2017 Minnesota Regionals

[jajabinx124]

Figured I'd start a general thread to talk about what teams registered for MN events so far.

- Week 1: Lake Superior
- Week 1: Northern Lights
- Week 6: 10,000 Lakes
- Week 6: North Star


My observations so far:

- 1806 SWAT the powerhouse from Missouri has signed up for the North Star Regional which is already known for it's competitiveness.
- Couple of notable newcomers to the 10,000 lakes regional- 4607 and 5172. This is going to be one exciting regional to watch.
- Northern lights looks stacked as ever, with 525 registered for the event.

2017 season looks like it's going to be exciting once again for MN!

[Ginger Power]

I think North Star is still probably the stronger event, but 10K is probably the strongest/deepest it's been since I've been around. There are definitely enough good teams to keep things interesting in the playoffs.

10K will also be much better on the awards side of things this year. Plenty of Chairman's and EI contenders. Should be a fun event, hopefully I don't hit my head on all the short doorways...

[cscottm]

All of a sudden I am very glad that 2502 goes to 10K every year.....

[Chief Hedgehog]

@cscottm - glad you stuck around as well! My team loved working with EP at state - and 2502 was a major reason for us switching to 10K!

As a whole I am really excited for 4607 to compete in 10K for 2017. It was a difficult decision and knowing North Star has treated us well for the last 4 seasons, it was time for a change.

So for our 5th season, we decided to shake things up a bit for our team! My thought is give the kids a new experience. And we will do this by working with teams we have never had the chance to work with at a Regional before such as 2508, 2478, 3244, 4536, and hopefully 3313 and 2545 (my hometown) as well as many others!

We are also excited to be able to work with teams that we have seen at State, Worlds, and off-season events such as: 1816, 2052, 2502, 5172 (hope we don't need to bring back Steve Irwin )...

I am glad to see fellow CMNRH teams in the ranks: 3023 (our mentor team) and 3026 - a team from Delano that has built the some of the best robots in MN the past two seasons.

You can also bet that scouting has already started. Seeing that this Regional currently has 4 State champs, 4 RCA Teams, and many Regional Winners on hand - this will be a great event for all! We will see how this Regional shapes up as we get closer and the final spots are taken. Good luck all!

[tjwolter]

New faces for sure at North Star. Team TOBOR our neighbors both in Western Wisconsin and in the pits last year were unable to navigate the Registration minefield before the 30 spots filled. I was surprised that half of the 60 slots were held back. I do get that rookie teams need an inside track to get to an event in their time zone, but last year North Star only had 3 rookie teams. I know, we were one of them. What's the logic of holding back 30 slots for what is unlikely to be 30 rookie teams?

[Mark McLeod]

RD's will also request holding some slots for local veterans known to be delayed and in need (cannot travel to alternate Regionals), e.g., single mentor, financially challenged, team leadership reorganizing that prevents timely registration, etc.
It can especially a problem when there is expected to be a crush of travel teams shutting out local teams who are financially strapped or delayed in registering.

[ABreyen]

Are any teams having more issues w/ registration? 2232 wasn't able to register for 10K lakes, and TBA only shows 30ish teams. Is this just a bug with registration? Anyone else having issues registering?

[Doug Frisk]

Originally Posted by ABreyen

Are any teams having more issues w/ registration? 2232 wasn't able to register for 10K lakes, and TBA only shows 30ish teams. Is this just a bug with registration? Anyone else having issues registering?

All 4 Minnesota regionals hold back 30 spaces during initial registration. Did you get yourself on the waiting list?

[Jon Stratis]

There were a lot of spots held back in the MN events this year. When you look at MN's growth rate, we'll probably be in the neighborhood of ~220 teams this year, with open capacity at our own regionals of ~240 spots. It's a really tough job balancing open access to play against diverse teams from across the globe with ensuring access to local area teams that may not be able to travel... I do not envy the RD's (ALL RD's!) that job.

That said, for teams local to any given regional, when you see that many spots that have been held back for the waitlist, you can probably sign up with a high confidence of getting in off that waitlist! And if you are in doubt, you can always contact your local RD's or Senior Mentors to get some direction! Just look up their contact info on the right side of the page here: http://www.firstinspires.org/about/contact-us

[Doug Frisk]

Originally Posted by Jon Stratis

There were a lot of spots held back in the MN events this year. When you look at MN's growth rate, we'll probably be in the neighborhood of ~220 teams this year, with open capacity at our own regionals of ~240 spots. It's a really tough job balancing open access to play against diverse teams from across the globe with ensuring access to local area teams that may not be able to travel... I do not envy the RD's (ALL RD's!) that job.

That said, for teams local to any given regional, when you see that many spots that have been held back for the waitlist, you can probably sign up with a high confidence of getting in off that waitlist! And if you are in doubt, you can always contact your local RD's or Senior Mentors to get some direction! Just look up their contact info on the right side of the page here: http://www.firstinspires.org/about/contact-us

And by my count, there are 18 non Minnesota teams already registered across the 4 MN regionals. It's very likely that some Minnesota teams will not be able to play in a Minnesota regional at all this year simply because there's no space for them.

[tjwolter]

Avis Automata is one of those 18 Non Minnesota teams. But it is 90 minutes for us to get to Minneapolis and probably four hours plus to go to Milwaukee. For that matter there are some southern MN teams for whom Iowa may be closer. I do feel for teams from sparsely populated areas. North Dakota teams would have a long drive to get into a tournament other than MN options.

[mildew999]

Originally Posted by cscottm

All of a sudden I am very glad that 2502 goes to 10K every year.....

Ditto for 2052

[maxnz]

Originally Posted by DareDad

And by my count, there are 18 non Minnesota teams already registered across the 4 MN regionals. It's very likely that some Minnesota teams will not be able to play in a Minnesota regional at all this year simply because there's no space for them.

I did notice that 2220 - Blue Twilight did not go to a MN regional last year.