Bay Area Science Olympiad Tournament

Announcements

2/23/24 - Communique 10

As always, we look for ways to improve our tournament. We hope that you'll take 5-10 minutes to fill out this anonymous feedback survey.

The Certificates of Excellence and the Certificate of Appreciation were sent to the coaches in the Communique 10 email for their use.

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, Stan State will not be able to host the NorCal State Tournament this year. However, we are grateful that CSUEB has agreed to host this year's State Tournament on Sat, April 6. We look forward to having the top 4 schools in each Division from our Regional representing us at the State Tournament!

Thank you everyone and we look forward to having all of you again next year!

2/3/24 - Communique 9

The Division B and Division C scores are now final and are posted below. There are no changes to the Div B Scoreboard, and the scores for a team in Tower C, Ecology C, and Exp Design C have been updated but there are no changes to the top 6 in any of these events or the overall team ranking.

Congratulations everyone for their spectacular performance at the competition today and a huge thank you to all of the coaches, family members, all of our event supervisors and writers, and the staff at CSU East Bay!.

2/3/24 - Communique 8

Preliminary Scores are posted at https://scilympiad.com/norcal-bay-area/Docs/UsefulDocs. Head coaches will have 30 minutes from the end of the Awards Ceremony to submit any score inquiry by emailing peterhung@socalscioly.org. As a reminder, this period is only for tabulation questions (e.g. your team received a no show when your team was there).

2/2/24 - Communique 7

Contacting me for urgent but non-emergency matters: For non-emergency urgent matters (e.g. event supervisors requiring ID cards, etc.) on tournament day, I can be reached at (909) 914-0553. This number is not to replace the official appeal process. Please use this number judiciously.

Flight B/C Venue Dimensions: The gym where Flight will take place is 34m x 53m and the height is 14 meters high. As soon as the space is open in the morning ~7:30am, teams can go in for trim flights but must stop as soon as the event officially starts at 8:30.

Room Changes: Please note the following room changes, bold in schedule v3

1/23/24 - Communique 6

Schedule: An updated schedule has been posted here. The preliminary room assignments for the events are now included. Because of the sudden increase in the number of teams, we’ve had to change the structure of the schedule for Division C. At this point, we do not expect any changes to the schedule and will alert everyone if there are any.

15 Official Team Members Roster Requirement: Our current practice at the Bay Area Regional Science Olympiad is for the head coach of the team to bring and submit a final official roster of participating students (15 member team and alternates) on the day of the tournament during the morning check-in time. The head coach needs to also submit any of the various release forms that are required. If there is a change in the composition of the team, this is simply recorded on the roster that you bring on the day of the event.

Wristbands will be provided for your team members. You will receive up to fifteen (15) wristbands, depending on the size of your team, when you check-in. Please be aware that there is no maximum or minimum number of events that a given student must compete. We are aware that teams may employ an organizational system that includes maximum or minimum numbers in order to manage the team and schedule, but that is not a requirement of the Bay Area Regional Science Olympiad program. Please make sure you check the National Science Olympiad guidelines on who can be on your 15 member team..

[Urgent] Online Sign Up for Self-Scheduled Events: We will be using Scilympiad for the self-scheduled events sign ups. To access this, log into the head coach dashboard then click on Self-scheduled Event Signup. From there select the time slot that your team wants to compete in each of the various events.

Please note that self-schedule will open Friday, Jan 26, 4:30 PM and will close on Wed, Jan 31, 4:30 PM

Parent Volunteer Assignments: As in the past, we are asking each team to provide an adult volunteer to help with tasks on tournament day. We’re expecting each team to provide 3.5 hours of support. The parent volunteer assignments can be found here.

Teams must have 1 adult volunteer present for the entire duration listed for the given event. Coaches can either ask 1 parent volunteer to complete it or 2 parent volunteers to split up the assignment. Please make sure to let your parent volunteers know when and where they need to be on the day of the event and that they do not have any conflicts of interest (where they have a child or relative competing in the event they’re helping with). There are no cards or papers to sign. Parent Volunteers should report directly to the assignment (not check in table), they need to let the event supervisor(s) know which school they're representing and that they're a parent volunteer. If you have any questions regarding your assignment, please let us know.

Check-In on the Day of the Tournament: Head Coach Check-in will be in SC-N125. The registration materials we're expecting are:

These are available here.

Once the head coach has turned in these required forms, they will receive up to 15 participant wristbands for the official members of the team (blue for Div B, yellow for Div C). Please make sure to print out enough copies of the map and schedule for the team's use as there will be a limited number of maps and schedules available on the day of the event.

If an event requires impound, the device must be impounded during the time stated in the schedule. Teams will not need wristbands to impound their devices since the impound period is the same as the period when the head coach checks in and receives wristbands. However, per the rules, all devices must still be impounded by one or more of the 15 official team members. Parents or other non-participants may not impound devices for their team, but they may accompany the team members to help transport or carry things.

Science Olympiad Code of Ethics & General Rules: Please review with your students and parents the Science Olympiad Code of Ethics & General Rules .

Photography on the Day of the Event: If your student(s) wish not to be in photos/videos on the day of the event, they should be instructed to remove themselves from the photo, videos, and/or interview situations to avoid compromising the information for broadcasting and newscasts. 

Please note that teams can only photograph or videotape a device if the device belongs to the photographer's affiliated school. In the case that a team wants to take pictures of another school's device(s), permission from the owner of the device(s) must be given. Please refer to the National Science Olympiad Media Recommendation. If your team has a unique design that you do not want other teams to use, please make sure you protect it by covering the device in some manner.

Maps: Teams can download the maps here.

Restrooms: Please note that restrooms are available in each of the buildings that we’re using for the tournament..

No Practicing at CSUEB: Please remind your parents and teams that practicing your devices at CSU East bay is strictly prohibited prior to the tournament. Teams should arrive no earlier than 7:15 AM on Saturday. We’re grateful that CSUEB are willing to host our Regional Tournament and that they’ve committed to sharing their staff and selected facilities on Saturday, Feb 3rd. Classes are still ongoing and it is not acceptable to come onto campus to practice in the gym or other facilities. Please do not jeopardize the possibility of having CSUEB host this and other Science Olympiad events in the future and do not risk your team being penalized.

Awards Ceremony: Awards Ceremony is expected to take place in the Gym at 5:30 PM.

Parking: When you arrive on campus on Saturday, please park in Lots G or H, which are both free.

Arbitration: If your team needs to file an appeal, the head coach must submit an online appeal form. The link to the online appeal form was email in Communique 6 to the coaches.

Emergencies: On tournament day, for emergencies, please call 911.

Preliminary Scores: Scores will be posted on at the end of the Awards Ceremony. Teams will have 30 minutes to submit any score inquiry by emailing peterhung@socalscioly.org. As a reminder, this period is only for tabulation questions (e.g. your team received a no show when your team was there)..

11/14/23 - Communique 5

Alumni: Since 2017, Bay Area Science Olympiad switched to having alumni/community Event Supervisors instead of requiring coaches to write and grade tests. As we continue with this, we would love for more alumni to support our competition! Please share this volunteer form with your Science Olympiad alumni so that coaches can continue to focus on their team instead of judging on tournament day.

Registration: Starting next week, we will start using the new mailing list (all coaches and co-coaches registered on the 2024 Bay Area Science Olympiad Scilympiad page). If you have co-coaches who were registered last year but not this year, they will no longer be receiving future communiques.

Team Numbers: Team numbers will be assigned as we get closer to the tournament (early January) so that teams can sign up for the self-scheduled events. All teams, regardless of the team number, have the same event conflicts/event groupings (same event conflict/grouping as the National schedule) and this information can be viewed on our schedule.

10/21/23 - Communique 4

CSU East Bay reached out last night to confirm that they will be able to host the Bay Area Regional Tournament on Sat, Feb 3, 2024! This is earlier than our typical Regional Tournament but I hope that you’ll be able to join us! If you haven’t registered yet, please be sure to register here and click on “Register your school”.

10/2/23 - Communique 3

Just want to give you a quick update that we’re still working with CSUEB to confirm a date to host the Bay Area Regional Science Olympiad Tournament. We’re aiming for the last weekend of February or early March. We’ll send out more information as soon as we find out.

9/10/23 - Communique 2

Thank you so much to those of you who have already registered. The Northern California State Science Olympiad draft tournament schedule was just shared with the Regional Directors this morning. While it is subject to change, we have aligned the Bay Area Regional Schedule with the event grouping/conflicts from the NorCal State draft schedule. Please note that there may be slight changes to the Bay Area Regional schedule as we confirm the host site and if we encounter any limitations on venue spaces but we will share any changes with all of you as soon as possible. You can view and download the most current Bay Area Regional Schedule on the Tournament Document page.

9/4/23 - Communique 1

Welcome to the 2023-2024 Science Olympiad season! Registration for the Bay Area Regional Tournament is now open. For the 2023-2024 season, we will continue to lift the limit on the number of teams that a school can enter. Please note that the registration fee will be increased for the first time since 2017 to $390/team, to be consistent with the increase in the National membership dues and the cost of living adjustments. We're working to confirm the location and date of the Regional Tournament, to be posted once confirmed. The tentative schedule for the Regional Tournament will be posted soon as well. In the meantime, the list of 2024 events can be found here and the 2023-2024 rules will be available at the soinc.org starting tomorrow, Tuesday, Sept 5, 2024.