Shortage of supply

[patrickrd]

There is about two months until registration closes. 5 events have a total of 47 spots open. Most of the full regionals have double digit waitlists. To show the rate at which things are filling up, 30 spots were filled in the last 24 hours. Does anyone get the feeling that there aren't enough regionals?

[Anthony X.]

I agree, but I don't think there's anything FIRST can do about it. Even with the addition of 4 new regionals this year, demand far exceeds supply as more and more rookie teams join. Additionally, as teams gain experience, they begin to participate in more than one regional thus again increasing the overal 'regionals population'. I think inevitably, FIRST might have to place a cap on the number of regionals that a team may attend just so that it ensures every team has a fair opportunty at competing. Or it may decide to reserver an x amount of spots for veteran teams and a y amount of spots for rookie teams. I think one thing is for sure, we haven't seen the end to changes in FIRST policy just yet.

And that's my two cents for the day,

Anthony.

[Carolyn Duncan]

Not to sound negative but I don't think well have to worry about too much growth after this year. I think many teams will get phsed out by thier schools when funding issues come up at school board meetings or something like that. The new costs of nationals is also a factor. I could go on for a while but I'll keep it short.