All-Star A Random Thought On At Large Bids

[tumbleyoda]

I was looking in the wiki today and found something interesting - at least to me.

At this point today 35 at large bids have been canceled out due to those programs upgrading to a partial, full paid, or turning it down after it had been awarded to them. We have always talked about on the boards that even though many feel too many total bids are given out; without the at large bids you don't technically have a way to fund the event and the teams receiving full paid and partial bids.

Do you think in the future EP's should be more cautious or considerate as to who they give At Large bids to seeing that they lose that representation at Worlds if they upgrade a bid? If it is highly possible based on past history that certain teams will upgrade later in the year, should they pass them over in favor of a team that will actually be grateful for and use the at large bid? Or do they give them freely knowing very well that a significant percentage of those at large bids will never be used in the first place?

 

[redsmom]

I was looking in the wiki today and found something interesting - at least to me.

At this point today 35 at large bids have been canceled out due to those programs upgrading to a partial, full paid, or turning it down after it had been awarded to them. We have always talked about on the boards that even though many feel too many total bids are given out; without the at large bids you don't technically have a way to fund the event and the teams receiving full paid and partial bids.

Do you think in the future EP's should be more cautious or considerate as to who they give At Large bids to seeing that they lose that representation at Worlds if they upgrade a bid? If it is highly possible based on past history that certain teams will upgrade later in the year, should they pass them over in favor of a team that will actually be grateful for and use the at large bid? Or do they give them freely knowing very well that a significant percentage of those at large bids will never be used in the first place?

Last year it looks like 47 at larges were discarded in the process and worlds was still packed and profitable. So I think what we are seeing so far this year may be the norm. Also last year by the end of the season it seems that very few teams looking for At Large bids didn't have them.

 

[Ashley]

I was looking in the wiki today and found something interesting - at least to me.

At this point today 35 at large bids have been canceled out due to those programs upgrading to a partial, full paid, or turning it down after it had been awarded to them. We have always talked about on the boards that even though many feel too many total bids are given out; without the at large bids you don't technically have a way to fund the event and the teams receiving full paid and partial bids.

Do you think in the future EP's should be more cautious or considerate as to who they give At Large bids to seeing that they lose that representation at Worlds if they upgrade a bid? If it is highly possible based on past history that certain teams will upgrade later in the year, should they pass them over in favor of a team that will actually be grateful for and use the at large bid? Or do they give them freely knowing very well that a significant percentage of those at large bids will never be used in the first place?

To pass over, say, a World Cup team (who generally doesn't accept AL bids from my understanding) because they're likely to receive a paid bid doesn't seem very fair to me. Winning a bid is basically like winning a trophy and I would be upset if I missed out on that opportunity because some EP thought that we'll probably get a paid bid elsewhere.

I think that gyms who believe they will get a paid bid or don't want to go to worlds without a paid bid, should do a better of job of declining in advance. I competed at two of the same competitions as World Cup Odyssey where they didn't get an AL bid, even though (I think) they scored high enough. I believe that's because they declined the bids not because the EP passed them over. They went on to get an at-large bid at NCA.

I think though that the fairest and least controversial way for an EP to give out bids is by score - as soon as you start picking and choosing you get angry parents and coaches. Plus you never know what can happen and you never want to end up in that situation where you're scrambling for a bid in late March because you thought you were going to get a paid bid earlier.

Plus, the number of bids given out take into consideration that bids will go away as teams upgrade to paid bids. The USASF knows that, they don't expect that the number of teams that go to worlds will match the total number of bids given out. Just like colleges know that not every student they accept will end up attending. Sure 35 more teams could go to Worlds, but do we really need 35 more teams there? Isn't there already an argument that too many teams go? This year there are 3 days of competition because of the number of teams attending. Realistically, how many true level 5 teams end the season without a bid if it was their goal to get one?

 

[imrichhowboutu]

Event producers should ask if a team wants a bid. If there process stated online says highest score, then you have to give it to them regardless if they will get a paid later. People keep talking about making it prestigious. Well you can do so by always accepting your at large bids even if you won't go on it.

Also, compare the list of last year to this year of who accepted an at large then declined it. It may look different. How bout a team like Tsunami, who got a full paid their first time out last year, and got their paid this year at the last competition. If they declined their at large bid, they potentially could have had a problem.

Also as a noted, There has been a World Cup team to compete on an At Large bid, and there is a chance there may be 1 this year as well.


As to the comment of how much the event makes, i'm sure they factor in that 10% of bids may be upgraded. Then they make money from all of the stuff they sell there. Also, it doesn't matter whether it is a paid bid or an at large, the same amount of money goes towards the competition. You need to look at the total number of athletes to see how much money they actually made.

 

[BlueCat]

We have had many teams that ended up competing on "at large" bids. We generally accept them because you can simply never be guaranteed that you will get one later.

 

[imrichhowboutu]

We have had many teams that ended up competing on "at large" bids. We generally accept them because you can simply never be guaranteed that you will get one later.

And you have a few great examples of teams getting At Large bids and still getting a medal at worlds!

 

[yojaehs]

I feel that EP's are doing "their job" so to speak by asking gyms if they will accept or decline the bids. If a gym says they will accept then the EP should award based on their standards (which I WISH there was a UNIVERSAL system in place).