We are very excited to provide all of our SoCal OMers the opportunity to participate in Odyssey of the Mind for the 20-21 season while following all school district and state mandates for social distancing and safety.
As you may have seen from the Odyssey Headquarters social media, OotM is providing the opportunity for teams to compete virtually this season. Because school districts across the SoCal area are starting the school year through distance learning, SoCal OotM has decided to only offer virtual regional tournaments and a virtual state tournament this season.
We are sure you have many questions about how your team can participate virtually in Odyssey of the Mind. The state board is working hard to put together useful resources and coach training that will provide support as we go through a successful virtual season.
If your school district is unable to provide support for your team this year, you can still participate! Options include finding a community organization (e.g., Rotary, Church, Mosque, Synagogue, Library, etc.) to sponsor your team, or forming a homeschool group. This would be a “traditional” membership, and it would cost the usual $135 for five teams (one team/problem).
Another option available this year is to purchase a “virtual” membership. This type of membership will allow a coach (or coaches) to form a team that does not necessarily need to be composed of students from the same school, although it can be. This would be a “virtual” membership and it would cost $100 for one team. This type of membership does not need to be sponsored by a school or community organization.
A SoCal webinar for all coaches and coordinators will be held August 26th at 7 pm PST to discuss details for this upcoming virtual season. See details about how to connect HERE.
In the meantime, feel free to purchase the type of membership that works best for your team, using the flowchart above as your guide. We recommend the Traditional membership, if that is an option for your team. The full long term problems have already been released by headquarters, so teams can start meeting virtually. NO team should be meeting in person at this time.
We are looking forward to an amazing season of virtual creativity!
Lynn Larsen, Volunteer State Director, SoCal OotM
Lynn R. Larsen, Ph.D.
Volunteer State Director, SoCal Odyssey of the Mind
