Ontario Moving to District Model in 2017

[GreyingJay]

It's official: Ontario is moving to the District Model for 2017!

https://www.facebook.com/FIRSTRoboti...7215547010163/

Our team received an email today with the announcement. We are excited... I think!

FIRST Robotics Competition Family in Ontario,

The FIRST Robotics Canada Board of Directors would like to formally announce that the program in Ontario will be moving to the District Model for the 2017 competition season. This decision culminates almost three years of preparatory work. We consulted with the FIRST Robotics Competition community in Ontario as part of this process, and the feedback we have received from you has been thoughtful and constructive, helping shape our decision. At this time, most of the community is ready to welcome and embrace the District concept, and we hope that eventually, all of you will feel the same way. The biggest result of this change will be that Ontario teams will play a minimum of two District events vs. just one Regional event. The result of this will mean that, on average, teams will play approximately 3 times the number of matches than under the traditional Regional model. In addition, a new Ontario District Championship event will be held, where based on a common ranking points system adopted by all districts, the top 60 teams in the province will be invited to compete.

The District Championship will take place at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga, the original venue of our inaugural regional in Canada back in 2002. The City of Mississauga has come on board as a sponsor for this event and we would like to thank them for their support. After the District Championship, the top ranked teams in the province will be selected to represent Ontario at the FIRST Championship Event. We have worked hard to add 3 new District events in Ontario as well as a District Championship in order to support this transition. This will guarantee two District event plays for each existing team as well as allow for growth in the Ontario region. We are working to confirm another GTA District event and will be releasing the details as soon as confirmed.

We are thrilled to announce and thank the following event locations for hosting a 2017 District event:
Nipissing University, North Bay
University of Windsor, Windsor
Ryerson University, Toronto
Durham College, Oshawa
University of Waterloo, Waterloo
University of Western Ontario, London
Georgian College, Barrie
McMaster University, Hamilton

The team registration costs under the District model will be significantly less than the traditional Regional model on a per-event basis. (e.g. In the District Model, teams attend two events, versus the Traditional Regional with one event). We are also working on a process that will allow Ontario teams to pay in Canadian dollars directly to FIRST Canada.

[Sperkowsky]

WOAH

[frcguy]

Originally Posted by Sperkowsky

WOAH

+1

[bkahl]

Originally Posted by Sperkowsky

WOAH

SO IT IS ACTUALLY FACTUAL INFORMATION?

[GreyingJay]

Originally Posted by Sperkowsky

WOAH

Yes, we are just processing it now too.

Key takeaways: looks like all the existing Ontario regional events will become District events, with a few new ones added. Since we went to two regionals (Greater Toronto Central and North Bay) it will feel very similar to go to two district events again.

The combined cost to attend two of these will be cheaper than it used to be to register for two Ontario regionals.

The new Ontario District Championship event will be held in Mississauga at the Hershey Center.

No more teams from out of province (who are not in Districts) Sorry Quebec and NY state.

[Allison K]

Originally Posted by GreyingJay

...

No more teams from out of province Sorry Quebec and NY state.

Can Michigan come visit?

[Karthik]

Originally Posted by Allison K

Can Michigan come visit?

Of course. Even better, Ontario teams can go back to Michigan for the first time since 2008!

[Basel A]

Originally Posted by Karthik

Of course. Even better, Ontario teams can go back to Michigan for the first time since 2008!

I'm amped up about this possibility. We enjoyed partnering with 1241 when they came to the Girls' Competition a couple years back. Looking forward to being able to play with more Canadian teams here in Michigan. With the lower cost, we might even be able to reasonably travel (to Windsor at least).

[Pauline Tasci]

This is awesome news.
Can't wait to see it's implementation during competition season.

[Mike Schreiber]

Originally Posted by Karthik

Of course. Even better, Ontario teams can go back to Michigan for the first time since 2008!

Maybe. Very few open spots were available this past year for MI teams to get a 3rd event. I'm curious how this will be handled. With how FiM is run I would imagine MI teams would be given the priority.

[jwfoss]

Originally Posted by Karthik

Of course. Even better, Ontario teams can go back to Michigan for the first time since 2008!

I'm sure NE would welcome some visitors from the north as well.

[MailmanDelivers]

Originally Posted by jwfoss

I'm sure NE would welcome some visitors from the north as well.

We will. We always enjoy visits from Canadian teams!

[IndySam]

Originally Posted by Karthik

Of course. Even better, Ontario teams can go back to Michigan for the first time since 2008!

Good luck getting into a Michigan event. They barely have enough spots for their own teams every year.

That's a great problem for them to have.

[cbale2000]

Originally Posted by IndySam

Good luck getting into a Michigan event. They barely have enough spots for their own teams every year.

That's a great problem for them to have.

Basically this, Gail has been prodding us for a few years now to host a second district and/or find another suitable venue for an additional district competition in our area because of the lack of available slots in the state (possibly getting worse this coming year as there may be one or two districts that stop being hosted from what I hear).

If I'm not mistaken, there were something like less than 10 slots left over this year after initial registration for teams that wanted a 3rd event or coming from out of state.

[first3234]

Originally Posted by Karthik

Of course. Even better, Ontario teams can go back to Michigan for the first time since 2008!

If so come to the west Michigan district what FIM considers there premiere district of all of FIM