What happens if.......

[Paul Copioli]

I have been debating this with other member of our team. Here is the situation: All the Nationals registration spots fill up because all the pre-qual teams and even numbered teams register for Nationals. After the first regional, a team who was not previously eligible for Nats, wins the Regional. What happens?

(1) An even numbered team gets bumped to the waiting list and the Regional Champion gets to register for Nats.

(2) The Regional Champion is put on the waiting list.

I think the answer is (1), but the language of the letter and the Q & A are not clear. So I put the question to the Forum - What do you think?

-Paul

[Anne Shade]

I would assume that FIRST has some spots reserved for that sole purpose. FIRST also mentioned that the total number of teams for Nationals is not set in stone so I would assume they would just add an extra spot for those that qualify at the Regionals this year.

[P.J. Baker]

Originally posted by Paul Copioli
Here is the situation: All the Nationals registration spots fill up because all the pre-qual teams and even numbered teams register for Nationals.

I think that your initial assumption is wrong. FIRST has guaranteed spots to regional champions, Design award winners, and Regional Chairman's Award Winners. To me, that implies that of the 288 spots for Nationals, first has set aside space for these teams and for all of the teams (about 72) that have qualified based on prior performance. Assuming FIRST takes the conservative approach and that there are 3 teams per regional championship alliance, there are another 136 spots reserved for regional qualifiers.

This leaves about 80 "At Large" spots available to even #Teams starting last Thursday. After these spots are filled, I assume that a waiting list will form.

There will be some overlap between the prequalified teams and the regional qualifiers and there will also be overlap purely within the group of regional qualifiers. Also, not all of the regional qualifiers will decide to/be able to attend nationals. These spots, as they become available, will probably be filled from the wait list of even numbered teams, although there is also a chance that FIRST will create a second wait list of top regional performers and fill the spots from that list.

P.J.