Judging and Volunteering with MD-DC

Judges and volunteers are a critical part to the Odyssey of the Mind experience. They work directly with the teams and ensure team members have a positive experience throughout tournament day. Interested in in volunteering at a tournament or becoming a judge with MD-DC Odyssey of the Mind?

Sign up for our State Tournament here!

In the meantime, check out the judging roles you can sign up for below and start getting excited to participate in one of the most important roles of the Odyssey of the Mind team!


Staging Area Judge

Staging Judges are the first official to greet the teams prior to their long-term performance and foremost be a friendly face to ease the nerves of the team and the coach. They must be familiar with all required paperwork and any required items that must be checked in the Staging Area. The Staging Judge should familiarize themselves with the competition venue and the problem competition area, so they can assist teams and coaches with any questions they may have.


Timekeeper & Announcer

The Timekeeper & Announcer is responsible for introducing the team to the audience and monitoring the performance time. They are responsible for completing a pre-performance checklist, setting expectations for the audience during the team’s performance. Once the team begins their performance, the Timekeeper part of the role kicks in and they must monitor the team’s performance time, ensuring they do not exceed the allotted 8-minutes.


Problem Judge

The Problem Judges score long-term solutions. They must be completely familiar with the rules of the problem they are judging and be comfortable scoring subjective or objective categories for each performance. Following each performance, Problem Judges will get to speak with the team members about their solution and should create an encouraging environment when discussing with the team members.


Style Judge

Style Judges evaluate a Team’s style categories by reviewing a team provided form identifying specifically what they would like to be judged on. They should determine if the style categories are already being scored in the long-term scoring categories and if the style categories are appropriate for the problem provided guidelines. Style Judges must be comfortable with subjective scoring and encourage team members when they speak with them following the performance.


Head Judge

Head Judges are experienced judges and the leaders of their respective judging teams. They keep their respective performance rooms running on time and review score sheets following each performance for completion. Head Judges present scores to team coaches and answer any questions. They must be thoroughly familiar with the long-term problem they are leading, be versed in conflict management, and be able to interact with teams and coaches in a positive manner.


Score Checker

Score Checkers work together to collect score sheets from judging teams, review the score sheets for completeness and then enter them into the scoring program or running the score to the score room for final review. The Score Checkers must be familiar with the long-term problem they are reviewing to make sure other judges score within the appropriate range for subjective categories and award the correct number of points for objective categories.


Spontaneous Judge

Spontaneous Judges evaluate teams during the spontaneous portion of the competition. They will judge the same problem throughout the day, whether it is a verbal problem, verbal-hands on problem, or a hand on problem. Spontaneous Judges may be assigned a specific role within their team, such as timekeeper or question answerer. They should be enthusiastic and positive team members, to help ease team member nerves.

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