2023-2024 Illinois DI Tournament Timeline

All teams participating in DI in Illinois will be assigned to attend a Regional Tournament. Those teams with qualifying scores will be invited to attend the state Affiliate Final Tournament.

Your team will be placed in a Regional Tournament based historically on the number of teams participating in the state and the geographical location of the school, organization or individuals purchasing the program materials and team numbers. Both Competitive Teams and the non-Competitive Early Learning teams are invited to present at your assigned Regional tournament. 

For 23-24 we will have three DI Regions:

North Suburban teams are based in Lake and McHenry Counties. Tournament location Wilmette.

Chicago & West/South Suburban teams are based in Chicago, Cook County west and south of O’Hare -(use Rt 83 as a N/S line for northern Cook county), DuPage, Kane, DeKalb, Kendall, and Will Counties. Tournament location western suburb.

Central Illinois teams are based in central, northwestern, and southern Illinois and all other locations not listed in the other two Illinois DI Regions. Tournament location Pekin.

Teams that are unsure of their assigned Region, or wish to participate in a Region where they are not located, please contact the Affiliate Directors, Jan Darnell or Diana Dignan, and they will review your request to participate at another Regional.

For 2023-2024, Illinois DI will be keeping the tournament fee the same as in the past. $100.00 per team at a Regional Tournament, and if your team competitive team qualifies and participates at the state Affiliate Tournament, an additional $100.00 will be paid. Registration for the Regionals will be available to all teams in December 2023. The Early Learning Teams only participate at the Regional Tournament. 

Regional Tournament Registration is due in the last two weeks of January. Dates vary according to Region. If the fee is not paid by that date and Registration is not complete, an additional $100.00 will be assessed as a late fee.   ALL teams participating in the Regional Tournaments MUST Provide and Adult Volunteer to participate as a Scoring Tournament Official. We provide the training to this individual. This over 18 year old adult may not be the Team Manager. If your team does not provide an adult for this vital position, your team will be assessed a $250.00 fee. (We do not want you to pay this fee, we need your adult to act as one of our officials)

Competitive teams placing 1st, 2nd or 3rd in each level of each Team Challenge at their Regional will receive medals and trophies. Special Awards will also be presented. Early Learning, non-competitive team members all receive participation medals for presenting at their Regional. Competitive teams scoring the highest three places at their Regional will be invited to participate in-person at the Affiliate Final Tournament to be held at Northern Illinois University, DeKalb on April 6, 2024. If any Challenge and level has a much higher participation than other Challenges at any Regional, additional places may be invited to participate at the Affiliate Tournament from that Region. 

At the Affiliate Final, competitive teams placing 1st, 2nd or 3rd in each level of each Team Challenge will receive medals and trophies. In addition, the team receiving the highest score in Instant Challenge for each level of each Challenge, when there is more than one team participating in that level, will receive a medal for that accomplishment. Special Awards will also be awarded.

This season, Illinois DI teams placing 1st and 2nd at the Affiliate Final Tournament, will be invited to participate in Global Finals, May 22- 25, 2024 in Kansas City, Mo. Competition will take place May 23-25. Participation at Global Finals is a wonderful experience, and many teams who have attended before, would do it again if they qualified. Additional teams may be invited to Global Finals as space in the Challenges and Levels allow.

2023-2024 ILDI Timeline

August 15, 2023 – Challenge Materials released and available to teams after purchase and background check clears.

January 21, 2024 – $ 100.00 per team Tournament Registration due for North Suburban Regional 

January 28, 2024 – $100. 00 per team Tournament Registration due for Chicago & West /South Suburban Regional 

January 28, 2024 – $100.00 per team Tournament Registration due for Central Illinois Regional 

As stated above, a late fee of $100.00 per team will be charged if not registered by your team’s specific Regional deadline. This date varies from Region to Region and this information will be provided to the Team Managers and Coordinators well in advance of the deadline.   An additional fee of $250.00 per team will be required if the team does not provide one adult (over 18 and NOT the Team Manager) Volunteer to act as an Official at the Tournament. Mandatory training for this volunteer will be provided closer to the tournament date and will involve in-person and online components.  

January 31, 2024–  Team Clarification Deadline for Competitive teams to ask questions they may have about their Challenge. Please read the Published Clarification and info on Team Clarifications on the main DI Website. https://www.destinationimagination.org/challenge-program/clarifications

February 24, 2024 –  North Suburban Regional Tournament in Wilmette, Loyola Academy

March 2, 2024 – Chicago, West/South Suburban Regional Tournament – TBA

March 9, 2024 – Central Illinois Regional Tournament in Pekin, IL

March 17, 2024 –  $100.00 Registration due per invited competitive team for the Illinois Affiliate Tournament at NIU, DeKalb

April 6, 2024 – Illinois Destination Imagination Affiliate Final Tournament, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb Campus.  Tournament from approx. 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM  In Person Award Ceremony to follow. Approximately  5:00 PM – 6:00PM The Fee to participate in the Affiliate Final will be $100.00 per team membership number. 

May 22 – 25, 2024 – Destination Imagination Global Finals – Kansas City, Mo.  For more information about Global Finals;   http://Globalfinals.org