New FIRST competition structure in Michigan

[Jack Jones]

I also believe that if a Michigan Team pays $5,000 for the kit and two events, then a Non-Michigan team should pay $no more than $5,000 for the kit and one event, possibly less.

# 1 bothers me the most. Why do Michigan teams need to get any discount?

I agree on the discount. However, it is only a $1000 discount from last year, and we don't know that all teams don't get it. They pay more if they make their state event.

What you may not realize is that there is no discount. The registration for Michigan teams is being subsidized by FIRST in Michigan, with the help of their participating sponsors, venues, and volunteers. No, they are not making up the difference in cash for the registration fees, but rather they are assuming ALMOST ALL of costs and ALL the responsibilities that FIRST national would normally have to run the events. FIRST can thus afford to reduce the initial registration fee without it costing the rest of the nation/world one red cent. In fact, the rest of the teams will benefit because it frees up the FIRST national personnel and resources to grow and sustain the program in their areas.

Consider that Michigan events have never been propped up; we have always turned a profit; we have never relied on NASA grants to pay out of state teams to come here and fill our events; we’ve never had NASA grants go toward enabling our rookies to play here. But you’ve probably never heard us complain about our entry fees subsidizing new regionals in places where there weren’t enough teams to fill their events, and/or were way beyond practical places for most teams to go. We’ve been willing to sacrifice until now.

But now that they’ve had their beginning, it’s time for us to have our new begining. I don’t have the numbers for ’08, but in ’07 we fielded 105 teams. Of those 105 teams, 35 attended only one event. As you may have read here, their season ended just about the time they got up to speed. That is no longer acceptable!

There are many involved with FiM, and apparently many of you, who see the new structure leading to our sending the cream of the crop from our State Championship to The Championship in Atlanta. I warn them and you not to expect to see many new faces from Michigan in Atlanta. We send the cream of the crop every year as it is, as evidenced by our disproportionate share of Champions. In ’07 we sent 43 teams, which is way more than the 18 that will qualify this year, and way more, I expect, even when you add in the ones who qualify out of state. So, once again many will get there the old fashioned way. They will buy their way in. The same goes for our State Championship. It will need to draw about ½ of our teams, with 1/3 unable to afford more than the initial registration and maybe 1/6 deciding to go to Atlanta instead. IMO, the Cumulative Point System for Ranking and Advancement you see in the PDF has little meaning, all but a few (if not all) of the ones with the cash will get in.

This competition structure is not the beginning of the end that many are making it out to be. Not much will change. The out of state teams will still have all the places they can afford to play. Our UP teams will still have a drive ahead of them. We still won’t have the luster and professionalism they apparently enjoy elsewhere. Our rich and powerful will still dominate. What really matters for many of us is that dozens of our teams will finally be getting an ample return on the investment they put into the program. We wish the same for the entire community, and expect that our pilot will show them a way to make that happen.

But it will not happen for you, unless you make it happen, which won’t be by trying to rain on our parade. Ask not what FIRST in Michigan is getting that you are not; ask instead what you can do to earn the same for yourselves.