How does the Region determine the number of teams per division for Regionals?

According to the CHRVA Handbook, the Vice President is responsible for organizing the Regional Championships.  He or she is given guidance in Section 5.3.3.1.  This guidance sets the maximum number of teams but may be adjusted by the Vice President to accommodate various constraints such as facility and officials availability, conflicts with other events, and National Championship deadlines, to name just a few.  So, although there is guidance, the numbers will vary from year to year.

A team must:
 
1. be in good standing (cannot be under any disciplinary penalty imposed by the Region);
2. have met the criterion of the “35% Rule,” meaning it must have played in at least 35% of the tournaments offered by the Region in its division.  “Playing up” counts towards this total.  Also remember, the Region looks at the weekend as a whole, so it doesn’t matter how many tournaments are conducted on a particular weekend in a division.  The weekend only counts as “one tournament.”  To determine if your team has met the “35% Rule,” take the total number of tournaments your team has played in, including those times the team played up, and divide that number by the number of tournaments (weekends) offered;
3. ensure the complete team application, including the entry fee, is in the hands of the appropriate Division Coordinator by the Tournament Closing Date;
4. have earned enough points from season competition to earn a pool position in the Regionals.  For example, if the division’s Championship is to consist of 10 teams, the top 10 teams with the highest point earnings that accept an invitation will participate.  These guidelines are found in Section 5.2 of the Handbook.

Section 5.2 of the Handbook allows the Vice President to authorize the Division Coordinator to “expand” the eligibility requirements when necessary.  For example, teams who at first did not make the cut for total points may be accepted, or teams that earned no points may be accepted on a first-come, first-serve application basis.  The Vice President may also reduce the number of pool positions thus reducing the size of the Championship.  Or, in a worst case scenario, he or she may recommend to the Board of Directors that the Championship in that particular division be cancelled due to a lack of interested registered teams.

Section 5.3.4 of our Region Handbook gives the answer.  Simply stated, for Region Championship competition, the Region uses a Weighted Seeding Method to determine pool position.  The Division Coordinator takes the total points earned by a team during regular season play and divides that number by the number of tournaments the team played in.  The result is used to determine the team’s seed number for pool position.  The Weighted Seeding Method gives a clearer picture of a team’s capabilities and provides for more balanced and competitive pool play.

The Vice President is tasked with overseeing this monumental and very complex decisionmaking process.  The Regional Championships involve over 200 teams competing in approximately 15 Junior and Adult divisions each year.  Scheduling is often a complicated logistical nightmare, involving such things as:

1. forecasting the number of teams in each division which will compete at Regionals, which is particularly difficult with the fluctuating number of teams in certain divisions;
2. finding enough facilities to host all of the tournaments, especially those large enough to accommodate the bigger divisions;
3. fielding enough referees, scorekeepers, and volunteers to staff the tournaments;
4. scheduling the Regionals on dates that do not conflict with other tournaments—both in-Region and out-of-Region—or on holidays;
5. rotating play dates from year to year so that one division does not always play early or always play late in the schedule;
6. factoring in the entry deadlines for National competition (both Adult and Junior); and, 
7. balancing the regular season with the postseason.