Volunteers are crucial in order to have a successful Odyssey of the Mind Tournament. Because of this each team must provide both a Judge and a Volunteer to work on competition day.
Judges: Anyone over 18 who has graduated from high school is allowed to be a judge. We often see grandparents, aunts, uncles, and college age siblings act as judges. Teachers, student teachers, community organizers, youth pastors, etc. also make excellent judges.
Judges are required to attend one virtual meeting in January to learn how to do their job. It is usually on a Saturday morning and runs about 2 hours. Materials will also be provided to help them understand the Problem they are judging.
Judges are required to be at the Tournament site first thing in the morning before the Tournament starts and will be required to stay all day until all the teams they are judging have finished. There will be scheduled breaks, and lunch will be provided.
Consistency is key when judging teams, and the judge must be present for every team competing in his problem and division. For this reason, a judge will NOT be allowed to step out or leave his post to see his home team compete. For this reason, we do not suggest asking parents to be judges.
Volunteers: Volunteers are usually asked to work about one and a half hours on Tournament day. They have jobs like working at the souvenir stand, being a door holder between performances, etc. About a week before the Tournament, the Coach will receive an email giving them the opportunity to sign up their volunteer for a specific job at a specific time. Coaches will be able to choose a time that does not conflict with the team’s Long Term Performance. Volunteering is a good job for parents, but anyone over 18 is acceptable.