SO tryouts?

[lllazar]

Im going to have to talk to my coach on Monday about Sci Oly "tryouts" for next year. Honestly, our school is...ill just say this: Sci Oly translate to "nerd club" and theres a lot of hate. And seeing as we did quite well at state this year, for a first year states school, there will probably be a lot more interest next year...this year we had 30 or so kids come out, next year, who knows? Ive thought of a pretty good way to do things, though it will be a lot of work for me over the summer, but o well, id like to make nats someday, and thats not gonna happen with our coach letting lazy people on because of they're seniority...anyway, heres the run down:

1st meeting of the year. Sometime early September. Sci Oly "open house". Im gonna make little posters for each event, just explaining wat they are. None of that make it look fun mumbo jumbo, im going to make it clear they will need to work hard...people can notify me/coach about wat events they are interested in. The prospective members will be asked to study up a little bit on the events they are interested in. I'll even give them a study sheet, notifying them of the topics that will be covered on the assessment to be administered at the next meeting.

*Over the summer, im gonna make little 10-15 question quizzes on each event...for build-its, ill have to think of something else.

2nd meeting (at least 3 weeks after the first, so that they have more than enough time to study the specific topics that i have given them) - Tests are administered. Ill score them on the spot and notify the people who got the best scores....ill take the top 3, maybe 4, scores for each event and those people will come back to the next meeting. Top 2 scorers for each event will be invited to varsity.

Ya...i have no life. Honestly, my life is maintain a 4.0, Tennis, baking, and "nerd clubs"...sci oly is definitely at the top of that list, or somewhere close. It's gonna be a lot of work, but there were way to many slackers this year. If they don't want to work, i honestly couldn't care less...im tired of members on VARSITY who don't start working till a week before state.

3rd meeting - Varsity and JV are established, pairs for events are established, and the Sci Oly season begins.

[winneratlife]

ATM: No tryouts...invitational determines all...

What I don't like about that system is that it's very easy to "piggyback" on your partner...

[fossilgirl13]

My team only has one coach, and it seems to me that all the teams that place well and advance to higher levels have M0RE THAN ONE COACH. My team only has one coach and I she can't provide for each and every event because there is only one of her and 18 of us (including subs) and 23 events. I was wondering who these extra coaches are (I mean, does the school hire them from outside the school or are they just other teachers) and if you're on a team like I've mentioned, does this work for you (from what I've seen, it appears to work)? I'm not trying to steal secrets or anything like that, I just really want to know how to improve my team (a lot of them are really down after we didn't do so well at states).
Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know this is kind of random, but I was told I would get more feedback if I posted this question in general chat.

[zyzzyva980]

I guess we had two real coaches this year, one main coach and one eighth grade science teacher who also volunteered. But we had great parents, too. The more I think about it, our team is pretty much self-study.

[smartkid222]

From my experiences, most coaches are science teachers at the school the students attend.

[walkingstyx]

Although an extra coach or two could be helpful, you don't really need them to do well at Scio. Centerville (this year's winner) may have about twenty coaches, but Solon (3rd) only has one, and LASA (my school, 7th) has one coach and a few mentors. All of our mentors used to do Scio in highschool and offered to help us when they graduated and moved to Austin. They help with the individual events that they used to do and inspire the team. Our system works very well for us, but it might not work for you guys. Each different group of kids needs something different in terms of leadership and coaching, and mostly student-driven teams can do as well as mostly coach-driven teams. Generally a team will adapt to the number of coaches it has. Another coach might be helpful though, and you might want to try it out. Unless you have alumni or parents already offering to help you, it is probably easiest to start looking among the other teachers in your school to find another coach, though it can be hard to find teachers who want to devote the kind of time and effort it takes to be a coach.

[blufoster6]

My team only has one coach, and it seems to me that all the teams that place well and advance to higher levels have M0RE THAN ONE COACH. My team only has one coach and I she can't provide for each and every event because there is only one of her and 18 of us (including subs) and 23 events. I was wondering who these extra coaches are (I mean, does the school hire them from outside the school or are they just other teachers) and if you're on a team like I've mentioned, does this work for you (from what I've seen, it appears to work)? I'm not trying to steal secrets or anything like that, I just really want to know how to improve my team (a lot of them are really down after we didn't do so well at states).
Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know this is kind of random, but I was told I would get more feedback if I posted this question in general chat.

We have about 20 coaches for our team and there are a few teachers, but it's mostly our parents who either volunteer or get volunteered to help out with a few events. I really like that our parents coach most of it because it makes our team feel even more like a family than it already is.

[blue cobra]

For our team, at the B level, anyone who is interested joins at the beginning of the year, where they usually have to start a notes sheet or build something to prove they will actually do work. At the C level, you join at the end of the year, and get a summer project, specific to one or two events, which help to decide who will make the A team. All of our coaches are teachers, by the way.

[SO4L]

Within the first couple of meetings, the coaches and students find out what events they'll be focusing on, based on previous experience and schedule conflicts. We then take weekly quizzes, do labs, practice WIDI/EXP and test out building events. Our head coach uses Invitational scores, quiz scores, and fervor to determine JV/Varsity teams. It's kind of like a rolling-try out session.

Last year, our complete varsity team was formed and competed at our last Invitational, which happened mid-February.

[starshine]

My school doesn't have tryouts. Anyone who is interested in SciO can join for Invitationals and Regionals. For States, my coach makes us fill in a Q and A to figure out if we deserve it. For Nationals he just invites the people he wants to go.