Ferone

I am not sure how true this is with SBPLI running two events. As it stands they are barely running as an organization last I checked. (albeit a few years have passed since I was heavily involved with Long Island.)
But back when I was in high school me and a few other students were working hard to gain more money for SBPLI to keep it afloat. I have heard from a few people in order for them to afford Hofstra, they are given a really discounted rate on the venue. I mean things could have changed in the past few years.

I mostly said from what I hear as a normal disclaimer since I heard it through people. But they are both very reliable and heard it from sbpli so they really are trying for a second regional. Sbpli has not asked teams for money since 2014. That or I have just tuned out their speech about it at kickoff. I remember distinctively my freshman year being very confused with why what at the time to me was just an extension of first couldn't fund themselves. Their issues Iirc came from losing state issued money but based on them not asking for money and attempting to host a second regional I'm guessing they have been doing better lately. Hopefully it doesn't matter though when NY First gets created .

[dougwilliams]

Team 2053, TigerTronics is centrally located in Binghamton, the middle of the state. Oddly, we're a few hours away from any and all NY events. So, our first pick this year is ... Pittsburgh!

We have to drive at least 2.5 hours for any event, and at that point we are staying overnight; something a few hours further away has virtually no consequence. We enjoyed Pittsburgh last year, and would like to go again this year.

I thought the former Virginia Regional, and the Pittsburgh Regional were fun, high quality events; we have not thought the same of the NY events we have attended in recent years. I hope the groups considered the constructive feedback.

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by Brian Maher

Both Tech Valley and Finger Lakes are held at colleges (RPI and RIT, respectively). This year, both schools have the same spring break, which severely impacts venue availability. No one wanted this. Many teams who have traditionally attended TVR and FLR (such as 2791) are upset that now we have to compete with both upstate and downstate teams in order to attend a second regional in NY.

I understand there may have been a conflict this year with the schools that may have prevented solving this problem (though, I don't know about it, haven't heard about it, and nothing on RPI's end stands out), but I really just want to emphasize that this "conflict" happens intentionally, every year; the schools (among many other schools in the region) coordinate spring break plans. And yet, this is the first year the regionals are on the same weekend. For the past two seasons, the regionals were on back to back weekends, one at the beginning of spring break and the other at the end. There has to be something else other than "they have the same spring break" causing this conflict, such as both venues being unavailable week 4, or a director wanting to keep week 4 open for HVR, or one of the schools having an athletic event one of the weeks, or something.