Team Qualifications and Organization

ISO follows all national Science Olympiad policies with regards to Teams and Qualifications unless otherwise posted at illinoisolympiad.org.  Any deviations from these policies must be approved by the ISO Executive Board yearly.  To apply for a variance, please contact the ISO State Director.

National Policies
ISO follows all national policies unless otherwise stated.  Please review the national policies before you register a team with ISO.  The current national Science Olympiad policies can be found here:
​Additionally, all teams must comply with all ISO policies regarding:
  • Adhering to Team size and grade level requirements in ISO
  • Teams and Competition:  Running an event at the tournament for each team registered, submitting all required paperwork, completing demographics
  • Adhering to rules about team organization and alternates

​Team Levels and Size
Division A (Grades K-5)
  • Maximum of two teams per school (IF tournament space permits - in such case, medals awarded only to one team per school)
  • A maximum of 3 students per event (We encourage team rosters be structured so that students compete in more than one event, if possible) 

Divisions B (Grades 6-8) & C (Grades 9-12):
Division B and C teams can be made up of Varsity and JV teams.
  • Division B is for middle and junior high schools, recommending 5th-8th grade students.
  • If a Division B school does invite 9th graders back to participate as part of the team, it is NOT permitted to have a JV team for that school year.  The school principal MUST sign off on the team roster acknowledging that all students invited back were previously enrolled in that school.  ISO has the right to require proof of student school history.
  • Division C is for high schools and should consist of 9th-12th grade students, at most, SEVEN students can be in the 12th grade

Many, but not all schools have JV teams that consist of additional students who may be younger or less experienced than the Varsity members.  The make up of each team is at the coach's discretion and may be changed between tournaments.

Varsity Teams
  • The varsity team is the first/primary team from any middle or high school. 
  • The varsity team for a school may have at most 15 students.
  • The performance of the varsity team at the regional tournament will determine if the School will advances to the state tournament.
  • A varsity team is allowed alternates.  Alternates do not compete for the varsity team unless one of the 15 varsity members is unable to participate.

JV Teams
  • The JV team is the second and/or third team from a middle or high school
  • JV teams must compete at the same regional as their varsity team
  • JV teams for a school may have up to 15 students on the team
  • JV teams cannot advance to the state level.
  • Coaches can combine members of a JV team and Varsity team to create their state-advancing team.
  • At regional tournaments, JV teams are ranked only against other JV teams, not Varsity teams.

Varsity and JV teams:
  • Compete independently at invitational and regional tournaments
  • Must be registered and paid for separately
  • If the school has many grades in it, the team may have students younger than the prescribed grades.
  • Schools that are K-12 are allowed to have both Division B and Division C teams.

Teams and Competition
Division A:
  • All teams will compete in an assigned regional tournament.  There will not be a State tournament.
  • Each team must submit proper tournament paperwork (some ahead of time, some at the tournament) including team roster, media and participation release form, medical release forms.

Divisions B & C:
  • Following team registration, ISO assigns each school’s team(s) to a regional tournament.  Qualifying teams at the regional tournament advance to the State tournament.  Qualifying teams at the State tournament advance to the National tournament.
  • A school is allowed one Varsity and at most three JV teams (due to the virtual nature of this year's tournament).  
  • Based on the performance of the Varsity team at the regional tournament, a School can advance to the state tournament.  Coaches are allowed to bring a single team consisting of up to 15 members to the state tournament as long as they satisfy the team division requirements.  A specific number of students can become alternates or participate in Trial events at the state tournament as determined by the events for that year.
  • Your school will be expected to run at least one event and possibly an event for each team you have registered at the regional tournament.  For example, if you registered a Varsity, JV #1, and JV #2 teams, your school would be required to run at least 1 event but may be expected to run up to 3 events.  You will be able to choose your top events that you would like to run during the registration process.  The regional director will do their best to match your team(s) with events that you selected during the registration process.
  • Each team must submit proper tournament paperwork (some ahead of time, some at the tournament) including team roster, media and participation release form, medical release forms.
  • ISO will require all teams to submit demographic summary information about each team competing at the regional and state levels.  This information parallels part of the data included in the school state report card.  Teams are not allowed to compete at the regional or state tournaments without completing this information.  IF this is going to present an insurmountable problem for your team, please contact the ISO state directors immediately.

Team Organization
Divisions B & C
  • A student can participate on only ONE team during a tournament (Varsity or JV, not both)
  • A student cannot participate on multiple JV teams during a tournament
  • Based on the performance of the Varsity team at the regional tournament, a School can advance to the state tournament.  Coaches are allowed to bring a single team consisting of up to 15 members to the state tournament as long as they satisfy the team division requirements.  A specific number of students can become alternates or participate in Trial events at the state tournament as determined by the events for that year.
  • For state advancing teams, a specific number of students from the varsity or JV teams may participate in trial events
  • Coaches may switch students between varsity and JV teams between tournaments
  • Only one team per division per school can advance to the state tournament

Alternates
Divisions B & C
In case of an emergency, an alternate may take the place of a competing team member with the approval of the Tournament Director.
  • The coach must bring the alternate to headquarters for approval and to obtain a wristband.
  • The coach must bring the original competing member’s wristband to headquarters.
  • The original competing member is not allowed to return back to competition
  • By adding the alternate, the team must maintain compliance with the Team Division requirements.
  • A student can participate on only ONE team during a tournament (Varsity or JV, not both)

Self Schedule
Divisions B & C
Self Schedule at Regional and Invitational Tournaments
  • Building events – Varsity and JV teams must have a separate apparatus for each team
  • Non-building events – JV team must be scheduled to compete at the same time or AFTER their varsity team