California counties hold local Academic Decathlon competitions for the high schools in their own county/district. The winning team from each county/district is then eligible to participate in the State Finals. A total of sixty (60) teams will compete in the State Finals.

A team consists of nine students from the same school. The nine-member team is comprised of three Varsity, three Scholastic and three Honor students in the following categories:

Contestants may compete in a higher division than their own GPA but not in a lower division (i.e., a Scholastic student may compete as an Honor student but not as a Varsity student).

The final team score is made up of only six scores: the highest two Honor, two Scholastic and two Varsity totals. Because of this fact, no team carries more than nine members, and, if fewer than nine students choose to participate, the team is still fully eligible for overall awards.

Schools interested in starting a team should contact their local coordinator or the state office: