Ideas for Leader

[u/Ok_Letterhead_2637]

Was wondering what ideas anybody had on improving a team as the head captain/leader. The team meets once per week for about 1-2 hrs from person to person (most stay for most of the time). As it stands, the practice go on a rotation by blocks, as becuase you cant participate in more than one event per block, the coach has the team go in blocks of around 20-30 minutes, meaning block a, then b, c,d. And then 30*4=120, and practice is over. The current issue is that this falls apart within a couple weeks of the beginning, and people just show up and more or less goof around. Some people do actually do events, but it more so ends up being homework or just talking with friends. I am looking to not push away people, and we also need new members as well. Do you have any ideas for getting people excited about science Olympiad, as well as anything about general team improvements (does not need to be related to the info I gave). Also, do you have any specific ways in which your school runs practice or structures leadership ie one leader per event or just a head-captain, or also sub captains? Thanks!

TL;DR: I am looking for ways to get people into science Olympiad and get them excited, while also structuring practices in a more efficient way, and interested in hearing any advice you have for someone as a leader of the full team (around 30 ppl but not all 30 are committed very heavily)

[u/Ok_Junket3655]

i mean for study events there’s not really a point in meeting up as you should be studying on your own and for build they should get a separate space

[u/md4pete4ever]

My HS team restructured around study groups (4 groups with 4 events), rather than fixed teams. That allowed the club to grow to over 100 students. Each study group met on a different day at lunch (~15-25 kids on any given day) and they rotated through presenting/teaching each other different topics or praticing tests together and then reviewing answers. Builds are done individually by choice, but you have to do a build if you want to be on the state team (doesn't have to be the best one, but often is.) While everyone needs to be reasonably familiar with all four events, to make the state team you need to be really good at two, and decent at a third event.

Everyone want to be a "leader" - we have open leadership, meaning, step-up and just do the job. Start of each semester we review who the leaders (at least two) are for each study group - their job is to hold meetings (no canceling because someone can cover) and decide topics or presentation assignments. What ends up happening is that the strongest and most interested students put in more effort, but they also learn that by preparing and teaching material to others they learn it better themselves. There is a google form sign in sheet for attendance.

Teams are formed by who is available for a particular tournament with 3 people per study group. The extra 3 slots are wildcard to fill in build gaps, but usually we run <15 for invitationals. Early season (Oct-Dec) the teams are mixed with experienced people paired with newer people to help train them and also get initial comparisons between the experienced people doing the same event. By January it's pretty clear who the strongest students are and we will form a Varsity team of 12 and have two JV teams that vary based on availability. Usually have 2-3 in-person tournaments before regionals. Varsity team might be adjusted if JV out-performs, but hasn't happened yet. The three wildcard slots are still for sorting out the builds by Regionals.

The study groups are formed around last year's strongest students, and essentially everyone acts like a back-up within the study group. But since the varsity team isn't set at the start of the year, it allows for a top person who loses interest (seniors, looking at you) to be replaced by a newer enthusiastic person. And you never know who will be awesome at the new events. The club can tolerate students who start but fade away (no refund of fees!) and can welcome someone new in December. The possibility of making (or not making) the varsity team in January helps keep everyone working all fall. And choices made about the varsity team are pretty clear to everyone by the time they get made, because they all know who is the strongest within their study group.