Destination Imagination — New York

All teams from New York are invited to present their solutions at the 2021 NYDI Affiliate Tournament, on April 10, 2021.

The Tournament will be held entirely online.

Owing to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, we will not be able to hold an in-person Tournament this year.

But we will still have a great celebration of creativity online, at our online, virtual, 2021 NYDI Affiliate Tournament!

Each team will:

• Solve a Team Challenge and an Instant Challenge.
• Meet online with a prep-area Appraiser, where they will "check in" to their Challenge.
• Present their Solution to the public, and to our Appraisers.
• Have an opportunity to answer post-presentation questions asked by the Appraisers
• Be scored by the Appraisers. 
• Receive their raw scores and have the opportunity to discuss them with the Challenge Master.
• Be acknowledged for the hard work that they put into their Solution.

At the end of the day, we will hold a Virtual Awards Ceremony:

• Medals will be awarded to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd placing Teams.
• It will be announced which Teams will be invited to participate in Global Finals 2021.
• Special Awards wil be announced.

Collaboration with New Jersey Destination Imagination

NYDI and NJDI will be holding a joint Tournament this year. NY and NJ teams will both present their solutions in the same event, and scored by the a shared set of Appraisers, but NY and NJ teams will be ranked separately, and send their own separate teams to Global Finals. Please check back soon for more information on this topic.

General Information

Please note that the information below is preliminary. Please check back regularly for changes.  

Teams and team managers are advised to review the following information:

How to Register for the Tournament

Register Your Team is our online registration system. Tournament registration will open in mid-January.

Team Challenge

• Please see Rules of the Road for important new information about how to present your Team Challenge at our Virtual Tournament.  Section IX. VIRTUAL TOURNAMENT CONSIDERATIONS FOR TEAM CHALLENGE, on page 38, contains this important information. We urge all Team Managers to review Rules of the Road thoroughly. There are many changes this year! 
• Your selected Challenge may have additional considerations for Virtual Tournaments. Please read your Challenge carefully, as the Challenges have been adjusted significantly to permit online presentation.
• Video Submission Deadlines:
  • The Next Level (Technical) — March 29, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (tentative)
  • In Theory (Scientific) — March 22, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (tentative)
  • Epic Remix (Fine Arts) — March 15, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (tentative)
  • Case Closed (Improvisational) — 
    • The Improv Unknowns that your team must use will be released on March 12, 2021 at 3:00 a.m Eastern Time (confirmed).
    • Your Video Presentation must be submitted to NYDI by March 15, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (confimed). 
  • Built to Last (Engineering) — March 29, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (tentative)
  • Project Podcast (Service Learning) — March 22, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (tentative)
  • Critter's Big Adventure (Early Learning) — March 29, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (tentative)

Instant Challenge

• Please see Rules of the Road for important updated information about Instant Challenge at Virtual Tournaments. The information can be found in Section XII. VIRTUAL INSTANT CHALLENGE, on page 45.
• The Instant Challenge Release Date will be March 5, 2021 at 3:00 a.m. Eastern Time (confirmed).
• Teams must submit their recorded Instant Challenge solution by the Due Date which is March 8, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (tentative).  

About the tournament itself

• Tips for Team Managers at the Tournament
• A Typical Tournament Day
• Picking up and Understanding Your Scores

What else

• What if we win and are advancing to Global Finals?
• All teams MUST pre-order a Champ-Pack (at no up-front cost) – even though you don't know yet if you are advancing! Learn how and why.

Advancement to Global Finals

• Selection of teams:
  • First place teams for each level and each challenge at the Affiliate Tournament will advance to Global Finals 2021.
  • In addition, NYDI may enter 1 team per Challenge, per Level, into the Lottery System, by which additional teams may be selected by Destination Imagination, Inc. to attend Global Finals.
  • Teams must have made a good-faith effort to solve the Challenge and have no significant deductions for Unsportsmanlike Conduct in order to advance.
• See 2021 NYDI POLICY FOR ADVANCEMENT TO GLOBAL FINALS for full details.
• ALL teams must pre-order a Champ Pack, and should be prepared to complete the purchase by end-of-day on April 10th. The Champ Pack is mandatory for advancing teams, and includes NYDI T-Shirts for every participant, and a few trading pins. Cost will be determined in early 2021. Advancing teams can be purchase additional shirts and pins at a discount. We strongly suggest pre-ordering to streamline the purchase process!  Champ Pack orders must be complete on the day of the tournament in order to guarantee availability for Global Finals!  See the Champ Pack page for details.
• What if we Win at States and are going to Global Finals?

Global Finals Team Managers Meeting

There is a very important online Team Manager Meeting after the awards ceremony to review the “Going to Globals” process. One Team Manager from every advancing team MUST attend. We will have a packet of information for the Team Manager and we will review the process. There are veterans in this group that will have great insight to share as well. We intend for this meeting to be brief but focused, running not more than 30 minutes. The schedule of this meeting will be announced a few weeks before the Tournament.