Scioly.org

I've heard that the Michigan Science Olympiad organization had adopted a couple of changes for the upcoming season.

First, the team sizes for the State Tournament will be increased to 17. The number of teams competing will be reduced a bit, probably to keep the overall size of the tournament the same. Second, in Division B, they will be running the event Aerial Scramble instead of Game On. It is up to regional tournament directors and those running invitationals to decide whether they will follow suit.

It seems to me that replacing Game On with Aerial Scramble mostly creates headaches. It's not clear how many invitationals being run in the state will follow the state organization's plans, and several Michigan teams compete out of state, where the national event list will be followed. The two Div B teams that qualify for Nationals will probably want to be ready to compete in Game On, but Nationals is only 2-3 weeks after States, so any team that is competitive at the state level will want to be at least thinking about Game On while still practicing for an Aerial Scramble event that will cease to be relevant after States.

For the team size change, I am more just puzzled than anything else. As just mentioned, the total number of kids participating at states will not change much, so why do this? It's not a huge deal, but planning becomes a bit more complicated for schools that compete out of state and/or that attend regional or in-state invitational tournaments that stick with the national rules. One likely possibility is that 1-2 students on teams that qualify for Nationals will be told there is not room for them on the competition team any longer. That will not be fun.

Michigan Science Olympiad 2020!

General Information:
Visit the michigan website at https://www.miscioly.org!
Visit the MSU SciOly Website at https://www.scienceolympiad.msu.edu!

Invitational Tournaments:

Division C Invitationals:
UMSO invitational: Feb 15, 2020 (Div B & C!)
West Ottowa Invitational: Feb 1st, 2020(Div B & C!)
Portage Invitational: Dec 14, 2019
Haslett Invitational: Jan 18, 2020
Plymouth Canton Invitational: Feb 1st, 2020
Frankenmuth Eagle Invitational:Feb 8th, 2020
Eastside Invitational: Jan 25th, 2020
Allendale Invitational: Feb 22nd, 2020(Div B & C!)
Perry Small School Invitational
Clio Invitational

Division B Invitationals:
UMSO invitational: Feb 15, 2020 (Div B & C!)
West Ottowa Invitational: Feb 1st, 2020(Div B & C!)
Holt Invitational: Feb 22nd, 2020
Liberty Invitational: December 14th, 2019
Great Lakes Invitational: Feb 8th, 2020
Cobra Invitational: Jan 25th, 2020
Hudson Tiger Invitational: Jan 25th, 2020
Allendale Falcon Invitational: Feb 22nd, 2020(Div B & C!)

Regional Tournaments:
Region 1. NMU.
Region 2. Alpena Community College
Region 3. Mid Michigan Community College
Region 4. Delta College
Region 5. Mott Community College
Region 6. Feb 29, 2020 Detroit Country Day.
Region 7. Macomb College
Region 8. March 28, 2020. Thurston High School
Region 9. March 28, 2020. Hillsdale College
Region 10. WMU
Region 11. March 14, 2020. Lancing Community College
Region 12. Grand Valley State University
Region 13. Kalamazoo Valley Community College
Region 14. Lake Michigan College

State Tournament:
Michigan State University - April 25. 2020

LAST UPDATED Oct. 16, 2019
PM me if something is incorrect, or if you have information that's not already on here!
@JohnRichardsim I hope ur proud

SOcoachB wrote: ↑Thu Sep 12, 2019 7:47 am First, the team sizes for the State Tournament will be increased to 17. The number of teams competing will be reduced a bit, probably to keep the overall size of the tournament the same.

54 teams with 108 extra people is a little over 7 "teams" of people, I'm sure more than a few teams will opt out of the extra two, so sure it makes sense.

SOcoachB wrote: ↑Thu Sep 12, 2019 7:47 am The number of teams competing will be reduced a bit, probably to keep the overall size of the tournament the same. Second, in Division B, they will be running the event Aerial Scramble instead of Game On. It is up to regional tournament directors and those running invitationals to decide whether they will follow suit.

I know the middle school that I went to is not happy with having to practice for an extra event, but will be practicing for 24 events, not sure why Mich decided to do this...you bring up an interesting point about invys. I wonder what they will do...

SOcoachB wrote: ↑Thu Sep 12, 2019 7:47 am For the team size change, I am more just puzzled than anything else. As just mentioned, the total number of kids participating at states will not change much, so why do this? It's not a huge deal, but planning becomes a bit more complicated for schools that compete out of state and/or that attend regional or in-state invitational tournaments that stick with the national rules. One likely possibility is that 1-2 students on teams that qualify for Nationals will be told there is not room for them on the competition team any longer. That will not be fun.

Michigan 2019 forum went into a little bit about the reason for this change. Someone said it was because the 5-blocks caused too many conflicts, which I can see happening. But in general, a majority of the teams that go out of state for invites are probably competitive at states, and will probably anyway take 15 to the state competition because nats is still 15. Also, I'm sure no team is going to abruptly tell 2 team members they are off the team, that's more than a little harsh, and, even if 2 people must be cut, they will prolly come to nats as alternates which is the happiest compromise I can think of.

Was it announced somewhere that the number of teams at the State tournament will be reduced? Do you know how many?

meierfra wrote: ↑Sat Sep 14, 2019 8:17 pm Was it announced somewhere that the number of teams at the State tournament will be reduced? Do you know how many?

Somewhat, I believe coaches in my region(9) were sent an email from the regional coordinator about the new states rules. I assume most regions were notified as well. It's down to 54 teams(From 60) like SOcoachB said.

AlfWeg wrote: ↑Sat Sep 14, 2019 1:45 pm I know the middle school that I went to is not happy with having to practice for an extra event, but will be practicing for 24 events, not sure why Mich decided to do this...you bring up an interesting point about invys. I wonder what they will do...

Aerial Scramble is unusual because the rules say the tournament will supply teams with an airplane kit. The competitors build and fly the plane during the competition period. This creates an extra expense for people running tournaments. One way to handle that is to increase the tournament entry fee. Second, Division B already has a flying event in Elastic Launched Gliders. Some schools do not have the facilities capacity to be running another flying event, especially if they also are running a Division C invitational at the same time. In that case, they are likely to run Game On or just go with 22 events. It would just be easier if MI did not deviate from the national event list.

AlfWeg wrote: ↑Sat Sep 14, 2019 1:45 pm Michigan 2019 forum went into a little bit about the reason for this change. Someone said it was because the 5-blocks caused too many conflicts, which I can see happening. But in general, a majority of the teams that go out of state for invites are probably competitive at states, and will probably anyway take 15 to the state competition because nats is still 15. Also, I'm sure no team is going to abruptly tell 2 team members they are off the team, that's more than a little harsh, and, even if 2 people must be cut, they will prolly come to nats as alternates which is the happiest compromise I can think of.

So the solution to problems caused by deviating from the nationals schedule template is to deviate from the team size rules as well? Hmm. By specifying certain events as conflicting, the template creates a framework for coaches how to allocate team members across events. Tournament schedules, often for very understandable reasons related to host school resources, frequently add additional event conflicts that disrupt these plans. It's just the way things go, and we roll with it. A state tournament should not do that.

Making team cuts is always hard. Sure, one way to handle it is to keep the state team at 15 max (assuming that is compatible with five-block scheduling). And, yes, if a team that qualifies for nats does have more than 15, the "extra" students would likely be alternates. It's not the same, though, and the students know it. Plus going to Nationals on short notice (2-3 weeks) is expensive.

SOcoachB wrote: ↑Sun Sep 15, 2019 7:24 am
Making team cuts is always hard. Sure, one way to handle it is to keep the state team at 15 max (assuming that is compatible with five-block scheduling). And, yes, if a team that qualifies for nats does have more than 15, the "extra" students would likely be alternates. It's not the same, though, and the students know it. Plus going to Nationals on short notice (2-3 weeks) is expensive.

I'm sure that if kids were going to become alternates at Nats, they would know much before States, that if the school made nats they would be alternates...so it isn't really a short notice. And yes, 5-block scheduling is definitely possible with 15 kids.

SOcoachB wrote: ↑Sun Sep 15, 2019 7:24 am It would just be easier if MI did not deviate from the national event list.

Now now, who likes Game on?

Time for very very early predictions! Is this the year where we get to see two troys at nats? I believe that if Troy fixes their builds and attends all their events at states then they can snatch a bid for sure. Let me know what y’all think.

lavarball wrote: ↑Tue Sep 17, 2019 5:21 pm Time for very very early predictions! Is this the year where we get to see two troys at nats? I believe that if Troy fixes their builds and attends all their events at states then they can snatch a bid for sure. Let me know what y’all think.

They're getting 1st no cap

lavarball wrote: ↑Tue Sep 17, 2019 5:21 pm Time for very very early predictions! Is this the year where we get to see two troys at nats? I believe that if Troy fixes their builds and attends all their events at states then they can snatch a bid for sure. Let me know what y’all think.

Fixes their builds? They didn’t do that terrible in builds at states.....