2,3,9,10 are answered in the website.
http://firstintexas.org/events/district-model/faq/
FAQ
WHEN WILL TEXAS TEAMS BEGIN PARTICIPATING IN THE DISTRICT MODEL?
Teams will begin participating in the District Model in the 2018-2019. District Model Competitions will be held in 2019.
WHAT IS THE DISTRICT MODEL?
Replaces the current “Regional” events with qualifying “District” events and a District State Championship
Teams advance from District Events to District State Championship to World Championship
HOW DO TEAMS QUALIFY/ADVANCE FOR THE DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP? FOR THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP?
Districts receive the percentage of ‘available slots’ at the assigned World Championship in Houston rounded up to the nearest whole slot, equal to the percentage of teams they have in their District compared to the total of all FIRST Robotics Competition teams in the current season who would normally be assigned to their FIRST Championship location.
Points earned at the District Championship are multiplied by three and then added to the points earned at District events to determine the final season point total for the team.
Teams advance to the World Championship by meeting one of the following criteria:
District Championship Chairman’s Award, Engineering Inspiration Award, and Rookie All-Star Award Winners
District Championship Winning Alliance (including backups)
Qualifying Award Winners among District Teams who traveled to Regionals
Teams on the final District points Ranking list, as deep as needed to fill our allotment
WHAT ARE DISTRICT EVENTS LIKE?
Smaller in size, usually 30 to 40 teams
Generally held on University/College Campuses or at High Schools
Two day competitions; Friday-Saturday or Saturday-Sunday
Practice matches are not guaranteed due to schedule constraints
Still have judging and awards
Except for schedule, events will be similar in size and feel to the Lone Star Central and South Regionals this season.
WHY ARE WE CHANGING TO THE DISTRICT MODEL? WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE EXISTING FRC COMPETITION MODEL?
FIRST encourages regions to move to the District Model once they have reached certain team thresholds. This transition has been in the works for many years.
We have a sufficient quantity and density of teams to allow a new operating model.
The Regional model treats every competition even as an ‘open’, with no continuity between teams’ the individual event performances.
The District Competition System is modeled after traditional tiered playoff sports structures, where teams play a season rather than a single event, and the best teams advance through tiered playoff tournaments.
This new model is much better suited to meet the needs of the teams and fans in regions with lots of teams.
WHAT ARE FIRST AND FIRST IN TEXAS’ MAIN MOTIVATIONS FOR DOING THIS?
There are many reasons for this change, but the primary motivation was financial. FRC is expensive. It is way too expensive to ever achieve Dean Kamen’s goal of a team in every school without major changes.
The District Competition System saves a lot of money as compared to the traditional FRC Regional model.
Localized event production can cut event management costs over time.
More events closer to home saves travel and logistics costs for the teams for most teams.
Multiple events per season for a single registration price reduces the cost of playing time for the teams.
Two day events reduce venue costs and reduce release time from work and school.
We want to reduce the cost of our program. We believe we can run our entire state system of 10 District events and the District Championship for less than the cost of all of our current FRC regionals. We have the opportunity to save hundreds of thousands of dollars per year in our state with this system.
WHAT ARE THE GREATEST CHALLENGES IN MAKING THIS TRANSITION?
Volunteers: Ensuring that we have enough volunteers and Key Volunteers to support our events.
Venues: Finding low priced venues that can accomodate enough teams and spectators.
HOW ARE YOU ADDRESSING THESE CHALLENGES?
Volunteers: We request that all veteran teams plan on supplying two volunteers for at least one competition they attend. These can be mentors, coaches, students, parents, community members, etc. This will help us grow our volunteer base and identify and develop new key volunteers.
Venues: We have launched a bid process for groups to submit a Notice of Intent and respond to a formal Request for Proposal (RFP). High schools and colleges/universities potentially make ideal sites. We are looking to partner with schools, organizations, and groups to host venue sites for District events. Teams can serve as great hosts. You can apply to host a District event here.
DISTRICT EVENTS HAVE FEWER TEAMS AND ARE IN SMALLER VENUES THAN MANY REGIONALS. DOES DISTRICTS DIMINISH THE FIRST EXPERIENCE?
No. In fact, many competitors in other areas that have transitioned to the District Model will tell you that the exact opposite is true.
It is a lot like seeing a great band in a small club vs. in a huge arena. Small venues often have a much higher energy level and get the fans closer to the game.
Smaller events allow teams to get more playing time. Smaller events allow teams a better likelihood of winning the event and a better likelihood of winning awards.
Districts play with the arena lights on, which many competitors say that they prefer. Having more events gives teams more choices and in many cases eases travel for teams.
Students, teachers, and administrators at the local high schools get greater exposure to FIRST and at colleges and universities, team members get the opportunity to check out potential post-high school options.
WHAT OTHER AREAS HAVE TRANSITIONED TO THE DISTRICT MODEL?
Michigan (created the model)
Mid-Atlantic Region (Delaware, Eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey)
New England (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont)
Chesapeake (Maryland, Virginia)
Indiana
Pacific Northwest (Oregon, Washington)
North Carolina
Peachtree (Georgia)
Israel
Ontario
CAN TEXAS TEAMS COMPETE OUT OF STATE? CAN OTHER TEAMS FROM OUTSIDE OF TEXAS COMPETE IN TEXAS?
Texas teams and teams from other District areas can register for open spots in Districts other than their own, but must first register for their District events and register for other Districts during the Inter-District Registration period.
Texas teams can compete at out of state Regionals, but must first register for their District events and register for Regionals during the Unrestricted Regionals Registration period.
Teams in existing Regional areas can not compete in Texas.
CAN OUR TEAM OPT OUT OF THE DISTRICT MODEL?
No. FIRST HQ requires that all teams compete in the District Model once their state/region transitions.
WHY ARE TEAMS REQUIRED TO PLAY AT 2 EVENTS, WHY CAN’T WE ATTEND JUST ONE FOR HALF THE PRICE?
The pricing of the event registration is controlled by FIRST HQ, not FIRST in Texas.
Data shows that teams who play more than one event per year have a significant average improvement at their second event.
Teams that play multiple events per year stay in the FRC longer than teams who play only once.
Teams playing in at least two times per season will help improve the sustainability of the program and the overall satisfaction of the teams.
NOTE: In very rare cases, teams might be granted permission to attend just one District event, but would still have to pay the full registration fee and would be ineligible to compete at any additional official events.
WILL FIRST IN TEXAS ASSIGN EVERY TEAM TO A “HOME EVENT?”
Yes. The intent of this is to guarantee registration priority for the event geographically closest to each team.
The closer a team is to the event, the lower the travel and logistics costs become. We want every team to have first priority to the event closest to where they live.
Some teams prefer to choose a different events and to not attend their home event. FIRST has provisions in their registration system to allow this.
WHY ARE SOME TEAMS STILL PLAYING AT REGIONAL EVENTS OUT OF THE STATE?
FIRST encourages regions to move to the District Model once they have reached certain team thresholds. Many areas are not yet suited for this model.
Transitioning to the District Model is a lengthy, difficult process. Texas has been considering and working on transitioning to the District Model since at least 2012.
WHY MIGHT SOME TEXAS TEAMS PLAY AT OUT OF STATE REGIONALS IN ADDITION TO THEIR DISTRICTS EVENTS?
Teams will each have their own unique reasons, which may include:
Desire to travel to some place outside the state.
Getting to play with teams they won’t see at their own World Championship (Detroit Championship teams)
Affiliations with teams from other regions.
Additional attempts to qualify for the World Championship.
Only a small number of Texas teams are expected to do this. It is much more cost effective to play in-state.
WHEN CAN TEAMS REGISTER FOR DISTRICT EVENTS?
Teams register for District events using the registration system all FRC teams use to register for their events.
When registration opens, Texas teams will only be able to sign up for their “Home Event” during the first round unless they select otherwise. If they opt out, they will create a ranked list for the lottery system. Teams are guaranteed a spot at their home event.
For the 2nd Round, teams can rank their District events for the lottery system and will be added to a 2nd event by FIRST’s system. All teams will be assigned to a 2nd event.
Addition District Event Registration opens a few weeks after that for any open spots at Districts. Teams may end up on waitlists.
WHY WILL YOU ALLOW SOME TEAMS TO PLAY A THIRD DISTRICT? ISN’T THIS AN UNFAIR ADVANTAGE?
While this does give additional playing time to some teams, unlike additional events in the Regional model, results do not impact team advancement.
All teams who wish to play at an additional event are free to register for these available slots or to get on a waitlist. All teams have equal opportunity to register for a 3rd event.
IF TEAMS PLAY AT 3 DISTRICT EVENTS, WHY CAN’T THEY USE THE RESULTS FROM THEIR 2 BEST EVENTS, RATHER THAN USING THE RESULTS OF THE FIRST 2 TEXAS EVENTS?
One of the core concepts of the FRC build season is the “tools down” concept surrounding bag day. The intent is that the robots are done at the end of the build season. For this reason, all teams are on equal standing relating to available build and upgrade time at their first and second events.
This is not true at the 3rd event. Teams also usually perform better at their 2nd and 3rd events (practice makes perfect) which would provide an unfair advantage.
WHY DOES THE DISTRICT STATE CHAMPIONSHIP COST $4,000 PER TEAM?
This pricing is set by FIRST HQ, not FIRST in Texas. It is the equivalent price to attending a 2nd Regional event.
FIRST in Texas receives no revenue from team registration for this event. We will fund and produce the District State Championship event entirely from sponsorships.
WHY DON’T DISTRICT EVENT WINNERS GET TO AUTOMATICALLY GO TO THE DISTRICT STATE CHAMPIONSHIP?
One of the core concepts of the District Model is that teams now play a season, not a single event. As such, the results of any single event are secondary to a team’s overall season performance.
Teams advance based on their cumulative season points. Winning an event gets a team a lot of ranking points, but they may still require a decent showing at the second event in order to advance.
WHERE DOES THE RANKING SYSTEM COME FROM?
The current ranking system was developed in 2015 by FIRST HQ, representatives from District Model areas, and representatives from areas that were likely transitioning to Districts.
The points formula replaces the standard win-loss-tie point value system at Regionals by considering the team’s overall performance at their events.
For qualification points awarded, it was found that District Qualification results followed an approximately normal curve, so a special statistics function (Inverse Error Function) is used to award normally distributed points based on a linear scale.
More details about this points calculation can be in the Tournaments section of the Game Manual (10.12.3 District Events)
ARE TEAMS’ POINT PROGRESS PUBLICLY TRACKED THROUGH THE SEASON?
FIRST in Texas will post a spreadsheet on www.firstinspires.org/district-model with individual event totals and season totals, updated weekly.
WHAT QUALIFIES A TEAM FOR THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP? DOES A DISTRICT-ONLY TEAM HAVE TO ATTEND THE DISTRICT STATE CHAMPIONSHIP TO GO TO THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP?
Yes, Texas teams must attend the District State Championship unless they are pre-qualified.
Teams advance to the World Championship by meeting one of the following criteria:
District Championship Chairman’s Award, Engineering Inspiration Award, and Rookie All-Star Award Winners
District Championship Winning Alliance (including backups)
Teams on the final District points Ranking list, as deep as needed to fill our allotment
IN ORDER TO QUALIFY FOR THE DISTRICT STATE CHAMPIONSHIP, DO TEAMS HAVE TO CROSS A CERTAIN THRESHOLD OF POINTS OR DOES THE EVENT TAKE THE TOP X NUMBER OF TEAMS?
This is controlled by the number of teams in Texas.
The District State Championship will have 64 spots (subject to change). These spots will be filled by:
10 District Event Chairman’s Award winners
Top 54 ranked teams yet to be invited
If a team declines an invitation to the District State Championship, the highest ranked uninvited team on the list is invited
ONCE THE DISTRICT STATE CHAMPIONSHIP STARTS, DO PREVIOUS POINTS ACCUMULATED AT THE DISTRICT EVENTS MATTER OR DO TEAMS START FRESH?
Points earned at the District Championship are multiplied by three and then added to the points earned at District events to determine the final season point total for the team.
WHAT HAPPENS WITH THE UIL STATE CHAMPIONSHIP?
The UIL State Championship is integrated into the District State Championship, but in no way alters anything about the competition.
UIL eligible participating teams scores will be tracked in an additional spreadsheet.
UIL teams will be recognized at a completely separate awards ceremony in combination with the co-occurring FIRST Tech Challenge UIL State Championship.
Playing in Texas is fun, and our regional is on a date we can’t attend fairly frequently.