Optimist International Events
Oratorical Contest
Childhood Cancer Campaigns
Communications Contest
Topic for the 2024-2025 school year is:
“How Optimism Has Guided Me Through Trying Times”
Who: The contest is open to contestants under the age of 19 as of October 1st of the current Optimist International contest year (October 1 – September 30) and who have not yet completed secondary school or its equivalent, including CEGEP students in Québec, Canada. There is no minimum age.
How To Enter: Interested students submit a speech on the pre-assigned topic to their local Optimist Club. To find out the contact in your area, please e-mail the Programs Department at programs@optimist.org.
Students
The deadline to enter is determined by the sponsoring Optimist Club. All Club-level contests are typically held by late March.
Clubs and Districts
Districts and Clubs may opt to hold an online Oratorical Contest. Click here for more information.
The Optimist Oratorical Contest gives youngsters the chance to speak to the world. More than $150,000 in college scholarships funded by the Optimist International Foundations is awarded annually from this program.
First conducted in 1928, this is the second most popular Optimist International Program. Nearly 2,000 clubs participate in this program each year. The winners at the Club level receive medallions
and Zone winners receive a plaque. Districts have the opportunity to provide a first place scholarship
of $2,500, a second place scholarship of $1,500,
and a third place scholarship of $1,000.
Oratorical Contest Package - A Program Package for the contest is available by clicking here. Clubs can find useful materials to help them get started with the scholarship contest.
Support merchandise for this program can be ordered through Shumsky for US and Caribbean Clubs and from Ansell’s Awards and Specialties for Canadian Clubs. Contact information for both supply companies can be found here.
For additional information, please contact the Optimist International Programs Department by e-mail at programs@optimist.org, or call (800) 500-8130.
Communications Contest
Childhood Cancer Campaigns
Communications Contest
Topic for the 2024-2025 school year is:
“How Optimism Has Guided Me Through Trying Times”
Who: The contest is open to young people through grade 12 in the United States and Canada, to CEGEP in Québec and grade 13 in the Caribbean, who are educated in the United States, Canada or the Caribbean. Students must submit the results of an audiogram completed no longer than 24 months prior to the date of the contest by a qualified audiologist. Students must be certified to have an uncorrected hearing loss of 40 decibels or more, which must be supported by the audiogram in order to be eligible to compete. Students with permanent correction should compete in the Optimist International Oratorical contest.
How To Enter: Interested students should contact their local Optimist Club. To find out the contact in your area, please e-mail the Programs department at programs@optimist.org.
When:
Students
The deadline to enter is determined by the sponsoring Club.
Clubs and Districts
The deadline for Clubs to submit their winner to the next level of competition is set by the District. District deadline to submit a winner to Optimist International is June 15, 2025.
This contest offers an opportunity for children who are deaf or hard of hearing to present their thoughts in the community, gaining skills, which can only come from signing or speaking to a large audience. Patterned after the Optimist Oratorical Contest, the Communication Contest For the Deaf and Hard of Hearing offers hearing impaired youth the chance to compete in speech or sign language. The Optimist International Foundations fund a $2,500 scholarship to any District that meets the minimum participation criteria.
The CCDHH Contest Planning pages are intended for use by Optimist Clubs in organizing and conducting a contest in their Club. They contain no information on entering the contest and are of no use to students wishing to enter the contest. To enter, students must contact their local Optimist Club!
Childhood Cancer Campaigns
Childhood Cancer Campaigns
Childhood Cancer Campaigns
The Childhood Cancer Campaign was established by Optimist International in 2001 with the mission of “being the leading force to rid the world of childhood cancer.”
Did you know that each year more than 12,000 children and teenagers will be diagnosed with cancer? Did you also know that one in every 330 Americans develops cancer before the age of 20? Due to statistics such as these, Optimist Clubs are encouraged to participate in this program by building awareness of the disease, providing assistance to childhood cancer patients and their families and supporting research to find a cure.
The CCC program model is built to accentuate four areas of service on which Members
can focus:
- Support to children diagnosed and receiving treatment for cancer
- Support to families and care partners of children with cancer
- Support to health care and service providers
- Support for cancer research
For more in-depth CCC information, read the CCC Planning Guide.
Essay Contest
Junior Golf Championship
Childhood Cancer Campaigns
Topic for the 2024-2025 school year is:
“How Optimism Has Paved My Road
to Success”
Who: The contest is open to contestants under the age of 19 as of October 1st of the current Optimist International contest year (October 1 – September 30) and who have not yet completed secondary school or its equivalent, including CEGEP students in Québec, Canada. There is no minimum age. Students must enter in the District in which they reside. U.S. students attending school on military installations outside the U.S. are eligible to enter in their last home of record.
How To Enter: Interested students must contact their local Optimist Club. They need to submit an essay on the pre-assigned topic. To find out a contact, please e-mail the Programs Department at programs@optimist.org.
The Essay Contest planning pages are intended for use by Optimist Clubs in organizing and conducting a contest in their Club. They contain no information on entering the contest and are of no use to students wishing to enter the contest. Students must contact their local Optimist Club.
Students
All Club-level contests are held by early February. Student submissions will not be accepted after the Club-level contests have closed. Please contact your District Chair for more information.
Clubs and Districts
The deadline for Clubs to submit their winning essay to the District Chair is February 28, 2025. The deadline for Districts to submit their winner’s information to Optimist International is April 15, 2025. Club winners advance to the District contest to compete for a $2,500 college scholarship. The District-level scholarships are funded by the Optimist International Foundations.
The Essay Contest is sponsored by Optimist International to give young people the opportunity to write about their own opinions regarding the world in which they live. The approach can encompass a young person’s personal experience, the experience of their country or a more historical perspective. In additional to developing skills for written expression, participants also have the opportunity to win a college scholarship!
Club winners advance to the District contest to compete for a $2,500 college scholarship. The District-level scholarships are funded by the Optimist International Foundations.
Essay Contest Package - A Program Package for the Essay Contest is available on the Package Programs page of the website. On that page, Clubs can find useful materials to help them get started with a new Essay Contest program.
Support merchandise for this program can be ordered through Shumsky for US and Caribbean Clubs and from Ansell’s Awards and Specialties for Canadian Clubs. Contact information for both supply companies can be found here.
To enter, you must contact your local Optimist Club!
For additional information, please contact Optimist International Programs Department by e-mail at programs@optimist.org, or call (800) 500-8130.
Junior Golf Championship
Junior Golf Championship
Junior Golf Championship
The Optimist Junior Golf Program is an exciting and unique junior golf program for ages 10-18.
The Optimist International Junior Golf Championship is one of the largest and best-known junior golf tournaments in the world. Each year, more than 600 golfers participate
in THE OPTIMIST.
Optimists have been involved in the sport of junior golf for more than 30 years by holding local, regional and international tournaments. More than 5,000 golfers compete in official Optimist District qualifying tournaments. The best of these golfers, along with international golfers from around the globe, advance to the annual Optimist International Junior Golf Championships which will be conducted in 2023 at the Doral Resort and Spa in Miami, Florida.
2025 dates
July 15-20, 2025 -- Boys 10-11,
12-13 and Girls 10-12
July 20-25, 2025
Boys 14-15 and Girls 13-14
July 25-30, 2025
Boys 16-18 and Girls 15-18
Former champions and top finishers of the Optimist International Junior Golf Championships include Lexi Thompson, Beth Bauer, Jonathan Byrd, Jason Day, Bill Haas, Brittany Lincicome, Jeff Overton, Stacy Prammanasudh and Jennifer Rosales.
More information may be found at https://www.optimist.org/golf/golf-championships.cfm.
Respect for Law
Junior Golf Championship
Junior Golf Championship
Respect For Law/Promotion
of Non-Violence
Inspire respect for the law among your local young people! This motivational program can be a community rally against local violence, a get-acquainted event between youth and local law enforcement officials, or a “what peace means to me” poster contest for young kids.
In July 1965, a discussion between Past Optimist International President Carl Bowen and former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover resulted in the birth of the Respect for Law program. This is the fourth most popular program with more than 1,500 Clubs participating last year.
More detailed information about this program is available in the
Respect for Law Planning Guide.