Coach Checklist

Coach Checklist (Adapted from the LA Basin Region and Redwood Region websites)

This is a detailed coach checklist that lets you know what to anticipate and put into your Odyssey schedule for the season. It is not a “how to” step-by-step coaching guide, but it does focus on some of the nuts and bolts of the operation you might not find in other documents on this website.

Contents:

  • Beginning of the Year​
  • First Few Meetings
  • Mid Year
    • Be Spontaneous!​
  • As the Tournament Approaches
  • At the Tournament
  • Going to the State Tournament
  • Going to the World Finals

Beginning of the Year

  • Purchase a membership. Information for this is on our Membership page.
  • Read the program guide on the national site. It changes every year. All coaches must read it, cover to cover.
  • Meet with parents. Hold a mandatory meeting at the beginning of the season. Be sure to stress the outside assistance rules. (The simplest parent rule is: Parents may not discuss any aspect of the problem solution with the team at all.) Make sure the parents put the date of the tournament on their calendars and keep that date free of any other obligations!
  • Stress to everyone, parents and team members, that the team must provide a judge for the tournament. This is critical, plan ahead!
  • Attend a coaches training session! Attending a training session is mandatory for new and experienced coaches. Being a properly trained coach helps your team succeed and keeps you sane through the process. Plus, you will meet other coaches with whom to connect and build a support network!
    • New this season: Virtual Training!
      • Due to Covid-19 restrictions all training will be done online this season. After completing the introductory video and self-paced online modules, you will attend a live webinar featuring the best and brightest of SoCalOmers from across​ the SoCal Association. Contact the regional director for any questions.

First Few Meetings

  • Did you read the program guide on the national site? If not, do so. Encourage your team to do so as well. (You will also receive a copy of the program guide with your registration packet.) Assign a section of the program guide to each member of the team. (Spontaneous, Style, Long Term, First Half of Rules, Second Half of Rules, etc…)
  • Read the glossary of the program guide again! It is important and will really help the team understand the requirements and scoring once they choose a long term problem..
  • Talk about teamwork and do a few teamwork activities.
  • Talk about outside assistance. Tell the team not to discuss the problem with their parents.
  • Talk about budgeting and cost. Stress that nobody should buy anything without checking with their team members. Many teams collect money from each team member at the beginning of the season ($20-$50 each) to use to buy needed supplies. Any leftover money at the end of the season can be used for a team celebration. Hold on to receipts for the team to refer to when filling out the Material Values Form.
  • Stress that attendance at all meetings is very important.
  • Go over spontaneous rules and strategies, and practice some problems at every meeting.
  • Talk about the problems they can choose. Have the team read the full problem descriptions, not just the synopsis.
  • Once the problem is chosen, everyone should get a copy and everyone should read it from front to back.
  • Let the team know they will need a judge for the tournament. This shouldn’t be a parent as judges do not get to see their own children perform. Team members should start asking teachers and adult friends.
  • Teach creativity! Yes, it can be taught. Always encourage the team to think outside the box!
  • Talk about style, make sure the team understands they must also have a dramatic style presentation (skit), even in the most technical of problems.

Mid Year

  • Did you pay your state dues?
    • (You should receive an email from the state association. If not, contact the state directly).
  • Did you set a hard deadline for completion a few weeks before tournament? Try to make this a dress rehearsal or performance for their peers.…
    • This adds an incentive to get done early and makes a huge difference.
    • It’s also an opportunity to see if they’ve missed a required element, or if something doesn’t work the way they had hoped.
  • Make sure you’re keeping up with the clarifications for your problem.
  • Does the team have a judge yet?
    • This shouldn’t be a parent as judges do not get to see their own children perform.
    • Time is running out for this, better find one quickly.
  • The team should start working on their Style Form now. It’s a big part of their solution. Remember, nothing that is being judged for the long term solution can be part of the style elements chosen by the team.
  • Every coach and team member should be assigned to read the entire problem again. It is easy to miss something critical.
  • Register for the regional tournament and pay your fee.
  • Be sure to practice spontaneous at every meeting. Spontaneous is a significant and important part of the Odyssey tournament and experience. 
  • Attend Spontaneous Day! (TBD)

As the Tournament Approaches

  • Read any emails that come your way, and check the regional website frequently.
  • Make sure your judges have registered for the tournament.
  • Hold a mandatory pre-tournament meeting with parents.
    • Be sure to discuss:
      • Outside assistance
      • Everyone is a winner
      • Arrival time (Early!) and departure time (Late – after  the Awards Ceremony)
      • Be sure to congratulate your kids (We mean real congratulations, not “It’s okay honey”. No matter how they did, they completed a very hard project on their own.)
      • Be thankful and appreciative of every official. Everyone running the tournament is a volunteer. There are no paid positions within this organization.
      • Ask a parent to plan a post-tournament celebration sometime the week after the tournament. Make sure the whole team can make it, and the coach can attend and just relax.

At the Tournament

  • Make sure you bring the following in a folder for each team. Be sure to keep extra copies for yourself.
  • Signed Media Release forms for each team member and yours
  • 4 copies of the Style Form
  • 4 copies of any list as described in section B and H in your problem
  • 1 copy of the Material Values form, filled out as specified in the program guide
  • 1 copy of the Outside Assistance form, signed by everyone
  • optional: any team specific clarification
  • Bring a repair kit with tape and any tools the team may need to make repairs.
  • Be sure that your team has everything listed in section H “The team must provide” of the problem.

Going to the State Tournament

  • What you need to do right now (Immediately!)
    • Congratulate the team! (and the coach!)
    • Make hotel reservations for the Friday night before the tournament and the Saturday night of the tournament.
      • The tournament starts early and the awards run late. We strongly advise a hotel for both Friday and Saturday night.
      • Do this right now, immediately. Yes, NOW. Two hours from now may be too late! Hotel rooms run out. You’ve been warned!
  • What you need to do soon
    • Plan how to get the team and props to the tournament.
    • Schedule practices between now and the tournament.
      • Continue to practice your solution. The team should plan and make improvements based on scores from the regional tournament.
      • Teams are allowed to change any aspect of the solution. This is your opportunity to improve upon the work already done. Scores can guide this as well. Teams are definitely NOT allowed to “borrow” any cool elements from another team’s solution.
    • Register your team via the “Member Area“.
    • If you have special schedule requests, be sure to put them in the appropriate box when you register.
    • Be sure to use those score sheets to improve your solution!
    • Visit the new SoCal State website for news of the tournament and keep up with our regional website. Be sure to refresh both pages to make sure you have the most up to date information.
    • If you want to order pins, be sure to send them in by the deadline. Pin trading helps students to meet other kids from across the state. See the pin order form handed out to advancing teams. Pin ordering is something we strongly recommend.
    • Make sure you bring the following in a folder for each team. Be sure to keep extra copies for yourself.
      • 4 copies of the Style Form
      • 4 copies of any list as described in section B and H in your problem
      • 1 copy of the Material Values form, filled out as specified in the program guide
      • 1 copy of the Outside Assistance form, signed by everyone
      • optional: any team specific clarification
      • Also needed for CA State Tournament: 1 copy of the Media Release, signed and filled out. Even if some parents don’t want to sign it, you should fill it out for the rest of the team and bring it to the tournament.

Going to the World Finals!

  • What you need to do right now (Immediately!)
    • Congratulate the team! (and the coach!)
  • What you need to do soon
    • Plan how you are going to pay.
      • Assume about $1,200 per person.
    • Plan how to get the team and props to the tournament. You will need to crate and ship props, or pay to have that done. This is also expensive. In the Bay Area, for the past several years, coaches have banded together to ship props at a significantly reduced rate. If this is available, we’ll get this opportunity out to WF teams right away.
  • Schedule practices between now and the tournament.
    • Continue to practice your solution, and make improvements, based on your scores from the state tournament.
    • Teams are allowed to change any aspect of the solution. This is your opportunity to improve upon the work you’ve already done. You can use your scores to guide this as well. Again, teams are definitely NOT allowed to “borrow” any cool elements from another team’s solution.
    • Register your team.
      • World Finals registration instructions are given at the meeting after State.
    • Be sure to use those score sheets to improve your solution!
    • Visit the World Finals area at Odyssey of the Mind for news of the tournament.
    • If we can help in any way, please contact us. 
    • Order pins. We cannot stress enough that pin trading is a big part of World Finals. Order pins!
    • Consider being a host to an international team. It is a wonderful experience for your team, something that shouldn’t be missed.
  • Please make sure that parents understand the following:
    • World Finals is setup for the teams. A lot of what happens there may not be all that interesting to parents. We don’t recommend that parents come for the whole week!
    • On the other hand, we do recommend that the team go for the whole week, and that they stay together in the dorms. It is a worthwhile experience that they may only have once in their life!
    • Tickets for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies are sometimes hard to get. Be sure to get them as early as they are available.
  • When going to World Finals, consider the following questions:
    • How are you going to manage your team?
      • We suggest keeping them together as a group (builds team cohesion).
  • Which long term presentations are you going to watch?
  • When are you going to unpack your materials? 
    • Something may have broken, do this ahead of time.
  • When are you going to practice?
  • Where are parents going to stay?
    • Get reservations early.
    • We suggest that teams stay in the dorms; this is a very positive experience.
  • Make sure you bring the following in a folder for each team. Be sure to keep extra copies for yourself.
    • 1 copy of the membership card
    • 4 copies of the Style Form
    • 4 copies of any list as described in section B and H in your problem
    • 1 copy of the Material Values form, filled out as specified in the program guide
    • 1 copy of the Outside Assistance form, signed by everyone
    • Any World Finals–specific forms
    • optional: any team specific clarification