Scouting and Confusion Fix for Nationals

[archiver]

Posted by Andy Baker.

Engineer on team #45, TechnoKats, from Kokomo High School and Delphi Automotive Systems.

Posted on 6/23/2000 11:57 AM MST



I'm fairly sure that most would agree with me if I say that Nationals is getting very big and hard to co-ordinate.

Well, I've got an idea that I would like some help with that may makes things more manageable.

This idea would make scouting much easier and also eliminate the problem that many 'pickers' had in '00... they were not very prepared with choosing their alliances, and MANY excellent teams got left out of the finals fray.

Here it is:

We should compete in REGIONS... only playing other teams from our general area, until the very end.

Here's how I see it working: There would be four regions... west, midwest, south and northeast. Each of these regions would play their q matches and come up with their top 8 alliances. A region winner would be determined, and that winner would play against each of the three other region winners to become the national champ.

Another BIG thing that this rectifies: there is not a need for teams to travel to far away regionals so that teams in other areas get to know them. This extra travelling for regionals would no longer be needed and teams could save some money.

So far, I see two negatives:

We wouldn't be playing teams from all across the nation. BUT, we would still all be there at the same site, so we could at least see each other. Also, FIRST could stagger the timing of each regions' finals, so that the people from other regions could watch each other final rounds (for scouting, enjoyment, and cheering).

Secondly, the four regions are not equally balanced. Both the NE and MW regions would be twice as big as the West, while the South is somewhere in-between. Some teams might have to considered West, while they are more centrally located, and some of NE teams would have to be considered South.

I think that these negatives are minimal compared to the benefits.

There you have it... what do you think?

Andy B.