It’s finally here – judge registration for the 2024 tournaments is open!

We hope you can join us for one or both Qualifying Tournaments.

Competitions will take place on Saturday, February 3, 2024, at Natomas High School in Sacramento and on Saturday, February 10, 2024, at Edna Hill Middle School in Brentwood. We could not hold these tournaments every year without your help, so please register today!

The Details:
Don’t limit yourself! Judges are welcome to register for one or both Qualifying Tournaments.

• If you are representing a team, please confirm which tournament your team will be attending and register for the same tournament.
• If you are unaffiliated (independent / not representing a team), you may choose either tournament.
• If you love judging, feel free to register twice! You will need to complete the registration process once for each tournament.

Register as an Official | The Registration

The registration link will direct you to an officials’ area on the Odyssey of the Mind HQ website. You will see a request (of questionable grammar) for a membership number. Please DISREGARD the option to enter your team’s membership number before selecting the tournament. This feature is not working and will give you an error. Simply leave it blank and select the tournament for which you’d like to register.

Zoom Training: After you complete the HQ process, you will be automatically redirected to a registration page for our live Zoom training. All judges must attend one live Zoom training session. The live Zoom trainings are 90 minutes long, and will take place on Thursday, January 18th from 7-8:30pm, and Saturday, Jan 20th from 10-11:30am. Please select one training date and complete your registration.

Confirmation: You will receive an automated confirmation email from “Odyssey HQ” confirming your judge registration. Please check spam folders as this message often goes to spam. This email will include links to the online training and Zoom registration, and information to allow you to log back in to adjust your registration.

After registering for the Zoom session, you will receive a separate automated confirmation email from Zoom.

Judging for NorCal Odyssey: What to expect

As a returning judge/official, you probably know the drill, but here are a few reminders just in case!

• All judges must be at least 18 years old on tournament day
• Judges must be available all day on tournament day, from around 7am to 5pm and will not be able to see their own team or child compete. You will not be allowed to judge the same problem in which your team or child is competing.
• All judges must complete online, self-paced training AND attend one live Zoom training session with their assigned Problem Captain.
• On tournament day, judges will be provided with continental breakfast and lunch. We will have vegetarian and non-vegetarian options available. If you have special dietary needs, please plan to bring your own meals.

What comes next?

After we receive your registration, you will be assigned to a judging team, based on your preferences as indicated in the registration form, and any conflicts of interest per the team you are representing. Once assigned, your Problem Captain will reach out to you with more information about the problem you will be judging, and you will meet them at the live Zoom training, where they will train you for this year’s problems.

The online, self-paced training will be available starting January 1st, 2024, after close of registration. At that time, you will receive an email with a code allowing you to access the online training.

Please keep an eye out for future emails that will have important information about the tournaments, training, and your assigned judging team.

This year, the Qualifying Tournaments will have a “Camp OMer / camping” theme, so if you’d like to join in the fun, bring or wear camping-related gear, including fishing hats and vests, merit badges and sashes, hiking boots, or similar! Check with your assigned Problem Captain in case your judging team has a more specific theme to follow as well.

We are very excited about this year’s tournaments, and we hope you’ll join us! Please feel free to invite friends and family to judge as well. If you have friends or family who’d like to judge together, please include a note in the registration form comments, and we will do our best to accommodate your request

We truly could not hold these tournaments every year without your help, so please register today! We look forward to seeing you in 2024!