Inter-District Play in 2017

[EmileH]

We'd love to see some inter NE-Canada play. Back to the good ol' days of 2013 when 610, 2386 and others joined us at GSR.

[page2067]

Lots of room at Greater Boston! Week 3.

- Come for pure fun, and 6 hours of un-bag.

[Peyton Yeung]

The St Joseph district event in IN has plenty of space for some out of state competitors.

[Zebra_Fact_Man]

Originally Posted by Peyton Yeung

The St Joseph district event in IN has plenty of space for some out of state competitors.

1076 was originally planning on trying to come, and then we ended up hosting an event Week 2, soooo better luck next year ):

[Theseusgoats]

Not to be a party pooper, but with 8 MI teams coming to an Indiana District Event, I feel like the Indiana teams at the event will be at a major disadvantages as they are simply trying to get points, but they keep getting taken away by MI teams.

[BrennanB]

Originally Posted by Theseusgoats

Not to be a party pooper, but with 8 MI teams coming to an Indiana District Event, I feel like the Indiana teams at the event will be at a major disadvantages as they are simply trying to get points, but they keep getting taken away by MI teams.

Tradeoffs. Live in a bubble and never meet a new team from someone far away, or lose a couple points because MI teams have magic mojo in the water that inherently makes them better than IN teams.

Or learn from these teams and use that as motivation to be better than them. Your choice! I personally think that anyone at the event will have a major advantage as they are able to play with high level teams and will understand the game way better than the teams that didn't attend the event.

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by Theseusgoats

Not to be a party pooper, but with 8 MI teams coming to an Indiana District Event, I feel like the Indiana teams at the event will be at a major disadvantages as they are simply trying to get points, but they keep getting taken away by MI teams.

8/31 is a chunk. And by my count, 13/31 are going to be Indiana teams playing their second scored event in two weeks (461, 1501, 1646, 1747, 2171, 2909, 3147, 3865, 3936, 3940, 4580, 4824, 4982). I don't think that's going to affect many of them, but that might affect some bubble aspirations. (Six of those teams finished last year either missing state or finishing bottom-five of the teams that made it.)

But as they say back in my homeland: to be the man, you gotta beat the man.

[Peyton Yeung]

Has there ever been an district event with this many outsiders?

I know at both of our last district qualifying events, 461 has seriously considered not picking in-state teams purely for district point reasons. Being on the bubble each year for points based spots to worlds, we count every potential point carefully.

[MARS_James]

Originally Posted by Peyton Yeung

Has there ever been an district event with this many outsiders?

Nope, and it should be fun to watch because if the out of district teams completely dominate the local teams, causing many to miss out on advancement to district champs, it may cause FIRST to put hard limits on how many slots at a district event can go to teams outside a district.

Originally Posted by Billfred

But as they say back in my homeland: to be the man, you gotta beat the man.

WOO!

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by MARS_James

Nope, and it should be fun to watch because if the out of district teams completely dominate the local teams, causing many to miss out on advancement to district champs, it may cause FIRST to put hard limits on how many slots at a district event can go to teams outside a district.

On-field, sure. But those Michigan teams are also ineligible for Chairman's, EI, and RAS. That means relatively light competition among Indiana teams. I don't think anyone unworthy would end up with those awards, but you've got to like your chances when only 22 teams can win the first two awards. (31 teams, 8 are Michigan, 1 is a rookie that wouldn't win Chairman's or EI but could win RAS if the judges deem them worthy.)

WOO!

I prefer this one.

[Zebra_Fact_Man]

Originally Posted by Billfred

I prefer this one.

Relevant

[Theseusgoats]

I remember specifically someone at an IN event making a mechanisms for elims, specifically against who they were facing against in the finals. But anyway, thats not really my main point. I'm not saying its wrong that MI teams are coming, in fact I love seeing new teams. I'm just saying that it might be disadvantageous for other teams. As someone previously said, for teams that it is their first event, it might be odd having so many teams which they may not see again in their next event, which is something that doesn't really happen in IN under the district system. It is not uncommon to see a certain team at more than one events throughout the season in IN due to the small number of teams present.

[marshall]

Originally Posted by MARS_James

Nope, and it should be fun to watch because if the out of district teams completely dominate the local teams, causing many to miss out on advancement to district champs, it may cause FIRST to put hard limits on how many slots at a district event can go to teams outside a district.

I feel like this is one of those things that some local district teams will complain about because they don't quite understand how district points work but it isn't actually true and I suspect the impact of out of district teams on district events will be minimal overall.

Yes, out of district teams coming in have the ability to disrupt the event as any outside force does but they can't progress to that district championship. Chances are the top teams in the district will still be the top teams in the district regardless of the outside teams coming in. The outside teams also contribute $1000 to the local district, and they had to wait a really long time to sign up for the event to begin with.

But hey, what do I know? I want to get rid of bags.

[Theseusgoats]

I knew my post would cause some controversy. I'm simply saying that, since there are so few teams in Indiana to begin with, for teams to be superseded by Michigan teams would actually affect their district points overall. Due to the margin of district points being so low, at least judging from last year, every point counts. Not only that, teams may create specific strategies, specifically during elims that really only apply to the MI teams. This not only wastes time, but resources as well. Obviously we want as many teams as possible to keep the event interesting, but it would be a shame if the level of play for IN teams just because we have so many MI teams going. Again, I respect all the teams coming.

[MARS_James]

Originally Posted by Theseusgoats

I knew my post would cause some controversy. I'm simply saying that, since there are so few teams in Indiana to begin with, for teams to be superseded by Michigan teams would actually affect their district points overall. Due to the margin of district points being so low, at least judging from last year, every point counts.

Unless the Michigan teams somehow rank 1-8, then all pick each other, then proceed to have only their alliances in the semi's the impact will hopefully be minimal.

Originally Posted by Theseusgoats

Not only that, teams may create specific strategies, specifically during elims that really only apply to the MI teams. This not only wastes time, but resources as well. .

Do you not plan on having to deal with the 82 minimum Michigan teams if your team goes to champs? Because all things being equal about 1/5 of all the teams at North Champs will be from Michigan meaning most likely you will have a Michigan team in every match. Call me crazy but getting a taste before hand of what to expect at champs (like we did this year seeing both 118 and 16 at Rocket City and Newton) is crazy valuable down the line.

Originally Posted by Theseusgoats

Obviously we want as many teams as possible to keep the event interesting, but it would be a shame if the level of play for IN teams just because we have so many MI teams going. Again, I respect all the teams coming.

I think there is a word missing here, but my big pet peeve about all this, is before inter-district play sign up all the open slots became waitlisted, I am guessing the event runner would have prioritized Indiana teams if they signed up. So either not enough wanted a 3rd play or they couldn't afford it. If it is the former then unfortunately the only way to solve this is to grow the district so there is less waitlist spots. If it is the latter then the out of district teams will help raise funds within the district to hopefully eventually lead to the district offering financial aid to the teams.