Our tournament is a celebration of creativity where teams show off the solutions to the Challenges that they have been working on for the past several months, and where we acknowledge their teamwork, creativity and problem-solving skills.

• Destination Imagination is a spectator sport! Family, friends and supporters are welcome to attend!
• Teams will present the Team Challenge solutions that they have been working on for the past months, in front of Appraisers, and an audience of their peers, parents, supporters, and other teams.
• Teams will also solve an Instant Challenge — a secret problem that will be presented to them on the day of the Tournament.
• Our Appraisers will give the teams feedback on their solutions, and score the solutions of teams in competitive Challenges.
• Teams and their supporters are invited to come early and stay late to see as many other teams perform as they can.
• There will be other fun activities for teams.
• At the end of the day we will hold our Closing Celebration and Awards Ceremony, where will will acknowledge the teams' hard work, distribute medals to teams whose solutions excelled, and announce which teams will advance to our 2023 NYDI Affiliate Tournament.

All teams are advised to read:

• Tournament Guide for Teams, which has important instructions about pre-Tournament and at-the-Tournament procedures.
• Your Challenge (again), so you don't get caught out by rules that you may have forgotten or overlooked.
• Rules of the Road (again), which has lots of details about Tournament procedures.
• The Published Clarifications for your Challenge.
• Our Check-in and Prop Handling Rules and Procedures.

To streamline check-in at each Challenge, the documents that the Appraisers will need when evaluating your team's solution must be submitted online, in advance of the tournament.

The required forms include:

• Tournament Data Form [competitive teams only] (tdf)
• Starry Showcase Form [Rising Stars teams only] (tdf)
• Expense Report (exp)
• TC Prep
• IC Prep

Please note: A different subset of the forms listed above may be required depending on your Challenge.

Submission instructions:

• The submission page is in the Resource Area at Teams → my tournaments
• Use the button in each column to access the submission forms.
• Your submission is not complete until you click the Submit button at the bottom of each form.
• Deadline:
  • Please submit by Friday, February 24 to avoid the last minute rush!
  • All documents must be submitted by 11:59pm on Monday, February 27.
• Our Prep Area Appraisers will review your submission and may respond with questions, so please remember to check your email!

See your Challenge, Rules of the Road, Resource Area Hints & Tips and Tournament Guide for Teams for more details.

All teams are invited to come to the tournament early, and stay through the day, until the Closing Celebration / Awards Ceremony, which will take place at the end of the day. See Tournament Venues and Schedule (below) for details.

We hope that in addition to presenting your own solutions, you will watch other teams perform their Team Challenges, both in your own Challenge, and in others. We will also have various fun activities planned and of course our merchandise sales tables will be open. Make sure to watch and cheer on our Rising Stars teams as they present their solutions at 3:00 and 3:25 in the Auditorium. Closing Celebration / Awards Ceremony will follow soon after.

All teams must report to Registration located in the lobby of the side entrance outside the Auditorium of Clarence Middle School before unloading any props or equipment into the building. It is sufficient for one Team Manager to come to Tournament Registration; it is not required for the entire team to report there.

If your team has props or other equipment, and they have already checked in at Registration, they may unload their props from vehicles at the Prop Unloading Location for their Challenge indicated on the map below. Vehicles may not be left unattended at the Prop Unloading Location; please move them to a parking spot immediately after unloading so other teams may get close to unload.

Important:

• Do NOT bring your props or other equipment to Tournament Registration!
• Do NOT enter any building on campus before checking in at Tournament Registration!
• Vehicles left unattended at the Prop Unloading Location will be towed at the owners expense.
• The building will open at 10:45 am. Please do not come earlier as volunteers will be busy setting up.
• Don't forget to read the Check-in and Prop Handling Procedures!
• Please allow enough time to unload your props, etc. into the building.

The number of teams that will advance to the 2023 NYDI Affiliate Tournament depends on the number of teams competing in each Challenge and Level. If one team is competing, then that team will advance. If two or more teams are competing, then we advance two (2) teams, and add an additional advancing team for each eight (8) teams competing.

In the case of a tie, the tied teams will advance according to their rank, and will not affect the advancement of teams at a lower rank.

Additionally, any team whose total score is within 10 points of an advancing team and has won (1st place) in any competition portion (Central Challenge, Team Choice Elements or Instant Challenge) will be given the opportunity to be evaluated by a second set of Appraisers, and therefore advanced.

In order for a team to advance, the Challenge Master must certify that the team has made a good-faith effort to solve the Challenge, and the team must not receive any significant deductions for Unsportsmanlike Conduct.

Please note: Our Appraisers understand the difficulty of preparing for the Tournament, and that some teams may not have yet succeeded in fully developing and implementing every Challenge element. A good-faith effort means that the team has solved at least a significant part of the Challenge, and that it is clear that they are working on any remaining elements.

A detailed explanation of the advancement policy can be found in POLICIES OF DESTINATION IMAGINATION OF NEW YORK.

IMPORTANT NOTE: We have CHILDREN with peanut and tree nut allergies so do not bring anything with peanuts or tree nuts!!!

We are happy to say that:

• Teams will be allowed to perform without masks, if they choose.
• Teams will be allowed to stay and watch other teams perform.
• We will have an in-person Closing Celebration and Awards Ceremony at the end of the day.
• We will NOT require proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test.

Stay home if feeling ill, or if they know they have been recently exposed to someone who is ill with COVID, Flu or RSV.

Really, we mean it: If you don’t feel well, STAY HOME!

• Teams can perform even if one or more team members are missing at the tournament. There is no requirement for 100% attendance.
• No penalties or score reductions will be imposed because of a missing team member.
• Note that it is always a good idea for teams to be prepared for breakdowns, including the possibility of a team member not being able to attend the Tournament due to illness. This is a scenario that has happened to many teams before, and we are happy to report that often those teams have won their Challenge / Level, received special awards, and advanced to higher levels of competition.

If you have been in recent contact with someone who has (or may have) COVID, Flu or RSV, STAY HOME!

Finally, we remind everyone that these rules are based upon the situation as we know it today. If the infectious disease community level changes, we will revise these procedures.

We know that this adds complication to our usual celebration of creativity, but as we are sure you will understand, we want to make sure that none of the kids become ill as a result of participation in the tournament.