Problem: How to Recruit Members

[Things2do]

For the small size thing, don't let that dishearten y'all. We made State with 7 people, and we filled all 23 or whatever events, most of which had all of the people, and one girl only did 3. Of course, I did 8 and leftovers did 7, but that's not necessary if everyone does 5 or so events and you don't send both people into most events... In fact, I think everyone else did 5 events... I grabbed a random person to steady the bucket for Boomilever, I do the car solo, and the person that did most of the plane building caught the plane before it hit the walls of the hall, leftovers filled in solo in Forensics with random stuff, et cetera... She woulda done it alone, but I was free and I'm taller, so I could launch it higher. Now of only everyone would commit to 20 hours /week of studying so we'd make Nationals...

[eagerlearner102]

I think a realistic goal we have is to do better than this year. We got 20th out of 36th. Based on our placing is it even possible to make it to states? For my regional you need to be 4th place or above to make it.

Improving from 20th to 4th is quite a step, but not impossible. You won't do it with team members that don't study, though. To make state, you'll need to get single-digit places in basically all your events. Get some top-3 finishes, and you build up a buffer that will let you carry a bombed event or two (something bad will happen...) You can do this with 10 people, if the 10 people want to do it - but you can't want it for them. They have to commit to putting in the work and doing better, and you have to enter all the events and do OK. With a field of 36 teams, racking up 37 points for not competing will kill your overall score rapidly.

It depends what your team wants to do. Do you, as a team, want to go all out and try to make state? Everyone has to put the work in, you need to attend good invitationals, and make sure your hard work is turning in to competitive results (it's easy, for example, for people to spend lots of time working at build events, but be a factor of several away from a competitive score because they don't know what the other teams know.)

You can do it, but everyone has to want it.

Well said. Should I still keep the team members that don't take Science Olympiad seriously, based on the fact that they didn't study for their events? Again, if you team members read this, I am sorry but I am stating the hard fact.

[Unome]

I think a realistic goal we have is to do better than this year. We got 20th out of 36th. Based on our placing is it even possible to make it to states? For my regional you need to be 4th place or above to make it.

Improving from 20th to 4th is quite a step, but not impossible. You won't do it with team members that don't study, though. To make state, you'll need to get single-digit places in basically all your events. Get some top-3 finishes, and you build up a buffer that will let you carry a bombed event or two (something bad will happen...) You can do this with 10 people, if the 10 people want to do it - but you can't want it for them. They have to commit to putting in the work and doing better, and you have to enter all the events and do OK. With a field of 36 teams, racking up 37 points for not competing will kill your overall score rapidly.

It depends what your team wants to do. Do you, as a team, want to go all out and try to make state? Everyone has to put the work in, you need to attend good invitationals, and make sure your hard work is turning in to competitive results (it's easy, for example, for people to spend lots of time working at build events, but be a factor of several away from a competitive score because they don't know what the other teams know.)

You can do it, but everyone has to want it.

Well said. Should I still keep the team members that don't take Science Olympiad seriously, based on the fact that they didn't study for their events? Again, if you team members read this, I am sorry but I am stating the hard fact.

If you don't have a full 15, keep anyone as long as they aren't actually detrimental.

[eagerlearner102]

Well, would ditching an event be detrimental? They literally signed up and didn't even participate on competition day.

[pb5754]

Well, would ditching an event be detrimental? They literally signed up and didn't even participate on competition day.

That's pretty detrimental...

[Unome]

Well, would ditching an event be detrimental? They literally signed up and didn't even participate on competition day.

That's pretty detrimental...

Agreed, if you can afford it I would recommend against taking someone who ditches an event.

[eagerlearner102]

Thanks. They didn't have a good excuse to ditch because there was NO schedule conflict for their events. Also, they joined around in October so they had 5 months to study.

[naddruf]

I don't have much advice on how to get to state, because I never did. But about recruiting members, you could show some devices from last year, and have other activities, like a team competition in one or two events. With less than 15 people, I don't think tryouts are necessary.

What I believe is extremely important is regular meetings with your partner. It's best if you meet an hour every week (more for build events). At these meetings you can watch videos, do practice problems, quiz each other, or work on their cheat sheet. Of course for lab events you should practice experiments, and for build events you should work on building your device. This seems to be part of Science Olympiad that is too often neglected, especially as Scioly is a team competition, unlike things like IBO/USAPhO. The team only comes together when you work together regularly, and team members will be more likely to stay next year as well. As a team captain, you can keep track on each event team to make sure they're meeting.

Are freshmen in your school already committed to an activity? Usually freshmen are more open to joining something new.

[JosChristof]

I think that selection is a good point anyways. It's better to have a strong and tight-knitted team of a few people that arguing with a huge number of members who can leave any time. Choose team mates carefully because you will spend quite some time with them.