Should teams be allowed to attend multiple regionals?

[AJunx]

Originally posted by Allison K:

Does participating in a regional not count as acheiving the goals of FIRST? Are you telling me that you are not inspired by attending regional events?

Ms. K, I’m very glad you have spotlighted this issue.

I think that attending a regional event ABSOLUTELY counts as achieving the goals of FIRST (particularly the Inspiration aspect). However, all regional attendance is not equal. What do I mean? I’ll explain.

I believe that there are two main ways in which a team may choose to attend a regional event:
1) The “full-team method.”
OR
2) The “drive-team method.”

The “full-team method” probably needs no explanation. But an example or two might prove useful.

Example A: Bluateam is planning to attend only one regional event this year. When it comes time for Bluateam to compete in their regional, the entire team attends. Maybe Bluateam is a large team, or maybe Bluateam is a small team; regardless of their size, every team member that is eligible to be with the team at the regional will do so. Bluateam members will go to the regional, they will get the joy of seeing their own creation come to life and compete against other works of engineering brilliance. In some cases, Bluateam wins awards for being the most spirited, for being the most gracious professionals (sportsmanship), or for truly exemplifying what FIRST is all about (Chairman’s). A perfect example of this sort of team is Team 364 (Sparky), out of Richmond, VA. At the NASA/VCU regional they embodied, in my humble opinion, the true spirit of FIRST. They were always spirited, helpful, and gracious professionals.

Example B: Bluateam is planning to attend two (or more) regional events this year. Bluateam sends its entire team to both regionals. Bluateam members are inspired at each competition. Again, in some cases, Bluateam wins awards for being the most spirited or for being the most gracious professionals (sportsmanship). Bluateam has many reasons for attending an additional regional event, but most of all they feel as if the entire team has benefited from the experience.

The “drive team method” is one that has been employed by a number of different teams. It is often used to gain a competitive advantage over other teams (which is not, specifically, up for debate in this thread).

Example: Redateam is planning to attend two regionals and nationals. To the first regional they attend, they send 3 students (the drive team) and some number of engineers (we’ll say 7). Those 10 Redateam members do not try to win any awards, other than those involving the design/success of the robot. Redateam has sent those 10 team members for two reasons: 1) to gain additional driving experience and 2) to gain an extra three days to build/fix the robot.

The question then, redefined, is this:
Do YOU believe that the $5,000 dollars (which is, I might add, a very low estimate) spent by Redateam to send their drive team and 7 engineers to an additional regional could be better spent in the interests of achieving the goals of FIRST (to inspire in young people an interest in engineering and science)?
In other words, do you believe that the money used to fund the "drive-team method," as described above, could not be used differently so as to inspire more people to become involved with science and engineering?


Originally posted by Katie Reynolds:

As it is, isn't there a 3 regional per team cap right now?

I'm not 100% sure, but I do not believe that there is any rule that prevents a team from attending more than three regionals. As for last year, there was most definitely not a rule preventing teams from attending more than 3 (hence the 16 teams that attended 4 regionals).


The feedback so far has been absolutely great. Thanks to everyone who has posted their thoughts.

-Andrew