GENERAL INFORMATION

Tournaments - A complete Science Decathlon tournament consists of ten (10) Team Events and several Pilot Events for each Division.

Team Events - Events in which participants scores are used to calculate final team scores. Team scores, in turn, are used to determine team rank. Alternates are not permitted to compete in Team Events.

Pilot Events - Alternates are permitted to compete in Pilot Events and received Individual Awards

Team Size - Teams are comprised of a maximum of six (6) regular team members and two (2) alternates. For more detail visit FAQ page.

Team Organization (Drive Time Policy) - Science Decathlon teams will not be restricted by school affiliation or enrollment. This means that any coach can recruit and organize any eligible students regardless of their association with any means of garnering an education. However, as a means for requiring that teams be representative of local areas, National Science Decathlon will require that a team's head coach declare an official central team address at the beginning of each year. Student participation on that team will require that the student have a permanent address which is within a twenty (20) minute driving time (radius) of the team's central address. Coaches will be responsible for ensuring that this requirement is observed by using MapQuest database information as the standard measure of driving time.

Tournament/Event Rules - Science Decathlon tournaments and events will be governed by rules published and made annually. Participants are encouraged to use the most current set of rules posted to begin preparation, keep tabs of rule updates and make necessary changes once rules are updated.

Geographic Organizations - Science Decathlon is organized into five levels: National, Conference, State, Regional and Local. National Science Decathlon has assigned states to one of eight conferences based on population and relative location of each state. State level Science Decathlon organizations are responsible for identifying Regional and Local geographic divisions.