Regional Competitions

[JulieB]

Originally Posted by Billfred

Call it bias, but I think Palmetto's the best of the three regionals I've been to. (The Championship is a whole other ballgame.) Florida's a hard-fought regional, and you can't get much closer to the field than you do at Peachtree (and I've shagged the stray Poof balls to prove it), but Palmetto's always had the best balance of teams, venue, and atmosphere.

That is very true about Peachtree you are so close you can feel the action!!
Im looking forward to attending my first Regional at Palmetto this year.

[Lil' Lavery]

I've been to the Chesapeake, Philadelphia (not since 2001 though), VCU, Peachtree, and Colorado regionals, and VCU takes the cake by a long shot.
VCU 2007, once again the largest regional in FIRST (66 teams!!!)

[Tim Delles]

I have personally been to a few regionals (Long Island, Buckeye, GTR, FLR, BAE, UTC) and of course Nationals (Disney, Houston, and Atlanta)

I found that the atmosphere at GTR was by far the best. The competitiveness of each of the regionals was good, but GTR and UTC definately stood out. With GTR there are so many teams that have great potential if they are paired with the right combination of robots/teams. With UTC the competition is always tough. You never know how you will do until the match is over.

Nationals is always great but i still look back and i loved it when it was held at Disney. Great times under those tents, especially being out in the sun watching the finals on the Einstien stage.

[Richard Wallace]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

VCU 2007, once again the largest regional in FIRST (66 teams!!!)

Never been there myself. I hope the venue can accomodate the crowd.

42 or 48 teams seems like the optimal number to me. Multiples of six are good so some teams don't end up playing extra qualifying matches as surrogates.

I've been to every St. Louis Regional, starting with the first one in 2002. Also to Midwest in 1997 and 2004, Buckeye in 2005, Waterloo in 2006, and the Championship in 1996, 2003, and 2005. And I went to IRI in 2006, which was more fun than most of the official FRC events I've attended.

Of course I prefer St. Louis because these are the people I work with season after season. This year should be especially good, because many of our local area teams are maturing into competitive forces now, and we will be hosting several very good visiting veteran teams: 45, 148, 217, and dozen or so others that are also very good, if not quite as famous.

[Katie Reynolds]

* Moved thread to "Regional Competitions" section *

[MattLi]

Our team is going to the Florida Regional. Now if you take the time to really think about this it makes sense. See, we're all up in Michigan freezing our fingers off. So going down to Florida provides a great change of scenery and gets us out of the cold weather.

[wendymom]

Originally Posted by MattLi

Our team is going to the Florida Regional. Now if you take the time to really think about this it makes sense. See, we're all up in Michigan freezing our fingers off. So going down to Florida provides a great change of scenery and gets us out of the cold weather.

Hey Matt.

Just so you can really look forward to it. ITs gonna be 80 degrees here in Orlando today.

Bring Sunscreen!!

[technoL]

Because this is only my second year, I have only been to 2 regionals and the championship, but I think they were both great. The diversity of teams from at the Florida Regional was pretty cool, and it keeps getting more and more competitive year after year as so I've heard. You couldn't help but notice the southern hospitality at the Palmetto Regional. Everyone was so friendly, and the arena was really nice!

This year we're heading out west to the Las Vegas Regional, and I've never been anywhere close to the West Coast. The sheer thought of being on the opposite side of the country makes it so much cooler. We'll be back at the Florida Regional and the Championships again too. I'm so psyched about this season!

[Choi9111]

KANSAS CITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[robochick1319]

The Boilermaker Regional was a blast! Kind of cold, but still loads of fun!
The people were awesome, the competition was fierce, and the experience was amazing.

I have to root for Palmetto Regional because it is my backyard (it IS in Columbia, SC) and it is always fun to see your neighbors. It is one of the last regionals for nationals and it always proves to be super cool!

[Uncrash]

2003: BAE Granite State Regional
2004: BAE Granite State Regional
2005: BAE Granite State Regional
2006: Yeah, BAE Granite State Regional

We are not creatures of habit, I swear.

[Lil' Lavery]

Originally Posted by Richard

Never been there myself. I hope the venue can accomodate the crowd.

VCU has had 60+ teams since at least 2003 (earliest I can remember the amount of teams it had), but I believe 66 is a new high. The Siegel Center is VCU's basketball arena though, so it has ample seating (even with one wall of seats collapsed to provide pit space). The atmosphere in the arena is amazing, and even without any "elite" teams from outside Virginia the last couple years, VCU still remains a fairly competitive regional (9 different VCU attendees have reached the divisional eliminations at Championship the past 2 years).

[Wetzel]

Originally Posted by Richard

Never been there myself. I hope the venue can accomodate the crowd.

Richard, the VCU Siegal Center handles the crowd great. We had an announced 7,694 at the basketball game this past Saturday. (16-3 baby)

Personally, I've been to all the VCU(2000-2006) and Chesapeake Regionals(2002-2006), San Jose and LA in 2003, Nationals at Disney in 2001, Nationals in Atlanta in 2005. I've also been to probally a dozen off-season competitions as well.

VCU is always a good time.

Wetzel

[Richard Wallace]

Originally Posted by Wetzel

VCU is always a good time.

We'll have to add VCU to our wish list for future seasons.