New District Events for 2013?

[jyh947]

Originally Posted by bduddy

What about the state championships? Either you have most of the teams and wonder why you had the "district" events in the first place, or have a championship with 20 teams. And all of those teams have to pay more, of course...

A championship with 20 teams? Nice elimination bracket, bro.

[bduddy]

Originally Posted by jyh947

A championship with 20 teams? Nice elimination bracket, bro.

That's my point. I've been saying for a while that Hawaii is one of a couple examples why a complete district system may not be a great idea.

[dodar]

Originally Posted by bduddy

That's my point. I've been saying for a while that Hawaii is one of a couple examples why a complete district system may not be a great idea.

It could work with Cali if they scheduled it correctly and limited the number of slots with the corresponding inland regional that would make teams have to go out to Hawaii to compete.

[Siri]

Originally Posted by bduddy

That would be great, except that the Hawaii Regional only had 40 teams. A Hawaii-only district adds nothing at all, and a Hawaii+ district places massive travel costs on a ton of teams.

I know people like the big-time regional atmosphere, but is there value to Hawaii teams of just getting more matches for the money? That's very a big part of the district system; you don't even really need the region/state championship if you have a good points qualifying system.

Just looking into cheaper events--say, a quasi-district model--might be a nice way of enhancing the program in some places, if not in Hawaii.

I don't like the idea of forcing CA teams to HI or vice versa. The idea of the district model is to encourage growth, partially by increasing teams' bang for their buck. Forcing teams, sometimes underfunded teams, to travel like that seems counter-intuitive.

[DonRotolo]

Originally Posted by P.J.

Why has this not been proposed before? Make it happen, people in charge.

Um, that would be you. If you want it to happen, make it happen. The rest of us are busy doing OUR own stuff, thanks.

.

[P.J.]

Originally Posted by DonRotolo

Um, that would be you. If you want it to happen, make it happen. The rest of us are busy doing OUR own stuff, thanks.

I know that, I was just kidding. My sense of humor doesn't translate well to pure text, so I apologize.

[Steven Donow]

Originally Posted by Siri

I don't like the idea of forcing CA teams to HI or vice versa. The idea of the district model is to encourage growth, partially by increasing teams' bang for their buck. Forcing teams, sometimes underfunded teams, to travel like that seems counter-intuitive.

IIRC, the proposal of a HI/CA district would involve two district events in HI to ensure that they wouldn't all have to travel mainland; this makes the only issue in the region championship.

I think the big thing is that FIRST NEEDS to keep some places out of the district system in order to sustain international growth in places where there just aren't enough teams to have a system in place. Regionals like NYC, LA, and others that are filled with international teams need to stay in place. Also, they need to make the barriers moreso regional than "State XXXX, State XXXX, and parts of State XXXX", or if that is done, they need to allow for a circumstantial opt-out, in which a team can put in a request to opt out of the district system. This comes to my mind based off teams in the western half of Canada, because (with my extreme lack of knowledge in Canadian geography...) it seems like a lot of Canada is densely populated in the eastern half near Toronto. A district system that encompasses all of Canada would just hurt teams that go to regionals moreso on the western half of North America.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by stevend1994

I think the big thing is that FIRST NEEDS to keep some places out of the district system in order to sustain international growth in places where there just aren't enough teams to have a system in place. Regionals like NYC, LA, and others that are filled with international teams need to stay in place. Also, they need to make the barriers moreso regional than "State XXXX, State XXXX, and parts of State XXXX", or if that is done, they need to allow for a circumstantial opt-out, in which a team can put in a request to opt out of the district system. This comes to my mind based off teams in the western half of Canada, because (with my extreme lack of knowledge in Canadian geography...) it seems like a lot of Canada is densely populated in the eastern half near Toronto. A district system that encompasses all of Canada would just hurt teams that go to regionals moreso on the western half of North America.

Western Canada is being talked about for a Pacific Northwest area--Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and possibly part or all of Montana (and I already made my comments on which would probably be preferred), plus western Canada, instead of putting western Canada with Toronto.

I think the request to opt out, or more likely a request for another district assignment (e.g. New England instead of New York or Wisconsin instead of Michigan) is a really good way to go.

I've also already addressed the international/sparse area question. For these areas, there are a couple of options. Either you include them in the district that they usually end up in anyway (meaning they stay in the States for a week and a half, or go home and come back) or you give them a single event qualifying method. Or you let them go to any two district events, regardless of qualification area.

Oh, and BTW: Los Angeles is not "filled with international teams". This year, 66 teams attended. Brazil: 1. Chile: 1. That's 3%. Another team came from Nevada. Grand total 4.5% of teams were from out of state; most if not all of the rest were from Southern CA (AKA, half a state). That's pretty typical--you might get up to half a dozen out of state teams. Oh, and another regional is going to be added in the area. If that's not an argument to turn the L.A. Regional into a district system, I don't know what is! That said, I would not object to allowing international teams to play--the Chilean team's "home" regional is Los Angeles. But then you get back to the international travel dilemma.

[Steven Donow]

Originally Posted by EricH

Western Canada is being talked about for a Pacific Northwest area--Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and possibly part or all of Montana (and I already made my comments on which would probably be preferred), plus western Canada, instead of putting western Canada with Toronto.

I think the request to opt out, or more likely a request for another district assignment (e.g. New England instead of New York or Wisconsin instead of Michigan) is a really good way to go.

I've also already addressed the international/sparse area question. For these areas, there are a couple of options. Either you include them in the district that they usually end up in anyway (meaning they stay in the States for a week and a half, or go home and come back) or you give them a single event qualifying method. Or you let them go to any two district events, regardless of qualification area.

Oh, and BTW: Los Angeles is not "filled with international teams". This year, 66 teams attended. Brazil: 1. Chile: 1. That's 3%. Another team came from Nevada. Grand total 4.5% of teams were from out of state; most if not all of the rest were from Southern CA (AKA, half a state). That's pretty typical--you might get up to half a dozen out of state teams. Oh, and another regional is going to be added in the area. If that's not an argument to turn the L.A. Regional into a district system, I don't know what is! That said, I would not object to allowing international teams to play--the Chilean team's "home" regional is Los Angeles. But then you get back to the international travel dilemma.

Ah, I see about LA. I was moreso saying that because I've read prior something about how since NYC and LA are such major cities, teams go there due to flight arrangements and all that stuff.

[Robert Cawthon]

Originally Posted by EricH

That said, I would not object to allowing international teams to play--the Chilean team's "home" regional is Los Angeles. But then you get back to the international travel dilemma.

The Greater Kansas City Regional would be glad to have the Chilean team attend if southern California goes to a district format.

[Undertones]

As a member of the Alberta Tech Alliance, I think it's safe for me to explain our plans and achievements regarding a new regional event.

If you are not aware, there are about 60 teams in eastern Canada (Ontario region). There is a fairly strong FIRST community there, with several regional events. However, in western Canada, it is a different story. Our team, 4334, is one of two teams west of the east/west divide. Because there are so few teams, there is hardly any FIRST community. Nobody knows what we do, why we do it, etc.

Being one of two teams in an extremely large area is hard for a couple reasons. One, sponsorship is hard to find. Especially being a rookie team. Nobody wants to be the first to sponsor us. Also, it makes attending a regional event very, very difficult. In the 2012 season, all the regional events closer to us filled up very quickly. The closest event to us was Toronto. Now, I don't know if you're familiar with Canadian geography, but it is reaaaally far. And strangely enough, flying there is super expensive. We're lucky to have super supportive parents, and they all wound up paying airfare for us to attend GTR East. Frustrated, we started looking into hosting our own regional event. We talked it over with FIRST Canada, and they gave us the green light. Then at the championship, a meeting with the board was held regarding a new regional event. It was approved.

So, circumstances permitting, there will be a Calgary regional next year. You may be wondering how, being as there is only 2 teams... The Alberta Tech Alliance is working on building curriculum that we can take into Calgary and area schools, and making it as easy as possible for schools to have FRC teams. The Calgary Catholic School District has already approved $10,000 in sponsorship to every FRC team in one of it's schools. We also are working to use an unused school property as a communal build site, where teams can share expertise, parts, tools, a facility, and perhaps most importantly, rent.

The real question is, can we get 30 teams?

Time will tell.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Undertones

So, circumstances permitting, there will be a Calgary regional next year. You may be wondering how, being as there is only 2 teams... The Alberta Tech Alliance is working on building curriculum that we can take into Calgary and area schools, and making it as easy as possible for schools to have FRC teams. The Calgary Catholic School District has already approved $10,000 in sponsorship to every FRC team in one of it's schools. We also are working to use an unused school property as a communal build site, where teams can share expertise, parts, tools, a facility, and perhaps most importantly, rent.

The real question is, can we get 30 teams?

Time will tell.

If you don't have 30, call south of the border and see if some of the Washington, Oregon, and Idaho teams will agree to come up. (And maybe a couple of Canadian powerhouses will show up.)

You've got a year, you've got motivation, you've got local assistance, you've got a Championship blue banner for the Archimedes division to get sponsors with. I think you can get pretty close to the required number.

[waialua359]

Originally Posted by Undertones

As a member of the Alberta Tech Alliance, I think it's safe for me to explain our plans and achievements regarding a new regional event.

If you are not aware, there are about 60 teams in eastern Canada (Ontario region). There is a fairly strong FIRST community there, with several regional events. However, in western Canada, it is a different story. Our team, 4334, is one of two teams west of the east/west divide. Because there are so few teams, there is hardly any FIRST community. Nobody knows what we do, why we do it, etc.

Being one of two teams in an extremely large area is hard for a couple reasons. One, sponsorship is hard to find. Especially being a rookie team. Nobody wants to be the first to sponsor us. Also, it makes attending a regional event very, very difficult. In the 2012 season, all the regional events closer to us filled up very quickly. The closest event to us was Toronto. Now, I don't know if you're familiar with Canadian geography, but it is reaaaally far. And strangely enough, flying there is super expensive. We're lucky to have super supportive parents, and they all wound up paying airfare for us to attend GTR East. Frustrated, we started looking into hosting our own regional event. We talked it over with FIRST Canada, and they gave us the green light. Then at the championship, a meeting with the board was held regarding a new regional event. It was approved.

So, circumstances permitting, there will be a Calgary regional next year. You may be wondering how, being as there is only 2 teams... The Alberta Tech Alliance is working on building curriculum that we can take into Calgary and area schools, and making it as easy as possible for schools to have FRC teams. The Calgary Catholic School District has already approved $10,000 in sponsorship to every FRC team in one of it's schools. We also are working to use an unused school property as a communal build site, where teams can share expertise, parts, tools, a facility, and perhaps most importantly, rent.

The real question is, can we get 30 teams?

Time will tell.

Just curious,
was this announcement supposed to made yet being that the regional doesnt seem to be finalized as of yet?

Since you brought it up, "The real question is, can you get 29 teams?"

[jblay]

Originally Posted by Undertones

As a member of the Alberta Tech Alliance, I think it's safe for me to explain our plans and achievements regarding a new regional event.

If you are not aware, there are about 60 teams in eastern Canada (Ontario region). There is a fairly strong FIRST community there, with several regional events. However, in western Canada, it is a different story. Our team, 4334, is one of two teams west of the east/west divide. Because there are so few teams, there is hardly any FIRST community. Nobody knows what we do, why we do it, etc.

Being one of two teams in an extremely large area is hard for a couple reasons. One, sponsorship is hard to find. Especially being a rookie team. Nobody wants to be the first to sponsor us. Also, it makes attending a regional event very, very difficult. In the 2012 season, all the regional events closer to us filled up very quickly. The closest event to us was Toronto. Now, I don't know if you're familiar with Canadian geography, but it is reaaaally far. And strangely enough, flying there is super expensive. We're lucky to have super supportive parents, and they all wound up paying airfare for us to attend GTR East. Frustrated, we started looking into hosting our own regional event. We talked it over with FIRST Canada, and they gave us the green light. Then at the championship, a meeting with the board was held regarding a new regional event. It was approved.

So, circumstances permitting, there will be a Calgary regional next year. You may be wondering how, being as there is only 2 teams... The Alberta Tech Alliance is working on building curriculum that we can take into Calgary and area schools, and making it as easy as possible for schools to have FRC teams. The Calgary Catholic School District has already approved $10,000 in sponsorship to every FRC team in one of it's schools. We also are working to use an unused school property as a communal build site, where teams can share expertise, parts, tools, a facility, and perhaps most importantly, rent.

The real question is, can we get 30 teams?

Time will tell.

It is amazing what your team is doing. Only a rookie and you have already put things in motion for a regional, that is astounding.

[Gregor]

Originally Posted by stevend1994

it seems like a lot of Canada is densely populated in the eastern half near Toronto.

Correct