Glossary of Science Olympiad Terms
Coaches – The Head Coach in charge of the logistics and direction for the whole team, and the Event Coach work with a smaller group of kids to prepare for a specific event. At the tournament, when asking to speak to a coach usually mean the Head Coach.
Conflict – When a student finds that two or more of their events are running at the same time, they have a conflict and will need to decide which event to participate in. 2024 San Diego Regional event grouping/conflicts are the same as SoCal State. Click here to see conflict events chart.
Director – This is the person in charge of the planning and implementation of the tournament. All questions you have about the tournament and competition process should be directed to this person. This person is also called the “regional director”.
Division B –6th-9th graders team.
Division C –9th-12nd graders team.
DQ (Disqualification) – When there is a serious violation of rules or safety protocols a team may be disqualified from an event or the competition. Disqualification decisions are made only by the tournament director after consultation with the affected parties. When a team is disqualified from an event a score equal to the number of teams at the tournament plus two is awarded.
Event supervisor – Event supervisors are dedicated volunteers who prepare, implement, and score each of the competition’s events.
Headquarters – Most regions have a designated area where you can find the tournament organizers so that questions can be asked about the tournament. This may also include an area where event supervisors can turn in their tests, scores, and rankings.
Impound – This is the process used to check in team-built devices before competition begins. Events that require advance impoundment are indicated in the events rule book. Tournament schedules will indicate the time and location where impounding will take place.
Invitational – An Invitational is a practice competition, often sponsored by individual schools or Science Olympiad teams. Invitational tournaments have no impact on a team’s regional or state standings. Invitational tournaments allow students to practice for upcoming regional and state tournaments and provide coaches a method of evaluating talent when selecting their competition team. Ex: 2/3/24 - Sierra Vista Invitational, Division B, Sierra Vista Middle School (Irvine, CA), other invitational list: https://socalscioly.org/?tab=tournaments&page=invitationals
Log – Some of the build events require team members to submit a log detailing the performance of their device during practices. A flight log is commonly required in the event Wright Stuff, where the team members must submit the performance data of their plane to the judge before their flight.
No Show – A team that fails to participate in an event is declared a no show. The penalty for failing to participate in one of the 23 events is a score equal to the number of teams at the tournament plus one.
Regional – Regional competitions are tournaments that determine which teams qualify for the State Tournament. 2024 San Diego Regional Science Olympiad regional event will be on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024 at San Diego Miramar College.
Tie Breaker – If two or more teams receive the same overall score, the first tie breaker goes to the team with the most first place finishes. The second tie breaker is awarded to the team with the most second place finishes and so forth.
Self-schedule – Some events will be “self-scheduled.” This means that individual time slots are available for teams to choose from rather than be placed in a block of time assigned by the tournament director. If your regional director has self-scheduled events, they will inform you of the time slots along with directions for the selection process. A highly competitive team will want to complete the self-scheduling process right away to secure times that work best for them.