Your Team advanced to State Competition, now what?

Congratulations!
Here is a summary of all the tasks you need to coordinate. Some tasks sooner than others. Share it with all the team parents. Check the homepage for announcements when registration opens for advancing Teams, advancing Judges and untrained Volunteers. Check the State Key Dates page to help you meet the deadlines.

Coaches checklist

  • Read all the information provided on the website. There are several pages dedicated to the STATE competition.

  • Register your team for State (STATE Registration under the State Competition Menu). This is due 7 days after your regional competition. **

    • By February 24th, 2024 for North and South TX teams.

    • By March 2nd, 2024 for HARO teams.

    • By March 2nd, 2024 for Central TX teams.

  • If you have any qualifying schedule conflicts, please submit requests for specific scheduling in the “schedule” box of your team registration by March 3rd . Examples of qualifying conflicts are: team member(s) competing in multiple problems, coach of multiple teams, travel arrangements, SAT exams, etc. We will try our best to accommodate but sometimes it is not possible. Do not wait until the schedule is out, to report schedule conflicts as it would be too late. Conflict requests for other extra curricular activities cannot be honored.

  • Pay the State registration fee. For credit card payment, be sure to use the link for the STATE competition, not your regional competition, an admin fee will apply.
    If you have already received your Team confirmation email, you can use the last part as an invoice and include it with a check payment. Or write your team information on a piece of paper and add it with payment, to be received by March 9th, 2024.
    If you pay by district check, please send a copy of an approved P.O. by March 4th, in order to get your team cleared, while waiting for the check. Email it to info@txodyssey.org.

  • Arrange for team accommodation if traveling from out-of-town. Check our special group rates in Odyssey Team hotels. Hotel Information under the State competition menu. IMPORTANT NOTICE: The deadline to benefit from hotel booking blocks and group rates varies by hotel between February 29th, while rooms are still available.

  • Place your pre-order for team State Finalists T-shirts until March 4th. Pre-order is the only way to guarantee sizing and availability!

  • Remind your Judge and untrained Volunteer to check their own information page and register (under Judges and Volunteers menu respectively). If you have difficulty securing either judge or volunteer, you as a coach MUST contact the respective Judge or Volunteer coordinator. Do not be a no-show in that respective area as this is a team qualification requirement. Your Judge from Regionals MUST also judge at State. Job-share is not an option for Judges. As for volunteers, you can send anyone to pick a task and give you volunteer credit.

  • Prepare a new set of team forms (outside assistance, cost form, team required form, etc.). See the Team FORMS page. You can choose to keep the same forms as you had at Region or change them. There are no copy facilities on-site at the tournament. Do not turn in your originals, in case you advance to World Finals.

  • Fill out the Team Questionnaire regarding approximate participation for dining, mixer, and awards: https://forms.gle/N16ynqHqCJRcXfkLA

  • Check our website often for information and updates. www.txodyssey.org. We will start building a dedicated page for the State Competition with specific documents and instructions.

  • Review regional scores here and discuss with the team. Remember that the team can choose to change/improve areas of weakness or even start from scratch for State.

  • Whether you rent a truck or bring the props in cars, figure out how your team will transport their props and costumes to the competition, and how they will get there themselves. Remember, adults can help the team carry their items but only the TEAM may create, connect, or position the items. Check the State Tournament Information Packet (“TIP”) . when published, to figure out the best location for unloading. Determine a time and place for all team members to meet up once they arrive.

  • On competition day, ask your team to stop by the Thank You table before 1 pm, to write a personal thank you to your judges.

  • All of that in addition to coaching, encouraging, praising, building spontaneous problems, shopping, emailing, texting, tweeting, and all the verbs in the OM coach vocabulary.

We know you are excited and overwhelmed so ……… delegate, delegate, delegate!

Judges checklist

  • Check scores when published to verify if the team you represent has advanced.

  • ALL North judges are asked to serve as a judge in the State competition, including judges of Primary teams and teams that did not advance.

  • All other region judges, whose team have advanced, are also required to serve as a judge in the State competition. If you are from a region other than North and your team has not advanced but you would still like to judge, please contact your RD or email statejudge@txodyssey.org. You are very welcome to join the State tournament as well.

  • As soon as registration opens, login with your same Region Judge login and password and advance your registration for State. Note: You can ONLY judge in the problem that you worked at Region.

Read all the general competition information listed under “State Competition” and “Judges”. It will contain travel information and maps.

We have a webpage with information about hotel arrangements for travelling teams and judges at group rates and reimbursement for out-of-town judges. 

Volunteers and Parents checklist

  • Read all the general competition information listed under “State Competition” and “Volunteers”.

  • Ask your coach how you can help. There are so many tasks that you can help the team with.

  • Once the team schedule is published, offer to cover a “second shift” for your team at the Tournament, or in the Pre- and Post- competition sessions. We will offer one-hour shifts for parents who can lend that extra hand, in addition to the regular untrained Volunteer session that a team volunteer covers.

  • We always ask for help with the competition tear-down (4 to 6 pm) and awards set-up and pack-up (early evening). There is plenty of time before the Awards ceremony and the Committee deserves help right until the end. This difficult task is always left to a few very tired people. PLEASE pitch in and make the job go more quickly. Many hands…...