Veteran Status Qualifications

[Browzilla]

So our team is sitting there, looking at the championships requirements. And we see "Veteran teams who did not compete at the 2008 FIRST Championship"

And we think Hey, that's us! Let's do it!

October 2 rolls around. (Exciting drama happens. We briefly consider filming a reenactment and selling it to NBC to air in place of Heroes. It doesn't happen. Irrelevant. It's now a week and a half later.) We sign into TIMS.

Under the Event Registration table, the Championship row reads:
Not Eligible.


Wait, what‽

So. The only way we qualify for Championships this year is through the veteran open registration. (Or, of course, doing well in regionals. But seeing how half our team will be leaving this year without having been, we really want to go. And would prefer solidifying our attendance now.)

tl;dr:

What constitutes a veteran team?

[dtengineering]

In past years (although I don't see it stated for this year...) veteran teams had the opportunity to attend the Championships based on how many years they had competed in FRC without having "gone to Atlanta".... kind of a seniority basis so that everyone knew that if they waited in line, eventually they would move to the front of the line and get their chance.

It seemed to make sense, and teams were sorted by how long it had been since (if ever) they had gone. Teams who had waited longest got first dibs.

But I haven't seen that stated for this year, and I certainly haven't seen the lists.... although something similar may be happening behind the scenes.

Jason

[BHS_STopping]

Hmm, I think that that requirement could be interpreted in multiple ways. Perhaps when it refers to "Veteran teams who did not compete at the 2008 FIRST Championship," it could mean that if you were a veteran team at the time of the 2008 Championships who did not compete, then you would be qualified for this open registration. But then again, it's still open to interpretation. It would certainly be helpful for FIRST to clarify!

[Browzilla]

See, I rather took it at face value, with the logic that a first-year team is rookie, anything over would have to be veteran, yes?

Apparently not the case. Or TIMS is broken!

EDIT: Another way I kind of see this not making sense is that the second section is "Veteran teams who did compete at the 2008 FIRST Championship." That kind of seems to nullify the whole longest-wait qualification. Since, obviously, one could not both compete at the 08 Champs and be a Vet, I think.


EDIT EDIT:
"There's a little bit of a glitch in that some teams who should be allowed to register for the 2009 Championship (veteran, didn't attend in 2008) haven't been properly authorized to do so in the TIMS system. (This won't affect everyone—they're looking into who's been missed.) Give FIRST a call at (603) 666-3906 or (800) 871-8326, and they'll set it up for you."

I found this digging through another seemingly unrelated thread.
I think, assuming veteran is taken at face value, that might solve the problem!

[Cory]

Originally Posted by Browzilla

I found this digging through another seemingly unrelated thread.
I think, assuming veteran is taken at face value, that might solve the problem!

The statement should be taken at face value in my opinion. Veteran meaning any team returning for the 2009 season that competed in the 2008 season. In addition it could mean a team who has competed in any previous year but is returning after a hiatus. I don't know if FIRST agrees though.

[Browzilla]

Originally Posted by Cory

The statement should be taken at face value in my opinion. Veteran meaning any team returning for the 2009 season that competed in the 2008 season. In addition it could mean a team who has competed in any previous year but is returning after a hiatus. I don't know if FIRST agrees though.

That's my assumption. I'm gonna shoot an email off to FIRST and get the official word though. And if we qualify, give them a ring tomorrow afternoon.