Tournament Information
CTOM STATE FINALS
The CTOM State Tournament usually happens in late March. Teams work on their Long Term Problems and practice spontaneous problems in order to get ready for the Tournament. On Tournament Day, teams come from all over Connecticut to present their solutions. Teams are assigned a time to present their Long Term Solution and a time to compete in Spontaneous. The Long Term presentations are open to families and the general public.
What you need to know about the Long Term Performance:
Teams need to report to the Long Term site an hour before their scheduled time. At this time they bring their props and materials to the pre-staging area. They bring their paperwork (materials form, 3 copies of their style sheet, their outside assistance form as well as any other paperwork required by the specific problem) and present it to the Staging Judge who will assist them during the pre-performance period. The creativity and energy during these 8 minute performances are enjoyable and often inspiring.
What you need to know about Spontaneous:
Unlike the Long Term presentations, the teams alone compete in spontaneous with no observers except the Spontaneous Judges. The Coach waits in the Debriefing Room while the team competes.
1. The team reports to the Spontaneous Desk 10 - 15 minutes before the assigned time. Once the coach has checked in, the team waits where directed to LISTEN for their team to be called.
2. Please leave COATS, HATS, and anything they are holding with the Coach. NO GUM! No Food.
3. They are escorted or directed to the Holding Room (the waiting room) with their coaches (no parents unless the parent is a coach).
4. A Judge will escort the team to the Spontaneous Room while the Coach(es) ONLY go to the Debriefing Room.
5. In the spontaneous room the team is read a new problem that they must solve, usually in 8 minutes.
6. A Judge escorts the team back to the Debriefing Room to meet their coach(es). They may discuss the spontaneous problem quietly with their coaches in the Debriefing Room.
7. When they leave the Debriefing Room in the spirit of good sportsmanship to keep the tournament as fair as possible, they honor our trust in them to NOT DISCUSS THE SPONTANEOUS PROBLEM WITH ANYONE (even each other!) until the Award Ceremony that evening. After all, who will fair better, a team that has eight minutes to solve a problem or a team that has 2 hours to come up with a solution because they overheard a conversation in the hall? So, don't ask the competitors to tell you about the spontaneous until after the ceremony! Help the teams keep the competition fair and honest!
ODYSSEY OF THE MIND WORLD FINALS
The top two teams in each problem and division at the State Tournament advance to the World Finals in late May. The Odyssey of the Mind World Finals are held at major universities in the United States . The University of Maryland, Michigan State University, and Iowa State University frequently host the World Finals. This is a 3 day event where teams from over 35 states and 15 countries meet to present their solutions and compete in spontaneous. Teams from China, Japan, Mexico, Germany, Singapore, Poland and many more come to share their solutions ! It's a weekend of competition, complete with fun activities such as a Creativity Festival, a Coach Competition (so that the coaches can show how creative they can be solving problems), several NASA sponsored activities and a Float and Banner Parade. Judges come from all over the World to volunteer their time to make this competition happen. The teams from Connecticut find that they can compete on a world stage. It is the experience of a lifetime!
Pin Trading
A significant part of the World Finals is to meet the other competitors. To facilitate this CCI developed a very popular activity, Pin Trading. The students bring pins designed by their State/Country organization and trade them with each other. The purpose of pin trading is to break the ice, bring the students from all over the world together with a fun activity. It also keeps active, creative students focused and busy- not to mention out of trouble! Students learn what makes a fair trade- if the two traders are happy with the trade, it's a good trade. They learn to approach the other competitors. The interactions lead to conversations, sharing and friendship! And every student has a different, personal keepsake of pins and stories to go with each pin!
TESTIMONIALS
"It teaches kids to work as
a team and that hard work and creativity will get you anywhere!"
- Team Member, Middle School