1.  Purchase a National Membership  This gives your group access to the full Odyssey problems.  Your teams can now begin to organize and solve the problem.  It also gives you access to the National Site, odysseyofthemind.com, where you can register for the regional competition and use links to reach Odyssey information.  

​

2.  Help your organization form teams  Every group does Odyssey differently.  You may be asked to gather all the interested parents and students into groups, to recruit coaches and to form teams. 

​

3.  Forward communications from the Regional Directors to your coaches and parents.  We won't officially  know who this year's coaches are until they register their teams, often not until December.  But we have many things to say to Coaches before then.  We appreciate it when Coordinators can forward our emails to their coaches - and parents too when needed!

​

4.  Encourage your coaches to attend training  Our sessions are for novice to advanced coaches and they are taught by experienced WPA coaches.

​

5.  Attend our Coordinator Round Table discussion  Help improve the Odyssey experience at your organization by sharing ideas with other coordinators.  

​

6.  Set up team or coach training experiences within your organization  Perhaps organize a Round Robin day where teams rotate to different station to learn  acting, building, style, or mechanics to name a few ideas.  Or coordinate a monthly Coach Round Table where ideas can be shared and issues discussed.  

​

7.  Remind coaches of Regional & National deadlines  From training registrations to clarifications inquiries, there are a lot of deadlines coaches need to be aware of.  A little reminder from someone who understands the big picture is always a help.  

​

8.  Help your teams secure judges and volunteers  Many teams may have trouble getting the required judges and volunteers.  They may also be caught off guard with providing judges for States.  Help coaches understand the requirements a head of time, to help avert any team penalties.  

​

9.  Help teams brainstorm and organize fundraisers or donation requests  Some teams have their costs covered by their organization, others do not. and may need help generating ideas for funding.

​

10.  Be sure to root for your teams, appreciate your coaches and volunteers, and HAVE FUN!  There's a lot to learn from the Odyssey of the Mind program - even when you're not an OMer!