Hey FIRST - We're going to need a lot more regionals!

[Jeff Waegelin]

I definitely agree. My team was thinking about doing three regionals this year, but it looks like that won't happen. We weren't able to get registered for Midwest Regional, which was a first, as it usually doesn't fill quite as fast. Now, every regional in the Midwest, with the exception of Pittsburgh (18 spots) and St. Louis (2 spots) is full, and those two conflict with Great Lakes. I know I've heard many people complain that "the Midwest doesn't need another regional," and while yes, we do have a lot here already, we're going to need more or bigger regionals just as much as anyplace else. It's a universal problem that FIRST is going to need to solve.

My solution: keep the number of basic regionals about the same, and add four or five "mega-regionals" like we've been discussing. Make it so they don't conflict with the regular regionals (say, put them all in week 5) if possible, so everybody gets a shot at going to one. Doing this will take some of the pressure off of the regional events, and will also give a fun, large event for those who can't attend the Championship.