Science Olympiad co-hosted an invitational tournament with DeSoto Saturday Dec. 2.
The team’s coach, Chad Brown, explains what a tournament looks like in Science Olympiad.
“Science Olympiad consists of 23 different events, from life sciences to engineering to physics to chemistry, and some events are build events, some events are test events,” Brown said. “An individual might compete in three or four events, but the team as a whole competes in all 23 events.”
However, hosting a tournament changes what both students and coaches must do during a tournament, in order for the event to run smoothly.
“The team has to run itself so you have to get them ready, get them going and then let them do their thing, because I have to run around and make sure events are going well,” Brown said.
Home tournaments provide a familiar location that can feel comforting, according to sophomore Katie Davis. This was especially true as it was her second tournament as a member of the team.
“Now that I know what I’m doing and that we’re in Mill Valley, and not going to a different school, it’s a much more calm environment,” Davis said. “We know where we’re going so there’s no really big panic about which room we’re going into.”
This tournament provided a better experience for Davis in other ways as well.
“Going in [for the event] I was like, “Oh no, this is gonna be just like the first [tournament]” and it was not because I had studied and my partners are really good at Code Busters so their positivity impacted my own positivity,” Davis said. “Once I solved my first aristocrat, I felt so relieved and uplifted that the whole event went by so fast and it was a lot of fun.”
Junior Sam Maniquis finds that connecting with his teammates at the end of the competition is his favorite way to end a stressful tournament day.
“Awards are the best because that’s where we’re going to hang out and discuss everything that happened today; it’s relaxing,” Maniquis said.
This connection with her peers is also important to Davis.
“I think the best thing that has happened during the tournament was I solved an aristocrat by myself,” Davis said. “Even better than that was when I solved an aristocrat with my partner. I got to interact with them and it was an overall very positive experience.”
