Dual fields

[Keith Chester]

The idea of dual field regionals have been in the air for some time, especially with FIRST's growth being as large as it is. Super regionals are the logical next step.

My curiosity got the best of me and I have to ask, how would we do this? If one field is 15 minutes ahead and another 15 minutes behind, the schedule would become wickedly off.

This is how I was picturing a dual field regional - two divisons, A and B, each getting a field. A team always plays on one field, never switching back and forth. The rankings are all COMBINED- so for an 80 team regional with two fields, 40 a divison, there would be one ranking system of the top 80 teams.

Finals? Top 16 seeds stand up and pick their partners from both divisions. Same rules as the top 8 finals system regionals use now. The quarter finals then take place on the two fields. The semifinalists then go to a single field and compete as if it was a regualr quarter finals. What does all this mean? There's simply one more stage of finals until you find your winners, and the regional is that much harder.

Such is my idea. Of course there could be a much easier system for organizing a dual field system...

What do you guys think? I remember that, in my freshman year of '02 at nationals, teams seemed to move across the four fields for different matches, even if the divisions never crossed over eachother. I wonder- how was that done? Or did a late field make ever other field late?