At previous regionals that I’ve attended, there was always about half of a wooden practice field that teams could use. This year, the field is basically too complex to recreate 100% accurately with wood (drawbridge and portcullis, ramparts, etc).
What kind of practice fields do they have this year at regionals?
At the Auburn Mountainview event, there was a wooden tower to practice shooting on, there was a wooden hanging practice bar, and there were one each of all the defenses, rendered as they would be on the field.
At our district event, we had a full 3rd set of official defenses to practice on. The field was about 1/4 size (or less) and the tower was wood. Odds are, you’ll have official defenses to play of unless defenses on the real field break. The backup practice defenses also serve as a backup defense for when (not if) one breaks.
Toronto Central had a wooden tower (initially had no retro tape, but someone added it later), and a separate climbing bar built from the team drawings. They had one real ramp and a set of many, but not all, of the real field defenses (low bar without cloth, moat, rough terrain, portcullis, rock wall).
The practice field shipped to each event contains a wooden version of the tower (including the batter) and a separate bar for practicing hanging.
It also includes an extra outer works platform and ramps (the same material as the “real” field).
As far as defenses go- each field comes with 3 sets of defenses. The extra ones should go to the practice field. However, the extra set is also the backup for the field, so if any defenses break or are at high risk of breaking, your FTA and Field Supervisor may need to pull the extras from the practice field and keep them near the competition field.
San Diego had one with a tower… the defenses and another tower side with the hanging rung…all wood
Usually 4-8 teams using the practice area