Sister Tournaments

[Jehosaphat]

Hey, so as I'm graduating this year from Division C, I am hoping to start a university invite next year. One idea I have had while competing over the past couple of weeks is "sister tournaments".

I know that the general format for invitationals is either the university format, or the style where a coach proctors an event at the invitational. But one issue I have seen with this model, which has always existed, is the limited grasp of test writers and a less than desirable test quality. What I am proposing is partnerships between tournaments on the same day, where tests are jointly written in order to lighten the load on a volunteer and improve access to good tests across the nation.

Has such an idea been tried before? I hope to remain active in Science Olympiad as a volunteer and this is one way I think the system could possibly be improved. Any input is appreciated. Thanks!

[Longivitis]

The closest thing I've seen is different universities partnering up for one invitational (think GGSO and Harvard-Brown). The reason why they partner up is that they're (relatively) close to one another and possibly that they don't have the manpower to run an invitational by themselves, which is what UT might do with Trinity (a university in San Antonio) if they manage to set up their own invitational.

UT also partners with the other regionals in Texas by sharing some of their regional event tests with them because otherwise, they might not be able to run the event, which might be what you're thinking of.

Now, if there was a partnership of schools from different coasts (think MIT + UC Davis, just throwing random invites), I think that it can be plausible especially if it's an in-person competition since traveling can be a big financial barrier to smaller teams, but it can also cause some problems since the writer for the event can only be in one of those two locations to proctor, with build events being a bigger issue.

Typically the reason why some invitationals rely on coaches to write the tests is that it's simply easier to ask them to write them. This could be because they might not have enough writers in the area or don't have enough pull to get writers to write quality tests for them, which is where alumni can definitely step in to help!

Also, since you're starting planning to start a new invitational on your campus, feel free to reach out to other invites nearby or other alumni chapters if you need any assistance! I'm sure a lot of us are willing to help out!

[SciolyMaster]

Seems like a good idea, the main logistical hurdle is the scheduling

[Herbster03]

Pitt Invy and SOAPS are unofficially sister tournaments. This is, however, mostly due to me, the tournament director of Pitt Invy, and the tournament director of SOAPS and many of the alumni working within each tournament being all alumni from Cumberland Valley High School. In being able to communicate with each other on tournament ideas, we are able to have more opinions on certain topics that we might be unsure of and can better learn from each other's mistakes. However, I also do believe that sister tournaments even make logistics slightly easier in this regard as long as there is steady communication throughout the year. Also, a sister tournament, in my opinion, would be best if it was between two schools where traveling is more probable to reach each other. Having the help of each other on the tournament day means a lot. If sister tournaments are too far away from each other, it would still lighten the load on actual test writing a a bigger issue of day-of proctoring becomes an issue where everyone would be spread too thin without the actual Event Supervisors present.

In terms of format, Eagle Invy (hosted by Cumberland Valley High School), SOAPS, and Pitt Invy all do not require any coaches to write the tests for the tournaments. Instead, we employ a large network of alumni both between each other and across the nation to be our test writers and Event Supervisors. This has worked very well and has made our Invys a better experience especially for coaches and has become a slight incentive to attend. You would be surprised by the vast number of Science Olympiad alumni that are willing to give back to the program as well as how spread out we are. If you are ever having a trouble, a lot of us would be willing to help and give input!

If things don't necessarily initially work out in starting your own Invitational your first year, there are also a lot of other opportunities to consider in order to stay active in Science Olympiad. You could always look for other Invitationals or Regionals to help with or even consider being a State Event Supervisor for whichever state you are in.