Regionals on Sunday

[wsansewjs]

Quite honestly. . . FIRST doesn't have ENOUGH money to run an extra 4th day for the event. . . Think about the liabilities and cost to run the place. Stick to what we have already and go efficient with it. I agree that it may be more fun to have 4 days event but it is already grueling exhausting for lot of FIRST-goers and visitors for the extra legs.

-Josh S.

[Katie Reynolds]

For us, the closest regional is 6.5 hours away by bus, and the next closest is 9 hours away. We usually leave right after the awards ceremony on Saturday to drive back, meaning we get home between 2:30 and 5:00 Sunday morning. Without the rest of that day to recuperate, no way would any of us (high school or college students) make it to classes on Monday!

I say keep it the way it is -- Thursday-Saturday works just fine.

[Elgin Clock]

Originally Posted by Carol

Was the NY regional originally scheduled for Sunday or was it delayed due to the ice storm?

It was originally planned for Friday, Saturday, & Sunday from the start.
Reason was, they could not get access to the Javitt's center on Wednesday night to do setup because of a scheduling conflict.
This was the next best thing.

I would of liked to attend on Sunday, but I'm sure people who did think the good decision of the new venue made up for the not-so-good Sunday tradeoff.

Plus, I know of many folks who were able to go Sunday because they were competing on Saturday. Kinda cool you can hit 2 regionals in one weekend that way.

I don't know if it will ever happen again (like I said this was a fluke cause of a scheduling conflict) but I think it has both good and bad aspects to it of course.

[Rich Wong]

Originally Posted by Carol

Was the NY regional originally scheduled for Sunday or was it delayed due to the ice storm?

The Javits was only available on Sunday.
Reservations were made months ago.

***
For the sake of argument, lets me do the math:

Days for a normal regional-
Travel on Wednesday
Practice on Thursday
Qualifiers on Friday
Finals on Saturday
Travel home on Sunday
5 days (3 work days and 2 weekend days)

Days for a the NYC Regional-
Travel on Thursday
Practice on Friday
Qualifiers on Saturday
Finals on Sunday
Travel home on Monday
5 days (3 work days and 2 weekend days)

No difference in the number of days for most people.

[ScoutingNerd175]

Originally Posted by Rich Wong

For the sake of argument, lets me do the math:

Days for a normal regional-
Travel on Wednesday
Practice on Thursday
Qualifiers on Friday
Finals on Saturday
Travel home on Sunday
5 days (3 work days and 2 weekend days)

Days for a the NYC Regional-
Travel on Thursday
Practice on Friday
Qualifiers on Saturday
Finals on Sunday
Travel home on Monday
5 days (3 work days and 2 weekend days)

No difference in the number of days for most people.

The difference here is that many teams would arrive home late Sunday night or early Monday morning and have very little sleep and no time to get ready for school the next day. However, the school districts would not allow them to consider Monday to be a field trip day because they had arrived home by the time classes began. Sunday provides a perfect time to get caught up on your life and get some sleep. Monday couldn't be used for that purpose.

[whytheheckme]

Originally Posted by Michelle Celio

He's not saying another day for regional, he's suggesting that one regional a week be held Friday, Saturday, Sunday...instead of the traditional Thursday, Friday, Saturday.

Yeah, I just read back. Thanks for the correction.
But I still think that a 4 day regional would be a lot more fun.

Jacob

[codeoftherobot]

I would have to say no to regionals on Sunday. It really is a much needed day to relax and get ready for the normal week. Plus, you won't be able to change any regionals that are already scheduled this year. They have been predetermined months in advance with payments and schedules already made at the facility. That would just be a nightmare to change if you tried.

[Steve W]

Big NO!!!!

As a volunteer I need Sunday to rest. I am still exhausted from this weekend. Some volunteers and teams do more than 1 regional and have travel to take care of. We need down time before going back to work or school.

[ScoutingNerd175]

Many teams travel back from regionals and don't arrive until the early hours of Sunday morning. Buzz, for example, drives back from Chesapeake and often arrives beween 2 and 3 in the morning. I can't imagine getting back at that time and making it to school the next day with homework done. I can't even imagine staying awake through the next day. The school would not give us the day off, and if a lot of team members were absent the next day, the school would not be pleased. I just don't see this working on a large scale.

I'm with the no's on this one.

[royal_robotix]

having regionals would be difficult for teams that travel from long distance b/c sundays are for recovery, homework, and chores... and it takes time to get home

[Michelle Celio]

Originally Posted by FreedomForce

....
ie: Week 1 New Jersey
week 2 Florida
......

Next year having Florida with two fields will be complicated enough as it is, to push it to a Friday-Sunday schedule would throw off the flow of things. There is going to be a need for more teams next year at Florida anyway so you wouldn't want to discourage any teams from attending.


The Thursday, Friday, Saturday system works great as it does right now, why fix something thats not broken?

I vote no.