LA Odyssey Regional Tournament
Mira Costa High School - 1401 Artesia Blvd. Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
All teams are responsible for the notes contained within this document. This should be read by all coaches.
This is updated relatively often starting in January, very often as the tournament approaches.
If the date and time above aren't recent, be sure to refresh to get the most recent version.
| Important: All coaches must also be members of our Yahoo Group. Tournament announcements are made
on this group. It is critical that coaches keep up with these announcements.Team members, parents, and school contacts are also invited to join the Yahoo Group. |
Contents
Updates
- 01-09-2012 Original
- 01-16-2012
- Added Problem Procedures
- Updated the file for the venue information currently available. Changes in these sections:
- 02-18-2012
- 02-20-2012
General
- Above all else: ENJOY yourself. See as much as you can. Teams learn by seeing other teams.
- Appreciation
- If something that you see wows you or your kids, let the other team know: everyone like to feel appreciated.
- Officials
- All officials at the tournament, from the regional director to every judge and score runner, is a volunteer. All of them are involved for the
good of the children. All together, hundreds of hours of work have gone into making this tournament a success. Please show your appreciation.
- Check-In
- All teams should plan to arrive for check-in well before their first competition time. A representative of the team should pick up their packet
and their T-Shirt pre-orders.
- In order to avoid confusion, a coach or team member must pick up the envelope for their team. We will not check in a team by hearsay or report from any other school member.
- Foot Protection
- As per Odyssey of the Mind rules, foot protection must be worn at all times. No bare feet allowed. No exceptions.
- Conduct
- Traditionally, teams are great people who help everyone out. We truly appreciate the kindness shown each and every year. Please remind all
team members, parents, coaches and spectators of the conduct expected at an Odyssey of the Mind tournament.
- Unfortunately, it has happened in the past that someone associated with a team has acted in an inappropriate and/or unsportsmanlike fashion.
- Everyone is reminded that the program guide holds the team and membership responsible for the conduct of all parents, coaches, team members,
and spectators.
- Outside Assistance
- Many parents are afraid to help their kids out, fearing outside assistance penalties. However, it is okay for them to do some things. Please
review the guidelines below.
- Parents, friends, and coaches may do the following:
- Help move sets, costumes, and props anywhere on campus, including into the pre-staging area.
- Help move sets, costumes, and props off the performance area when the team is done meeting with the judges after their performance.
- Help clean up any mess left in the performance area when the team is done.
- Parents, friends, and coaches may NOT do the following:
- They may NOT: Fix anything that breaks, or provide advice on how to fix it. The team must fix anything that breaks, even if a parent broke it.
- Friends, parents, and other teams can lend tools.
- They may NOT: Apply make up, adjust costumes, fix hair, or alter anything that may be judged as part of the performance
- Communications Tips
- All coaches and older team members should keep up with official communications during the school year. The current official venue
for communications about the tournament is the Yahoo group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/la_odyssey
- If you are not a member of this group, you should join immediately.
Site
- Location
The tournament will be held at Mira Costa High School
- Lights
- Lights will not be turned off or dimmed for any teams.
- Flooring
- Teams are directed to pay close attention to the rules relating to floor damage.
- Rain
- Should it rain, some limited covered space is available for storage of materials. However, you might not be covered when walking to or from the problem. The team should plan a way to keep all sensitive materials dry should it look like a wet day.
Schedule
- Date
- Saturday, March 3rd, 2012
- General Schedule
- Check-in
begins
- Teams may begin arriving for check-in at: 7:00am
- Competition begins
- The first team will begin at TBD
- Awards
- Pre-awards activity in auditorium:
- From aproximately 30 minutes after the last team performs until the start of the awards ceremony. All teams are encouraged to attend.
Agenda will include
- Spirit stick
- Spontaneous activity
- We expect the awards ceremony to finish by TBD
- Special Requests
- We will do our best to honor schedule requests. Our priority is always to setup a way for teams to see the presentations of other teams from the same membership. However, this is sometimes not possible. Any special requests should be made within the appropriate space on the team registration form.
- Tournament Schedule
Food
- If you are bringing your own lunch:
- If you want to buy lunch
Scores
- When to get your scores
- 30 minutes after your long term competition time, or at a later time if the timekeeper gave you a different time, the coach needs to meet with the head judge to receive the long term scores. Coaches, it is very important that you come to this meeting on time.
- You will
receive:
- One copy of the long term score sheet, with scores for each section of the problem and any penalties.
- One copy of the averaged style scores. (These are for your information only, the head judge is not permitted to discuss these or answer questions
about them.)
- You will also receive comments from the judging team, usually on sticky notes.
- Note: The score sheets you receive have been checked by the judging team only. Once you see them, they will be sent to the score room where they will be
checked again. Should any errors be found, they will be corrected at that time. Should the error lower your score, every effort will be made to reach you at the number you provided to let you know about the change.
- Note: You will not receive score sheets for spontaneous.
- Coaches, this is your opportunity to see the scores and ask questions if you are unclear.
- After the discussion, the head judge will:
- Put the time that you received the scores on the top of the form.
- Put your cell phone number on top of the form.
- Have you initial the form.
- and explain that you have 30 minutes to come back if you have any questions or concerns about long term scoring elements
- If you do not return for this meeting in a timely fashion, your scores will be sent to the score room and finalized. It is critical to the schedule of the tournament that you return on time for this meeting. If you fail to return to meet as scheduled, you lose your chance to see your scores and receive judge comments..
- Don't try to compare scores between problems
- Please remember that all scores are scaled. The scores you see on the score sheet will be put into the computer and scaled in comparrison with all other scores in your problem and division. Long term is scaled to 200 points, spontaneous to 100, and style to 50. Scores are not comparable between different problems or divisions. Each team is only scored against teams in the same problem and division. The highest (and placing) score in one prob/div may be lower than non-placing scores in other prob/div.
State
- Who goes to state
- In general, the top two teams in each problem and division advance to the state tournament. The winner of the Ranatra Fusca Creativity
Award (if any) also advances. Primary teams do not advance to state.
- What you need to do if you made it to state
- Coaches of advancing teams must pick up a packet from the tournament director after the awards ceremony.
- Coaches are also strongly advised to make arrangements for hotel accomodations
immediately upon returning home.
- See other entries about state in the Coach Checklist on our website.
Spontaneous
- Spontaneous Ticket
- The check-in envelope contains a colored notecard (ticket). It is your teams admittance to spontaneous. Don't misplace it!!!
- Spontaneous and secrecy
- All team members, parents and coaches are reminded that spontaneous problems may not be discussed, at all, until after all worldwide competitions have been held.
Disqualification
and disciplinary actions will be taken against any teams involved in violating this rule.
- From the program guide: Spontaneous problems are “top secret.” Teams participating in the same long-term problem and division will solve the same spontaneous problem, so, to ensure fairness, it is critical that no one discusses the problem outside of the room until all teams have competed. Even then, you may only discuss it within your group until OotM competitions throughout the world are complete. Letting other teams know the problem they may receive could give them an advantage in a tournament. Anyone who reveals a spontaneous problem to others is subject to disqualification and/or disciplinary action taken against the entire team.
- Knowing Team Information
- It is very important that all team members know their membership number, membership name, their problem, their problem #, the name of their coach, and their division. They will be asked for this information when coming to spontaneous in order to make sure they are sent to the correct room.
- It is also important that they bring their spont ticket.
- This is very important when a school has more than one team at the tournament.
- This is critically important when there is more than one membership for a school!
Problem One
- Venue Information
Be prepared for a smooth cafeteria floor
Problem Two
- Venue Information
Floor is carpetted
Problem Three
- Venue Information
Floor is carpetted
Problem Four
- Venue Information
Floor is carpetted
Problem Five
- Venue Information
Floor is carpetted
Primary Problem
- Venue Information
Floor is carpetted
- Check-In
- Primary teams should be sure to check-in just like regular teams. Your welcome packet contains helpful information as well as participation pins
- Scores
- Primary teams will receive feedback from the judges, but are not ranked in competition with each other.
- Awards
- Primary teams will be recognized at the awards ceremony. They are also encouraged to take part in the pre-awards activity in the TBD
- Registration
- Just like other teams, primary teams need to register and pay for the tournament.
- Each primary team must also provide a judge for the tournament.
Thank you,
Chad Parker
Tournament Director
LA Odyssey Regional Board









