Tournament Policies

Please be sure to review the following policies before tournament day.

Eligibility

• Schools must be registered with their home state Science Olympiad organization and must have paid all applicable state and national fees prior to competing in the MIT Science Olympiad Invitational Tournament.
• The MIT Science Olympiad Invitational Tournament is a Division C competition. All teams must conform to the Science Olympiad Division C membership rules specified here.
• All students on each team must be eligible to compete for that team per the eligibility rules specified here.
• Competing at the MIT Science Olympiad Invitational Tournament does not qualify schools or teams from outside Massachusetts to participate in the Massachusetts Science Olympiad state competition.
• All students must submit a liability waiver signed by a parent or guardian, as well as proof of health insurance, prior to competing in the MIT Science Olympiad Invitational Tournament. Forms will be provided to teams after registration. See Required Forms for more information.

Rules

• Unless otherwise stated, the MIT Science Olympiad Invitational Tournament will follow all rules as stated in the printed national rule book and national event clarifications posted here. We will follow all rules and clarifications published by the national Science Olympiad organization regardless of state-level rule changes or clarifications adopted by Massachusetts, the West Suburban Science League, or any other state organization.

  • Events for which the printed national rule book specifies different rules or content for different levels of competition will be run according to the rules specified for the national tournament level.
• Each team must be accompanied to the MIT Science Olympiad Invitational Tournament by at least one unique adult. (In other words, schools which send two teams to the MIT Science Olympiad Invitational Tournament must be accompanied by at least two adults on competition day.)

• Teams must abide by the Science Olympiad code of ethics and general rules specified here. In particular:

  • Unless otherwise stated, if writing utensils, notes, resources, calculators, actions, etc., are not excluded, they are permitted unless they violate the spirit of the competition.
  • If a student does not follow accepted safety procedures, he/she will be penalized or disqualified.
  • One or more of the 15 current team members must have constructed all pre-built devices presented for judging. Any of the current team members may demonstrate or operate the device at the competition unless stated otherwise in the rules. Any student designated by the coach may impound devices.
  • A team may not arbitrate an event after they have removed their device from the impound area. See Arbitration below.

Wristband Procedures

We will be using wristbands on competition day to identify the competitors. Please observe the following notes about wristbands.

• Students will not be allowed to compete without wristbands, so please make sure you have 15 wristbands in your package. There will be no exceptions to this rule. Team members MUST have wristbands.
• Accepting the coaches package constitutes an agreement that you have verified that the correct number of wristbands are in our packet. Wristbands will also be required for Trial Events.
• Wristbands should be secured onto the wrists of the 15 competing team members and should be tight enough so as to not be able to slip off.
• If a wristband is defective or damaged, the coach and student must bring the band to headquarters for validation and replacement before they are allowed to compete.
• Event supervisors will check for wristbands before the event begins.

Arbitration

Arbitration can be conducted if a competitor or coach feels that an event was not run in accordance with the rules. Please observe the following notes about arbitration.

• Should you choose to arbitrate an event, please let the Event Supervisor know so that he or she can remember the details of what happened.
• Bring your complaint to the tournament headquarters where the Arbitration Committee will be. You will be asked to write down a description of your dispute as well as the particular rule(s) you believe were violated.
• In the case of a build event arbitration, YOU MUST LEAVE THE BUILD AT THE TESTING LOCATION AFTER THE RUN IN CONTENTION. If a build is removed from the testing location, we cannot arbitrate, regardless of the point of contention.