Is competing at multiple regionals REALLY fair ?

[blaxbb]

I really hate to try to break up this kind and sincere debate, but...

This question was asked in the survey from FIRST about future regional setups, so FIRST is definitely thinking about changing things up.

fuzzy1718 brings up some valid points and the people arguing against him also have some valid points.

In my opinion FIRST needs to maintain the open community that it has now, but in order to draw in more schools should make the competitions more local. (similar to highschool sports, state champs )

What if FIRST created both regional competitions and open competitions.

Regional competitions would be locked as per the name "Regional." This would be the event you would be placed in when you register. The winning alliance (along with chairmans, EI, etc.) would qualify for Championships. This event will crown a specific regional title for the country/ region / state / city / whatever the division may be.

Open Events would be more like regionals today. Open Registration keeps the community of FIRST, and possibly creating more competitive events that many crave before championships.

Within 10 years FIRST won't be able to maintain the structure of the regional events. With 3 - 4 thousand teams, many teams will be forced away from local events which would put off someone looking to start a team.

I'm curious what the others think about this. ( new teams, old teams, red teams, blue teams, long standing mentors, new students)