2026 South Qualifier Tournament – Saturday, January 24, 2026
Littleton CO
2026 North Qualifier Tournament – February 7, 2026
Highlands Ranch CO (NEW location)
2026 Championship Tournament – Saturday, March 7, 2026 (NEW date)
Littleton CO
Championship invitations will be sent on the Monday after the North Qualifier Tournament
The Optimist Brain Bowl is a team quiz competition for middle school students in 6th, 7th and 8th grades from schools in Colorado and Wyoming. Optimist Brain Bowl teams compete by grade level. In addition to regional tournament awards for the top four teams in each level, the top scoring teams in each grade level are invited to participate in the Optimist Brain Bowl Championship Tournament.
For more information contact the Brain Bowl Director.
Optimist Brain Bowl History
The Optimist Brain Bowl was created in 1982 by the Buckingham Square Optimist Club. Modeled after the television game “College Bowl,” the club invited middle school students from the Aurora Public Schools that their club served. The small competition was met with enthusiasm from students, teachers, parents and volunteers.
After sharing their success with other clubs in the Colorado-Wyoming Optimist district, the Optimist Brain Bowl began having clubs invite teams from the schools that they served. In 2000, the Optimist Brain Bowl began a district-wide marketing campaign. Over the following years, the competition grew to three regional tournaments and in 2012 the Championship Tournament was added. Up through the 2020 tournament season, the Optimist Brain Bowl served over 1200 middle school students per year making it the largest youth project in the Colorado-Wyoming Optimist District. In 2021, we launched the Optimist Brain Bowl Virtual Tournament for 44 teams from 20 schools staffed by 67 Optimist member volunteers! After the pandemic, Brain Bowl reorganized the regional boundaries to accommodate two Regional Tournaments and the Championship Tournament. In 2025, Brain Bowl opened registration to allow teams to choose which Qualifier Tournament to attend.
Optimist Brain Bowl Participants
The Optimist Brain Bowl is for middle school students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. Teams consist of up to 6 students with any 5 team members competing in each round. Teams play 4 team-to-team rounds and one written round in the morning to qualify for elimination rounds in the afternoon. Schools may enter up to 7 nine teams in their qualifier tournament. Teams may not have team members in grades lower than 6th grade or higher than 8th grade. Only teams from Colorado and Wyoming may participate in Optimist Brain Bowl tournaments.
There are two Qualifier Tournaments held in late January or early February. Beginning in 2025, schools may register for either of the Qualifier Tournaments (but not both). The top-scoring teams from the two Qualifier Tournaments are invited to a Championship Tournament in late February.
Optimists & Volunteers
The Optimist Brain Bowl is the largest local youth project that the Colorado-Wyoming Optimist District produces and supports. Every Optimist member in our district is encouraged to volunteer at least one tournament every year. Each tournament requires over 100 volunteers serving as Readers, Timekeepers, Scorekeepers, Proctors, Written Round Graders, Score Tabulators, Packet Runners, Concessions Salespeople, and more! Members of the community are also invited to participate in our large variety of volunteer positions.
Volunteering for Optimist Brain Bowl tournaments is not only fun and satisfying work but includes a lot of interaction with kids and members of different Optimist clubs. The Optimist Brain Bowl is a perfect introduction to Optimism and the important work that each of the clubs in the Colorado-Wyoming District strives to do within our communities.