Hi ebeth,
My kids have participated in the middle school division (B) of Science Olympiad for several years. Sadly our high school no longer participates (I asked them at the Parents meeting why we can't re-start and they said it's expensive, no money for stipends for coaches and takes a huge amount of time for both coaches and students). They were more amenable to my suggestion to participate in the National Science Bowl because the prep time/costs are nothing and we only have to come up with the bus money to go to regionals.
Science Olympiad is really great, but a ton of work. Our little middle school (60 kids total) devotes most of winter to the competition. Practices are Every Day after school plus several weekend workshops. There are 23 events and for regional competition we have 2 teams (A & B, with A made up of mostly 7th & 8th graders who have done Sci Oly before). We have written grants to pay for a teacher to be the coach, assistant coach is a volunteer from BLM, and many parents help. The years when there were not enough adult helpers were weak. In addition to grant money, our PTA supports it, and I personally have donated a lot of money each year toward my kids specific events. Things they need include robots, reference books, field guides, lots of balsa and bass wood, glue, miscellaneous hardware, lab ware, safety supplies, kits (like rock & mineral samples, forensics analysis kits)...plus organizers like binders, buses for the competitions, hotels, meals, etc.
The experience is completelyworth it if there are a handful of dedicated people.
