http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/blog-09-06-12
Quite the bombshell dropped here - the end of open Championship registration.
I didn’t get that at all - just that non-merit-qualifying veterans will be wait listed for a longer time.
Well… It’s the end of open registration in a sense.
At this point, all the open registration does is fill slots left by the merit-based qualifiers. Previously, there were some open registration slots that were filled by open registration only.
In other words, now, to make Championship, you have to qualify.
If you don’t qualify, you have a slim chance of making it, if you are high enough up on the waitlist.
This bugs me a little from a math perspective:
As of this year you have the 12 teams who were on Einstein, The Engineering Inspiration award winner, the 16 Hall of Famers and the 7 teams that have sustained since 1992 bringing the total prequalified teams to 36. Assuming that we keep the number of teams at national the same as last year (400) we are left with 364 teams.
So I will add 3 events to the schedule for this season for simplicity sake bringing the Total to 57 events where teams can qualify for Championship. So we have The Chairmans Award Winner, Engineering Inspiration Award Winner, and the 3 winners of the competition (assuming no alternates are used) which brings the number of teams that qualify on merit (with no repeats which usually doesn’t happen) to 342
So 22 teams can qualify from the wait list.
Here is where the math bugs me, if after this year we have the 1 new hall of fame member and only the three winners. So that is 30 slots next year which means under the current structure of qualifying and 400 teams at championships FIRST can only support 63 regionals which is only 9 more then we just had
There will be many teams that will qualify for multiple spots. There are always plenty of multiple event winners and winners that also win Chairmans or EI. There will be merit teams that won’t be able to afford to go.
Also many waitlisted team will get in via merit. It’s gonna be fun after each weeks payment deadline passes to see who gets pulled off of the list.
We also don’t know what will qualify a team on merit. They specifically wrote that the qualification criteria has yet to be announced. Could be some changes in order.
Maybe they will take away EI, who knows what may happen.
Darn. We were gonna go to champs for the first time this year. 
Don’t forget rookie all-star…
I forgot to put the name but they are in the math as one of the 6 I swear
It would be really nice to have teams who havent been to CMP for a while be able to go for the experience. Its sad that this is becoming less and less likely but you could kind of see this coming. I’m not sure how FIRST will tackle the growing size but cutting back on the wait list, however sad, was an obvious way.
I’m not so sure they should take away EI as a way to get to CMP, although I’ve heard a lot of people suggest. The heart and spirit of FIRST is embodied by awards like RCA and EI. You send three teams for robot (regional winners), one rookie for robot/impact (rookie all-star) and two for outreach and impact (RCA and IE). I think FIRST will want to keep the balance of what earns a trip to CMP.
Register ASAP and maybe a team will qualify twice! :rolleyes:
When does registration start?
10/25 and then you are waitlisted.
I thought we would finally sign up this year Oh well, we’ll just have to win instead ::safety::
October 25 @ Noon (ET, I’m assuming) if you didn’t go last year.
November 8 @ Noon if you did.
Finally! I knew they were going to have to make some changes after last year. This way, there aren’t any slots specifically for teams who “just want to go”, yet the waitlist definitely favors teams that didn’t go to Championship, giving some teams who haven’t been yet a chance to go. But the bottom line is to be given a chance to become one of the world champions of FRC, I think you should have some award or distinction which got you there. That is what we are headed toward with this change.
Call me a horrible person if you want but I am excited that it will almost be a qualification only event. Championships is just that, Championships. The best of the best get together and duke it out until we come away with the top teams.
I think this is a great move for FIRST. We are becoming a larger competition and I am incredibly happy that we have reached the point where there are enough regionals/State Championships to fill nearly all Championship slots with winners. Congrats to FIRST.
If you want to go to Championships and your team doesn’t qualify go with some friends and pick a team and cheer for them. Better yet, volunteer! I’ve had just as much fun with friends and volunteering as I had when I was on Stang. I can’t wait to see the competition this year.
This decision is laying groundwork for the future of FIRST competition structure. As we move more and more towards qualification based district events, this will all make a lot more sense, IMO.
I personally like the change. Makes you work harder to want it.
I understand that competition at the championship is important, but there is nothing preventing you and your team from attending and more importantly volunteering at championships. It gives you a whole new perspective and is still a ton of fun. I know my old team (93) did this last year and it was a very enjoyable experience for them.
This is absolutely correct. We had people come with us and 1218 this year from teams who have never been to CMP and didn’t qualify this year.
Teams are always very accommodating if you ask them early enough. There’s no reason why not qualifying should mean not experiencing the inspiration that comes from being at Championship, regardless of whether you compete there or not.
You are not a horrible person for saying this. I’ve been saying Champs needs to be qualification only for a while now myself.
What this means to FRC is simple: Prepare for more District/Region events to happen in the coming years, eventually replacing in full the current “Regional Event” model in the next 8 years. Having the District/Region model will then ramp up the number of teams that will qualify, and eventually you’d only want specifically qualifying teams to make it to Champs anyway.