2025 Spirit Award Winner
Odyssey HQ is proud to announce Allen Ball as this year’s Spirit Award winner. His volunteerism, teamwork, and creative thinking exemplifies Odyssey spirit in everything he does for OM – which is a lot! Most importantly, through his various official and unofficial roles in the program, Allen always strives to keep what’s best for OMers at the forefront of everything he does.
“Allen is and has been committed to helping every young person get the opportunity to realize their potential, which is higher than they think, and achieve it which makes them prepared, confident, and successful in life,” said Sammy Micklus, Program Director.
Not only is Allen a dedicated volunteer for many years, he’s also an OM alum! He began his Odyssey in elementary school, “My fourth grade teacher, the late June Tolliver, despite not being a big fan of me, gave me a paper and said ‘I think this program would be good for you.’ I took the paper home and read it over and over that night. I was hooked and the rest is history,” said Allen.
One of his fondest OM memories while volunteering is being a part of the first leadership team at World Finals to be made up of an IPC, APC, and three head judges that were all alumni of Odyssey of the Mind.
Aside from being a proud alum, he also works in many roles to help teams around the world experience OM. He is the director of Tennessee OM, he’s a Regional Director and Social Media Director in North Carolina, he helps develop problems and is a clarifier for Odyssey HQ, makes appearances at various OM initiatives such as OMER talks, and so much more.
He started volunteering as a college student, “I called my former gifted coordinator in 1998 as a freshman in college and asked if I could judge Odyssey back home in Virginia and the rest took off from there. A lot of it has been me begging Sammy to let me do something,” he jokingly said.
Joking aside, Allen truly cares about OM students and is passionate about creating a place where they can be themselves and explore their creativity. When asked for his best memories of OM his first response was about a team member, “I was doing a spontaneous workshop in Jacksboro, TN and a division 1 team member was literally jumping up and down with joy because he was going to get to go to the state tournament, stay in a hotel with a hot breakfast and a pool, and eat lunch from a buffet. Even though Odyssey has given me more than I could ever dream to repay, it made me realize that the program is much bigger than the competition. That child went on to compete at World Finals. He ended up enrolling in the military because his experiences in OM made him love to travel and see the World.”
His desire to give back to others shines through in his work and his relationships within the program as well.
“Allen is my Odyssey brother, and like any great family member, Allen is always willing to help out even if this work is behind-the-scenes or ‘in addition’ to his normal volunteer work. In this way, Allen exemplifies the kind of teamwork we teach in OM: he never seeks credit or glory and he is the first to credit his team, his ‘Odyssey Family,’ for any success. Allen knows how life-changing or, in some cases, life-saving this program is, and his many contributions over the years are motivated by his personal passion to help young people everywhere feel a part of a special, caring community. That is truly meaningful work,” said fellow Spirit Award winner Jim Mourey.
His other favorite memories include his parents Danny and Patricia, “The first time my parents and I all judged together was really special for me. My mother had coached me through high school and division 4 and Odyssey had really brought my father and I much closer. So it was amazing for us all to be there doing something that I loved so much,” said Allen.
But of course he couldn’t leave out receiving an individual Ranatra Fusca for Spontaneous in his senior year of high school as another memory he will always cherish!
Allen attended the University of Tennessee and Clemson University with plans to earn a PhD before he’s 50. He grew up in a small town in the coalfields of Southwest Virginia in the Appalachian mountains. In the little time that he’s not working on OM projects, he spends time learning new languages, currently refreshing his Spanish and learning Dutch, and is on his way to become a certified gymnastics judge. He also takes care of his other family member: Jasper, an orange and white cat that he rescued from the highway.
Not only are OM teams so fortunate to have Allen as a dedicated volunteer, but the program as a whole benefits from Allen being Allen! If you are fortunate to know him personally, you know what that means.
“I am never at a loss for words, but I was speechless when Sammy told me I was the Spirit winner. I know how much Odyssey has meant to me and my family. The biggest reward for me is to see the kids that do not fit in anywhere else with a huge smile on their face at OM competitions. I really needed the people who put on the tournaments I competed in during the 80s and 90s and I’m happy to be one of those people for this generation of OMers.”
Thank you so much for all you do for students around the world Allen!
