New York 2014

[YUSO]

I think as of right now, there isn't really a debate as to which state is the most competitive at the national level: Ohio. The past 5 years in C division and the past 6 years in B division have gone to either Solon or Centreville. New York has more teams competing at States (40 vs 54), but just look at the number of invitationals that Ohio have leading up to their Regionals next month. It's insane and ultra-competitive between a few powerhouses in Ohio. California had a good run for awhile with Troy HS. New York has only won Nationals once (2004). It would be nice to see other schools from NYS go to Nationals this year... It's been the same two for the past 5 years.

Oh, absolutely. No question.
And I don't know what you mean by "it would be nice". Ultimately, it's up to the competitors to study and practice so they can beat out Gelinas/Eagle Hill and Ward/F-M.

Yeah "[blank] would be nice" doesn't cut it for a competition ;p

[YUSO]

I mean I think there are at least multiple schools that can have a competitive spot. The Ohio thing I think some people tried arguing it depends on how you define it and etc etc like YUSO said. My point wasn't to point them out just to say that competitiveness is subjective and not much point to arguing it. As far as top teams this year looks at least will be as interesting as any. Also heck I swear that teams can always work surprises given enough time, there's still definitely some. I do wonder whether also it does come down to the students or how much a good coach and all play in (I've certainly heard of it helping). Also I'd love to go but it's definitely not easy.

It's definitely a mix of both. A good coach knows how to motivate and check up on progress, and good students can actually be motivated to be proactive in their studying. With the Internet available and so many textbooks and resources out there, for most of the study events, no one needs anything more than an connection and drive to learn all they want.

[silverheart7]

IL, OH, NY, and CA are all very strong, competitive states at Nationals. There are many competitive regions within multiple states that participate in Science Olympiad and very good teams within those regions. That being said, I think it's a little useless trying to rate teams, regions, or states. There are so many variables- bad events, a tech breaking in transport, illness of a coach or competitor, and other things that happen with no real preventative. Any team could have a particularly bad day, and any team could have an outstanding day.

It would be nice to see other schools from NYS go to Nationals this year... It's been the same two for the past 5 years.

I can only say with compelete sincerity, good luck to you and your team! I promise there was no sarcasm there, because every year is a new year with a whole new set of variables. Anything could happen, there are almost never any guarentees of good placement.

I choose not to pass judgement on other schools for the most part, simply because I never choose to feel assured of winning or losing. Everyone does their best and what happens, happens. That's just how everything works out, or so I feel.

[YUSO]

IL, OH, NY, and CA are all very strong, competitive states at Nationals. There are many competitive regions within multiple states that participate in Science Olympiad and very good teams within those regions. That being said, I think it's a little useless trying to rate teams, regions, or states. There are so many variables- bad events, a tech breaking in transport, illness of a coach or competitor, and other things that happen with no real preventative. Any team could have a particularly bad day, and any team could have an outstanding day.

I choose not to pass judgement on other schools for the most part, simply because I never choose to feel assured of winning or losing. Everyone does their best and what happens, happens. That's just how everything works out, or so I feel.

It's not about passing judgment at all. There are always exceptions, yes, but the fact of the matter is that there are trends, whatever the reason. It's just interesting to see the trends happening as they do. -shrugs-

[islipscioly]

I think as of right now, there isn't really a debate as to which state is the most competitive at the national level: Ohio. The past 5 years in C division and the past 6 years in B division have gone to either Solon or Centreville. New York has more teams competing at States (40 vs 54), but just look at the number of invitationals that Ohio have leading up to their Regionals next month. It's insane and ultra-competitive between a few powerhouses in Ohio. California had a good run for awhile with Troy HS. New York has only won Nationals once (2004). It would be nice to see other schools from NYS go to Nationals this year... It's been the same two for the past 5 years.

Oh, absolutely. No question.
And I don't know what you mean by "it would be nice". Ultimately, it's up to the competitors to study and practice so they can beat out Gelinas/Eagle Hill and Ward/F-M.

Oh absolutely. It is in the hands of all of the team members now. I will be extremely difficult to break the top 5 this year, let alone the top two. I'm always routing for change! F-M and Ward get all the credit in the world for being able to develop such fantastic programs.

[islipscioly]

IL, OH, NY, and CA are all very strong, competitive states at Nationals. There are many competitive regions within multiple states that participate in Science Olympiad and very good teams within those regions. That being said, I think it's a little useless trying to rate teams, regions, or states. There are so many variables- bad events, a tech breaking in transport, illness of a coach or competitor, and other things that happen with no real preventative. Any team could have a particularly bad day, and any team could have an outstanding day.

It would be nice to see other schools from NYS go to Nationals this year... It's been the same two for the past 5 years.

I can only say with compelete sincerity, good luck to you and your team! I promise there was no sarcasm there, because every year is a new year with a whole new set of variables. Anything could happen, there are almost never any guarentees of good placement.

I choose not to pass judgement on other schools for the most part, simply because I never choose to feel assured of winning or losing. Everyone does their best and what happens, happens. That's just how everything works out, or so I feel.

Anything can definitely happen and nothing is set in stone. We've all heard of building events breaking on the buses. We had an impound violation a few years back because someone forgot to impound a rubber band. Weird things happen when it comes done to the line.

I wish the best of luck to everyone too! I'm just happy that we were able to finally make it to States again.

[islipscioly]

I mean I think there are at least multiple schools that can have a competitive spot. The Ohio thing I think some people tried arguing it depends on how you define it and etc etc like YUSO said. My point wasn't to point them out just to say that competitiveness is subjective and not much point to arguing it. As far as top teams this year looks at least will be as interesting as any. Also heck I swear that teams can always work surprises given enough time, there's still definitely some. I do wonder whether also it does come down to the students or how much a good coach and all play in (I've certainly heard of it helping). Also I'd love to go but it's definitely not easy.

You guys have a solid chance this year along with a few others. I've taken a look at some of the Regional scores from the past few weeks, and there are some very challenging teams this year from all around the State. Good luck prepping in the next few weeks

[islipscioly]

IL, OH, NY, and CA are all very strong, competitive states at Nationals. There are many competitive regions within multiple states that participate in Science Olympiad and very good teams within those regions. That being said, I think it's a little useless trying to rate teams, regions, or states. There are so many variables- bad events, a tech breaking in transport, illness of a coach or competitor, and other things that happen with no real preventative. Any team could have a particularly bad day, and any team could have an outstanding day.

It would be nice to see other schools from NYS go to Nationals this year... It's been the same two for the past 5 years.

I can only say with compelete sincerity, good luck to you and your team! I promise there was no sarcasm there, because every year is a new year with a whole new set of variables. Anything could happen, there are almost never any guarentees of good placement.

I choose not to pass judgement on other schools for the most part, simply because I never choose to feel assured of winning or losing. Everyone does their best and what happens, happens. That's just how everything works out, or so I feel.

I think that's what makes the top teams in NYS so good: they don't assume anything. They prepare so hard all year and deserve the accolades that go with their very impressive run this past few years. The coaches have developed an amazing culture of science in these buildings, which could never be judged.

[syo_astro]

I mean I think there are at least multiple schools that can have a competitive spot. The Ohio thing I think some people tried arguing it depends on how you define it and etc etc like YUSO said. My point wasn't to point them out just to say that competitiveness is subjective and not much point to arguing it. As far as top teams this year looks at least will be as interesting as any. Also heck I swear that teams can always work surprises given enough time, there's still definitely some. I do wonder whether also it does come down to the students or how much a good coach and all play in (I've certainly heard of it helping). Also I'd love to go but it's definitely not easy.

You guys have a solid chance this year along with a few others. I've taken a look at some of the Regional scores from the past few weeks, and there are some very challenging teams this year from all around the State. Good luck prepping in the next few weeks

Yep thanks! I have to say whatever happens I hope my team is fairly proud of the effort we pulled off, we had to deal with A LOT. Most outside our region wouldn't know, but our coach got into an accident before winter break (thankfully he's okay but still recovering :/), the school stopped letting us work late in the school, pulling off our placing at Athens, helping decorate and run our first regional (props to Wantagh and division helping us out there I believe), and even just the usual stress of running tryouts (team members wanted change because of seniority issues and it isn't exactly easy to change things)...it's been a lot to handle and I hope/think we're pumped to take it to states. We didn't even have much for building in the absolute start of the year and I think we're doing a lot better now . But of course I'm not underestimating the other teams after the results we've seen, so going both ways we shall indeed see. We've also usually had the case of builds facing issues at the competition, so I'm curious to see how that'll go. I guess I made the coaches comment since we're mostly student run (heck I had to help get out permission slips to people for athens). Though I think we're also trying to at least get them slightly more involved.

[islipscioly]

"Yep thanks! I have to say whatever happens I hope my team is fairly proud of the effort we pulled off, we had to deal with A LOT. Most outside our region wouldn't know, but our coach got into an accident before winter break (thankfully he's okay but still recovering :/), the school stopped letting us work late in the school, pulling off our placing at Athens, helping decorate and run our first regional (props to Wantagh and division helping us out there I believe), and even just the usual stress of running tryouts (team members wanted change because of seniority issues and it isn't exactly easy to change things)...it's been a lot to handle and I hope/think we're pumped to take it to states. We didn't even have much for building in the absolute start of the year and I think we're doing a lot better now . But of course I'm not underestimating the other teams after the results we've seen, so going both ways we shall indeed see. We've also usually had the case of builds facing issues at the competition, so I'm curious to see how that'll go. I guess I made the coaches comment since we're mostly student run (heck I had to help get out permission slips to people for athens). Though I think we're also trying to at least get them slightly more involved."

I'm so sorry to hear about your coach! I hope that the recovery is a speedy one! I'm very glad that you were able to pull off a great year so far with everything that has been on your plates, including holding the first Regional for the split Nassau.

The beauty of SciOly is that it comes down to the students: if they are hungry for it, they will persevere regardless of the many obstacles that present themselves (and it seems like you guys had many of them this year unfortunately). The coaches can only do so much before it's in the hands of the team.

I think that the only reason that we were remotely successful this year was because of our student managers, with whom I cannot thank enough. And I'm sure that your coaches are eternally grateful for all the hard work that you and your team has put forth. Enjoy the rest of the Mid-Winter break.