DestinationImagiNation

NewYork

Team Managers, Judges & Tournament Officials

---

What is a Team Manager?

Each team must have at least one adult (18 years of age or older) registered as its coach or team manager of record. Each membership has the right to determine who this person will be. The coach/TM is generally responsible for recruiting, selecting and training the team. The coach/TM may not work on the team challenge solution unless, as may be the case in College/Military teams, he or she is also a team member. The TMs responsibilities often include presenting the tea m challenge to the team, conducting brainstorming sessions to develop solutions to the team challenge, conducting and evaluating instant challenge practice sessions, helping the team obtain the materials and knowledge necessary to solve the team challenge , supervising practice sessions, accompanying the team to competitions, and representing the team should a problem occur. The Team Manager can help the team by having guest speakers visit and talk about general principles that may be useful in solving the challenges, by showing films, and by suggesting resources that give the team basic techniques with which it may work. In short, am Team Manager is an adult facilitator, administrator, and supporter of a team. No special skills or talents are necessary to be an TM, however the time commitment to coaching is substantial.

As each membership has the right to determine who it’s TMs will be, contact a membership directly to become a coach. While no special skills are needed to fulfill this role, we do offer Coaches Training Workshops for members early in each competitive season.

At a sanctioned tournament, each Team Challenge and Instant Challenge solution site will be manned by a appraisal team. These teams generally include a Challenge Master, head appraiser, challenge appraisers, timekeeper and prep area appraisers. Instant Challenge competition sites will be manned by at a least three appraisers. These appraisers evaluate and score each teams’ challenge solution. Each year we are indeed lucky to have a wonderful and dedicated Appraisal Corps which represents our entire area. Appraisers at our Tournament come from every corner of our area geographically, from every profession, and educational background! They are above all else impartial and well trained to offer our teams the very highest quality assessment of their solutions. To that end, each team must submit the name of at least one person willing to take on this critical role. No special skills or talents are necessary to become a Appraise, however, all appraisers must be certified before our tournament and therefore are required to attend our Appraiser Training and Certification Seminar. While we have never had too few appraisers in our area, to assure the best possible conditions for our kids we don’t want to forget that new judges always bring a new and welcomed perspective to this critical role.

There are many jobs at the tournament that do not require certification, or a large time commitment. These jobs are filled by volunteers who agree to work on the day of the Tournament. These jobs include, team registrar, score room personnel, souvenir stand personnel, score runners and clean-up crews. These volunteers are critical to the tournaments success. To volunteer to work at our Tournament please contact the Director.