District System in Other Regions in 2010?

[Bob Steele]

Originally Posted by AB755

Michigan had 3 regional last year so we had 6x3=18 teams qualify for CMP. The rest went (primarily) just by signing up and paying the $5,000 fee. Nothing unfair about that, this opportunity was open to everybody.

I was not indicating that anything was unfair.

But since you mentioned it...
Michigan was given the opportunity to send 18 teams...
If teams had signed up early, or decided they could not go for whatever reason... they just kept going down the list to fill the 18 teams through the use of the the regional points system.

Everywhere else... if the team was already going ( our team for instance) and they qualified (which we did..) that spot just went back into the larger FIRST pool of teams .. so teams on the wait list could go...... the regional could not pick another team to go to CMP based on their own system of who deserved it. Only teams that were regional winners/CA winners/EI winners/Rookie All Stars could go...So if you had any double winners or teams that could not go the CMP for some other reason (usually money) ... that just meant your regional lost the opportunity to send the full number of qualifiers...

Now I am not saying this was unfair... it was the rule...
So it was completely fair.

My only comment is that this needs to be fixed... so that every regional needs to be able to send their 6 teams... so we should set up some other points system to allow 6 representatives at CMP.

Washington had six teams go... but one team had signed up early.... just as you mentioned... if they had not... we would have only had 5 teams going. This team had just decided to go... and that was great .... but no spots were held open until the end for teams in Washington... to be filled by anyone other than the aforementioned qualifying criteria.

There are many other issues concerng why Michigan consistently has more teams at CMP than Washington or any other west coast team...

FIRST they have many old and established and premier FIRST teams... they plan on going every year...and they should go
I can't even imagine a CMP without 217 or 67 or 469 or 68 or many other Michigan teams...
SECOND It is a heck of a lot closer .... and cheaper to get there...
....

I want the Michigan teams there... but without this "at large" ability.... some great teams from the West Coast don't have the same opportunity...
Case in point would be the Beach Bots.... they had to win their way in to come...
I don't wish to speak for them but I believe they had decided early that they had to win in order to go.
They were a great team and would have enhanced CMP... but they didn't get one of the qualifying spots this year..
If they could have been an "At Large" qualifier they might have been there...
I would imagine that if you totaled their points on the field in their two regionals and compared them to many Michigan teams that qualified by points that if they had been in Michigan they would have gone or at least been invited.

It was a great CMP this year ... but it would have been better with them there... or 968...and probably many other teams.

So I have nothing against what Michigan and FIRST did for Michigan teams.... I think its great...
I just think that FIRST needs to discuss this... and see if these kinds of opportunities can be made available for all regionals

thanks