Why Judges are so Important

Judges play a key role in the success of the Odyssey of the Mind program at all levels.

We appreciate the efforts our judges go through for the betterment of the student.

To provide the best experience possible at our tournaments we must have trained and certified judging teams. To accomplish this we ask each team to provide a long term judge and each membership to provide a spontaneous judge for the regional tournament. Teams which advance will be required to provide a certified long term judge for the State Tournament. Generally, judges will not judge in the same Division as the team they represent.

Tournament Day

Once trained and certified please make every effort to judge on Tournament day. Any team not providing a trained judge for the Tournament will be assessed a spirit of the problem penalty of 25 point

Documents Judges Should Get from Their Team's Coach

The coach of the team you are representing should give copies of the following to you well before Judges Training. You should bring the Judges' Training Form, Problem Description, and Odyssey of the Mind Program Guide with you to Judges' Training.

* Judges' Training Form
* Problem Description
* Odyssey of the Mind Program     Guide

Please study the problem and program guide prior to Judges Training. Doing so will enhance the training and help you to be a better judge.

Judges should also stay abreast of clarifications issued for their problem.

How a Judge is Certified

To become a certified judge we will ask that you go through a two part training. Check the Events/Dates page for the date and location of this year's Judges' Training.

Part one will be general information about Odyssey of the Mind, how we judge our tournaments and why it is so important to be excited and provide positive feedback to participants.

Part two of your training will be problem specific dealing with the details of the problem you will be judging. Judges training generally occurs in February of each year.

Primary Judges
Judges for teams solving the Primary Problem must also attend Judges Training.

Act 48 hours available for teachers.
Judges must attend Judge Training and work the assigned role at our West Central Regional Tournament