Texas 2013

[sofan]

Plus the excitement of going to nationals for the first time can be very distracting to focusing on the actual competition.

agreed. First time i went to state, i was distracted for some time. Even though it wasnt nats

[sofan]

when do they announce the trial events for next year?

[iwonder]

Not till next september or probably later.

[jlee7x2]

Any likelihood of Storm the Castle coming back as a repeat Texas trial event? (As WGYN was repeated these past years) What do they actually base picking trial events on? (arbitrary?)

Do you think they'd actually get rid of trial events because of how they affected the Texas results and ultimately Texas placement at nats this year? I, for one, believe that, given a set of parameters, a team should aim for the most prudent strategy, considering all factors and predicting outcomes. Whether or not the factors are the best for the state is up to what the state coordinators decide; to allow dominating teams to widen the gap between newer teams with landslide victories vs. a more competitive scene in Texas that could cultivate the next amazing team (much like a Seven Lakes). In its first year going to nationals, Seven Lakes substituted 3 nationals events with State events; they played to their strengths and medaled in all of them. They went onto become a powerhouse in future years and ultimately placed the highest Texas has ever placed at nationals (6th) in its 3rd year there. Perhaps our state coordinators have exceptional foresight and deem trial events a way of leveling the playing field for the vast number of teams in Texas as a sort of investment in future results . It is an interesting discussion.

Also, any word on how conclusive the "tentative events" actually are; like when is that final final?

Pardon my enthusiasm as I've been trapped on a SciOly frequency and am probably experiencing what Luo calls "PSOD" (Post SciOly Depression).

[Mimsie]

Any likelihood of Storm the Castle coming back as a repeat Texas trial event? (As WGYN was repeated these past years) What do they actually base picking trial events on? (arbitrary?)

Do you think they'd actually get rid of trial events because of how they affected the Texas results and ultimately Texas placement at nats this year? I, for one, believe that, given a set of parameters, a team should aim for the most prudent strategy, considering all factors and predicting outcomes. Whether or not the factors are the best for the state is up to what the state coordinators decide; to allow dominating teams to widen the gap between newer teams with landslide victories vs. a more competitive scene in Texas that could cultivate the next amazing team (much like a Seven Lakes). In its first year going to nationals, Seven Lakes substituted 3 nationals events with State events; they played to their strengths and medaled in all of them. They went onto become a powerhouse in future years and ultimately placed the highest Texas has ever placed at nationals (6th) in its 3rd year there. Perhaps our state coordinators have exceptional foresight and deem trial events a way of leveling the playing field for the vast number of teams in Texas as a sort of investment in future results :) . It is an interesting discussion.

Also, any word on how conclusive the "tentative events" actually are; like when is that final final?

Pardon my enthusiasm as I've been trapped on a SciOly frequency and am probably experiencing what Luo calls "PSOD" (Post SciOly Depression). :P

As a grad of SLSO, it's extremely humbling to know that other people have taken notice of the team I was on. When I was part of the student leadership (informally), my coach and I discussed that we would rather do events that got us to Nats and then study like pigeon for Nats when we got there. Ultimately, guidance from more experienced coaches at other schools convinced us to drop those events in favor of national events because we wanted to be competitive there, too. If it were up to me, I would have remained a cheapskate forever and done the state trial events. I do love me some Picture This.

A hint...

- Few schools do NEW building events (Ex. When Sound of Music was new, we fulfilled the bare minimum on the rubric (We wanted to do better...... but ah....) and got like 5th).
- Few schools do DIFFICULT events at State. (Ex. We got 11th with an empty box at State once in Mission Possible.....................)
- You want to strategize in event selection? Don't do things where you're weak in (We weren't very good at Write it, Do it... Notice how often it was dropped).

I think if more schools did this, then the state competition could have some interesting results in the future. ;)

As far as I remember, tentative doesn't mean much. When the list has changed, you should just go ahead and start. It won't hurt ya. Work, work, work! >:O!

[harryk]

Any likelihood of Storm the Castle coming back as a repeat Texas trial event? (As WGYN was repeated these past years) What do they actually base picking trial events on? (arbitrary?)

Do you think they'd actually get rid of trial events because of how they affected the Texas results and ultimately Texas placement at nats this year? I, for one, believe that, given a set of parameters, a team should aim for the most prudent strategy, considering all factors and predicting outcomes. Whether or not the factors are the best for the state is up to what the state coordinators decide; to allow dominating teams to widen the gap between newer teams with landslide victories vs. a more competitive scene in Texas that could cultivate the next amazing team (much like a Seven Lakes). In its first year going to nationals, Seven Lakes substituted 3 nationals events with State events; they played to their strengths and medaled in all of them. They went onto become a powerhouse in future years and ultimately placed the highest Texas has ever placed at nationals (6th) in its 3rd year there. Perhaps our state coordinators have exceptional foresight and deem trial events a way of leveling the playing field for the vast number of teams in Texas as a sort of investment in future results . It is an interesting discussion.

Also, any word on how conclusive the "tentative events" actually are; like when is that final final?

Pardon my enthusiasm as I've been trapped on a SciOly frequency and am probably experiencing what Luo calls "PSOD" (Post SciOly Depression).

I definitely agree with you about the trial events, though I really have no idea how they choose which ones to do. WGYN and Picture This/Science Word have become sort of traditional trial events, but the others seem to change every year. As for the tentative event list, in my years I've never seen them change it. Right now the national coordinators are drafting and finalizing rules for all the events and I'd imagine that the only way they'd drop and event is if they come across a major unresolvable issue when writing the rules.

[jlee7x2]

Hi Guys,

For the 2014 year, does anybody know what date State is going to be? This year the date was May 3-4, just two weeks before Nationals on May 17-18.

I know the date has not been released yet, but are the state coordinators aware of the overwhelmingly brief break that teams have in between state and nationals? Additionally, the set date for UIL regionals in Texas will be anomalously late on May 3rd for 2014; that might affect some teams who have members double dipped in both SO and UIL. To my knowledge that date is already final as the venue has been reserved way ahead of time. Science Olympiad Nationals for 2014 is consistent at May 16-17.

But mainly, nobody wants to figure out logistics (funding, plane tickets, etc) and prepare for events (the ones they opted out for trial events) in a mere two weeks. Another way to make Texas more competitive at nationals is to give us some more time to prepare between State and nationals.

[Crazy Puny Man]

make Texas more competitive at nationals is to give us some more time to prepare between State and nationals.

I'm not in Texas, but I think putting state closer to nats is more beneficial. Everyone continues to stay focused on the upcoming competition. Our state tournament is in March, and after it people weren't so focused until competition day approached.

But two weeks is a bit absurd, especially with the non-National events they run Ohio has theirs 3 weeks before nationals.

[jlee7x2]

make Texas more competitive at nationals is to give us some more time to prepare between State and nationals.

I'm not in Texas, but I think putting state closer to nats is more beneficial. Everyone continues to stay focused on the upcoming competition. Our state tournament is in March, and after it people weren't so focused until competition day approached.

But two weeks is a bit absurd, especially with the non-National events they run Ohio has theirs 3 weeks before nationals.

Agreed, but that is also an extreme - it'd be nicer with a happy medium. Two weeks before, good hotel accommodations are difficult to come by and somehow fronting airfare, hotel, and transportation fees with less than two weeks notice is an ordeal for some.

I get what you mean about losing focus. That must have been what it was like for Texas with the 2 month hiatus from Regionals to State. Something in between would encourage focus and reduce procrastination for all competitions.

[mrburrito]

[/quote]
That must have been what it was like for Texas with the 2 month hiatus from Regionals to State. Something in between would encourage focus and reduce procrastination for all competitions.[/quote]

(Whispers) Invitationals...