Was about to post myself… interesting the first email I got was an FLL team blast 
Going to Houston, but no surprises there since we’re in Dallas.
Same here. FLL came through first.
Just got an email from FIRST with the Championship update. Looks like a NE/ SW split.
http://www.firstinspires.org/2017-2018-first-championship-info
Since I live in St. Louis, we’ll obviously be staying here next year, but in 2018 and on we’ll be going to Houston, which is interesting because Detroit is a shorter drive for us than Houston is.
Already posted.
Interesting that the assignments change between the years. I hope that FIRST will use this new opportunity to put championships in spots that previously would have made travel hard for half the world.
Edit: Now I understand why it switched: It’s in Detroit in 2018, not St.Louis. So not very exceptional at all. But I still hope for my second point.
Any visitation rights in the divorce?
Kind of bummed we miss out on the Cali and Texas teams.
The Kentucky - Tennessee split is interesting; if there’s a move to districts around here soon, it was assumed it would be TN- KY because of KY’s small number of teams.
If you thought divisions were uneven in depth and strength, wait until you see the rosters for the Championships…
Why are you doing this to us, FIRST?
That only links to the map, this gives more information.
So, as a Kansas team, and Missouri resident, I’m not sure how I feel.
I just got sent the link from multiple people that I’m never going to see again, with messages along the lines of “Love you Lyss, gonna miss you at comp.” I’m so devastated they’re doing this to us.
They do include this paragraph on the Website:
“As noted above, our primary goal is to ensure teams have the ability to attend their “home” Championship, which in most cases will be closer to where they live than their non-home Championship, thereby hopefully minimizing travel costs and transit time. However, we recognize that some teams may desire to attend their non-home Championship for a variety of reasons. Hence, we are working to finalize a mechanism whereby FRC teams can elect to attend their non-home Championship. However, to maintain balance between the two events, not every team who asks may be able to move to their “non-home” Championship. Specifically, FIRST may limit the quantity of teams allowed to change from one event to the other for various reasons. As noted above, details on this program are still being worked out and will be communicated at a future date. Due to the processes by which FTC, FLL and FLL Jr. teams qualify for Championship, those Programs will require teams to attend their home Championship.”
Looks like you’ll be in St Louis next year and Houston in 2018.
Let’s just get one megathread going:
Darn looks likes will miss our friends on the west coast friends but we have 4 districts New England, MAR, Michigan and Cheaspeake
Originally posted here: http://www.firstinspires.org/2017-2018-first-championship-info
**2017 & 2018 FIRST Championships Information Update
More than 25 years ago, FIRST® became a game changer in the STEM world. Over the years, we’ve built an incredible culture with our K-12 FIRST Progression of Programs that celebrates kids’ accomplishments through high-quality, inspiring, life-changing experiences, the culmination of which is our FIRST Championship. FIRST is the oldest and largest youth robotics program in the world, and now we can deliver the FIRST Championship experience to many thousands more young people worldwide!
Geographic Proximity
When *FIRST *announced the dual *FIRST *Championship structure](FIRST® Enables More Students to Participate in Life-Changing Robotics Event with Expansion of Annual Championship | FIRST) starting in 2017, our primary intent was to make the life-changing excitement and inspiration of the *FIRST *Championship more accessible, available, and affordable to more kids and teams.To stay true to this goal, geographic proximity became our first-order determinant when assigning teams from a given state, province or country to a “home” Championship, especially when those geographic regions are viewed to be within a reasonable driving distance of one of the Championships. Within this constraint, we then tried, as best we could, to balance the number of teams that feed in to each Championship, recognizing that the number of teams in any given region varies and grows from year to year. Importantly, we then aligned geographic assignments across all four *FIRST *programs, so that participants, Mentors, and Sponsors who support teams across multiple *FIRST *programs in a given geographic region will be able to support all of those teams at a single *FIRST *Championship.
A committee of *FIRST *staff and community volunteers worked diligently to appropriately allocate geographic areas to the *FIRST *Championships for both 2017 and 2018, recognizing that the *FIRST *Championship will be in Houston, Texas, U.S. and St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. in 2017 and then in Houston, Texas, U.S. and Detroit, Michigan, U.S. in 2018-2020. Based on our learning and experience in 2017 and 2018, we may or may not make additional changes to the assignment structure in 2019 and beyond.
Teams will be assigned to attend a *FIRST *Championship (i.e., their “home” Championship) based on the location where the team is based and not the location of the event through which they qualify for Championship.
Please note that in the transition year of 2017, we recognize that there is not a lot of geographical separation between Houston and St. Louis. In 2018-2020, the geographical separation between the two Championships is greater, and there will be a significant improvement in average team drive time for North American teams. (As you already know, this metric would be even better had we been able to secure a more western-U.S. venue that met our needs. Unfortunately, that was not possible.)
A full slate of team and individual student awards will be presented at each of the *FIRST *Championships.
2017 & 2018 Geographic Assignment Maps (PDF)](http://www.firstinspires.org/sites/default/files/uploads/championship/first-championship-maps-2017-2018.pdf)
2017 Cities & Dates
As previously announced, the 2017 FIRST Championships will be held in Houston, Texas, U.S. on April 19-22, 2017 and in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. on April 26-29, 2017. The 2017 geographic assignment map (page one of PDF) delineates which states, provinces and countries will feed into each of the Houston and St. Louis Championships in 2017. Each 2017 Championship will host up to 400 FRC teams, 128 FTC teams, 108 FLL teams and 60 FLL Jr. teams.For the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) program, which incorporates a Super Regional qualifying structure in the United States, states participating in the East and North FTC Super Regionals will compete at the St. Louis Championship, and states participating in West and South FTC Super Regionals will compete in the Houston Championship. To create cross-program alignment, Kentucky, which is currently in the South FTC Super Regional will move to the North FTC Super Regional in 2017 and beyond, and will compete in the St. Louis Championship in 2017.
The states of Kansas and Missouri are currently in the North FTC Super Regional. That will remain the same in 2017, and those two states will compete at the St. Louis Championship.
2018 Cities & Dates
As previously announced, the 2018 *FIRST *Championships will be held in Houston, Texas, U.S. on April 18-21, 2018 and in Detroit, Michigan, U.S. on April 25-28, 2018. The 2018 geographic assignment map (page two of PDF) shows which states, provinces and countries will feed into each of the Houston and Detroit Championships in 2018. Again, each 2018 Championship will host up to 400 FRC teams, 128 FTC teams, 108 FLL teams and 60 FLL Jr. teams.With the exception of Kansas and Missouri, all of the states, provinces and countries that are assigned to the St. Louis Championship in 2017 will transfer to the Detroit Championship in 2018. *Teams from Kansas and Missouri will transition to attend the Houston Championship beginning in 2018. *
To maintain alignment with the *FIRST *Tech Challenge (FTC) Super Regional advancement structure, the states of Kansas and Missouri will also move to the South FTC Super Regional in 2018 and beyond. States participating in the East and North FTC Super Regionals will compete at the Detroit Championship, and states participating in West and South FTC Super Regionals will compete in the Houston Championship.
**
Ability to attend your “non-home” FIRST Championship
As noted above, our primary goal is to ensure teams have the ability to attend their “home” Championship, which in most cases will be closer to where they live than their non-home Championship, thereby hopefully minimizing travel costs and transit time. However, we recognize that some teams may desire to attend their non-home Championship for a variety of reasons. Hence, we are working to finalize a mechanism whereby FRC teams can elect to attend their non-home Championship. However, to maintain balance between the two events, not every team who asks may be able to move to their “non-home” Championship. Specifically, *FIRST *may limit the quantity of teams allowed to change from one event to the other for various reasons. As noted above, details on this program are still being worked out and will be communicated at a future date. Due to the processes by which FTC, FLL and FLL Jr. teams qualify for Championship, those Programs will require teams to attend their home Championship.Waitlist
The FRC and FTC programs will have Waitlist slots available for both Championships. The details for Waitlist slots, along with the number of earned slots assigned to each FRC District, each FTC Super Regional event and countries outside the U.S., and each FLL and FLLJr. region and Partner are still being worked out.Culminating Event
In response to your questions and feedback from teams, we are exploring options to bring the top alliances from each Championship together at a high-caliber, potentially made-for-TV-type, post-season event. However, we do not currently have definitive plans for such an event, but continue to explore our options.Posted May 5, 2016
Well the statistical odds of 2056 winning their next world championship just went WAAAAYYY up.