December News

News from NY Odyssey this month includes our new pins, the 2025 NYSOMA Scholarship, our new Odyssey Inclusive program and important deadline reminders for Team Registration and for sumbitting Team-specific Clarifications.

NY Odyssey pins for 2025

This year we have 3 pin sets, Paint Tubes, Lava Lamps and a Bee and Flowers set. Our Broadway Playbill series continues with Six: The Problems, a motif that will also be found on our State T-shirt and the 2025 Hooded sweatshirt. Our 2025 State Finals pin has a purple and gold color scheme. Rounding off our 2025 pins we have a Lucky Omer, a NY State shaped pin and as always, an Omer Statue of Liberty.

Oh wait, we have one more wickedly creative pin that will be magically appearing in a few weeks, can you guess what it is?

2025 NYSOMA Scholarship Announcement

Every year NYSOMA awards a number of academic scholarships to New York OMers, who are graduating High School or have just started their freshman year of college.

This year's challenge is to make a more effective and creative Super Bowl Ad for Odyssey of the Mind

The millions who watch the Super Bowl have one thing in common each year: they all think they can make better commercials than the advertisers. This year New York Odyssey of the Mind is clapping back with a bold, yet simple challenge: Prove it!

Think You Can Do Better?

Unleash your creativity and love for Odyssey by creating a better Ad than NYSOMA ever could.

We are looking for video submissions that are creative, memorable and really do an effective job of selling Odyssey to a specific target audience. Further details and the online application form can be found at https://www.nyodyssey.org/scholarship-application.

Odyssey Inclusive

Odyssey Inclusive provides opportunities for neurodiverse students and students with disabilities to enhance their visual and performing arts skills, social skills, teamwork, academics, and creative problem-solving abilities as part of Odyssey of the Mind!

Neurodiverse students and students with disabilities have always been welcome, however Odyssey Inclusive makes it easier for them to participate with developmentally appropriate accommodations built into the program.

After being piloted in Maine and Southern California, this year New York is leading the way in 2024/25 with two Odyssey Inclusive programs. On December 16, the first OI team completed their showcase performance.

Check out some photos from the first team’s performance, Autism Up in Rochester, NY.

Congratulations to Amar, Jovie, Lily, Vivian, Drew and Emily for an outstanding solution to the ‘Our Amazing Animal Friends’ problem.  The judges loved watching their solution and were amazed by their creativity and teamwork. A huge thank you to the staff at AutismUp for supporting the team and the program!

Anecdotal reports suggest that in addition to team members having a lot of fun, participating in Odyssey Inclusive improved students’ teamwork and social skills.

Jan 6th Deadline for Team Registration

Another reminder!  

Coaches, January 6, 2025, is the deadline to register your team’s chosen Problem in the Odyssey system as well as the Division in which they will compete. 

To register the head coach for each team must set-up an account under the school Odyssey membership and register as ‘coach’ in the ‘association role’ field:  https://odysseyofthemind.com/kb/add-a-coach-to-your-membership-as-a-school-contact/

(Wait for a confirmation email before the next step)

Then login into the Odyssey website using the password sent in the confirmation email and the email address used to register.  Follow directions: 

https://odysseyofthemind.com/kb/how-to-create-your-team-by-problem-and-division/

The team’s problem and division must be registered under the coach and their contact info.

At the moment, you do not need to enter a Team Roster or register for a specific Regional Tournament - info and instructions to follow.

If you have problems meeting the Jan 6 deadline, please contact your Regional Director or Lynn (LLucas@nysoma.org) by Jan 6.

Team Specific Clarifications

If teams are unsure about their proposed solution and/or have questions about how to interpret the requirements and limitations of the Long-Term Problem or the Program Guide, they should request a Team Specific Clarification.

Teams should not just hope their solution will be legal, or seek guidance from an experienced coach or their RD. The questions and answers remain CONFIDENTIAL, and the emailed clarification should be provided to tournament officials, to affirm that a team’s solution is valid.

Once you have registered your team's problem and division, access the Member Area to submit a new clarification.

The deadline for submitting Team Clarifications is Feb 15th, 2025.

November News

With details about the Community Star Award, the new Odyssey HQ website, the "OMER Talks" Zoom sessions, a reminder to check out NYSOMA's growing social media presence and a plug to check out our Regional Tournament schedule as well as volunteer opportunities.

Community Star Award

The NYSOMA Community Star Award is intended for an individual or business who has made an outstanding commitment to the Odyssey of the Mind® Program by:

• Demonstrating a passion for Odyssey of the Mind within their school, district, community, or region.

• Giving time, energy, and resources to support Odyssey of the Mind within their school district, community, or region.

This award is not intended to replace the OMer Award but to recognize previously unsung heroes.

The deadline for nominations is March 3rd 2025.

Download a flyer to distribute here

New Odyssey HQ (CCI) Registration System

Coaches!

As Odyssey continues to update their system, please be patient as we all go through this process.

Currently, coaches can register for an account under their national membership as well as register the problem and division for the team. Help guides can be found here: https://odysseyofthemind.com/kb/

Coming soon, will be the ability to register for a tournament.

OMER Talks!

OMER Talks are monthly Zoom sessions designed to help current members and officials enhance their skills, the Odyssey Way!

They feature Odyssey subject experts explaining and exploring Odyssey topics. They will be held the 3rd Tuesday of every month throughout the program year.

The next one is on November 19th – “Secrets of Spontaneous”.

A link to register for the session can be found in the Members Area.

Program Guide and Clarifications

Don’t forget to read the Program Guide, which is essential reading for all coaches and team members.  Chapter 5 lists all the rules that you teams need to be aware of as well as information about cost forms, prohibitive items and …

Odyssey HQ also posts on their website general clarifications to the long-term problems which can be found here.

General clarifications can be posted all the way up to World Finals so keep checking back.

If the team has a question that cannot be answered by reading the problem, checking the Program Guide or the general clarifications then they may submit that question under your coach’s account.

Help on submitting a “team specific clarification” can be found here: https://odysseyofthemind.com/kb/submit-clarifications/

Social Media

Check out our resurrected Facebook page New York Odyssey of the Mind

We have also been growing our Instagram (@NYSOdyssey) presence with news, notices about new pins and alerts when clarifications are posted at Odyssey HQ.

Get ready for our big IG launch in January!

Regional Tournaments

Check out the dates for all the NY regional tournaments: https://www.nyodyssey.org/regional-tournaments.

If you can volunteer to help, please contact the Regional Director.

Details of all regional contacts can be found at https://www.nyodyssey.org/regional-info

September News

Including membership info and the new registration system, Program Guide changes, Coach Resources, Registration for statewide online Coach training, and introducing our new Problem 1 State Problem Captain.

Are you Ready?

The full versions of the long-term problems are now available, so it’s time to register for a National Membership.

Need help navigating the new CCI registration system? Instructions can be found here:

https://odysseyofthemind.com/kb/membership-sign-up-2/

Changes to the Program Guide

In addition to reading the problem, coaches and team members should also know what’s in the Program Guide. Each year there are some minor, and not so minor changes to the Program Guide so you should check out the Forms and Files section of the NY Odyssey website to access the 2024/25 Guide and a document that lists all the changes to last year’s guide.

Get Involved!

Wanting to be involved in Odyssey but your school does not offer the program? 

It might be possible to form a community team in your region.

Also, if you are 18 years of age or older then think about being involved as an official.  We are always looking for volunteers to help regionally or at State Finals.

For further information contact Lynn at: LLucas@nysoma.org

NYSOMA Pins for 2024-2025

We received almost 80 pin ideas from team members, coaches and parents.  An outstanding number displaying the creativity that NY OMers have.  The Pin Committee is working on selecting the winning designs for this year’s pins so make sure you check back next month as we reveal the winners!

New State Problem Captain for Problem 1

Firstly we must give a big thanks to Bill Everett for his leadership as State Problem Captain for Problem 1 this last year.  While Bill is leaving this role, he will still remain active as an official. We are extremely lucky to still be able to tap into his vast Odyssey experience.

We welcome Chris Lucas as the State Problem Captain.  Chris has been involved in Odyssey for over 20 years as a coach, team member, regional and State Head Judge and most recently a World Finals Head Judge.

Save the date – Virtual Coaches Training and Overview

Whether you are a veteran or new coach, please come and join members of NYSOMA for a virtual coaches training and over-view of the program on:

Tuesday October 29 at 7pm

To register: www.nyodyssey.org/coach-training

Other Coach Resources on the website

Lots of useful information, for both new and experienced coaches, is available on the website. Check out NY Odyssey’s Coaching Basics, the Coachs' Toolbox, Odyssey Academy and the Spontaneous resources.