Due to the failure of the Robbinsdale-Area Schools operating referendum in November 2007, funding for the quiz bowl program at Armstrong High School has been cut effective with the 2008-2009 school year. We are holding this tournament to try to raise funds so that our program can continue. Along with the standard high school NAQT tournament we are running on May 17 (described below), we will simultaneously be running an open tournament at which anyone can participate. For information about registration for or participation in that tournament, please e-mail Matt Quinn.
Armstrong High School is pleased to announce that it is working with National Academic Quiz Tournaments, LLC to host the 2008 Armstrong Conceivably Regular Or Nearly Yearly Meet on May 17, 2008. The top finishers, including the Top Small School, will qualify for the NAQT High School National Championship Tournament (HS NCT) to be held Memorial Day weekend (May 23-25, 2008), in Chicago.
We'd love to see a local high school bring home the national championship this year!
Location:
The tournament will be held at Armstrong High School. Armstrong's address is:
10635 36th Ave. N.
Plymouth, MN 55441
The initial and final meetings and common gathering place will be the cafeteria. The room numbers of the game rooms will be announced during the tournament's opening meeting.
Schedule:
Teams may check in between 8:30 and 9:00 on Saturday, May 17, 2008, in the cafeteria (signs will be posted). At this time they will pay (if they haven't sent a check in advance) and receive a copy of the rules (also available online on the NAQT website), a copy of their schedule for the day, and other pertinent information about the tournament.
From 9:00 to 9:30 there will be an introductory meeting to go over the rules, format, and schedule. Coaches, players, and parents will have an opportunity to ask questions. Teams are also encouraged to ask questions in advance, over e-mail, to make the meeting go as smoothly as possible.
From 9:30 to 12:30 each team will play six preliminary rounds. The teams with the best overall records will advance to the playoffs.
From 12:30 to 1:30 teams will have a lunch break. Teams that have been eliminated may depart, or they may stay to watch the playoffs, scrimmage against each other, or explore the campus.
From 1:30 to 3:30 the top teams from the preliminary rounds will meet each other in the playoffs.
At 3:30 there will be an awards presentation. This will be kept brief and teams will be able to leave immediately thereafter.
Eligibility and Qualification:
This tournament will be run according to NAQT's High School Eligibility Rules. Essentially, all high schools (public, private, magnet, charter, religious, etc.) are eligible to compete in this event and no prior qualification is necessary. Teams from home school collectives are also welcome. If you have a special situation, feel free to e-mail the eligibility committee in advance for a ruling.
Staffing:
The tournament will be staffed entirely by volunteers from the quiz bowl community as well as Armstrong High School, its quiz bowl alumni/ae, local residents, and collegiate players. Coaches are asked, but not required, to assist with the running of the tournament.
Format:
The format of the tournament will be determined by the number of teams that register, but all participants are guaranteed at least six games.
Scrimmages:
Teams that do not qualify for the playoffs after the first six rounds may return after lunch for more games played on a "for-fun" basis. These will be (loosely) organized starting at 1:30. Teams may mix-and-match for the scrimmage rounds, play against their coaches, play against staff, or play in any other combination that they find enjoyable.
Registration:
Please e-mail Matt Quinn if you are interested in attending or in receiving updates on the tournament.
The base registration fee is $80. There is a $10 penalty for waiting to register until after May 12. This fee includes one printed copy of the questions used at the tournament. Teams will be able to pay when they check in at the tournament site.
Teams that want to send a check in advance, should address it to:
Armstrong High School
Attn: Matt Quinn
10635 36th Ave. N.
Plymouth, MN 55441
Please make checks out to "Armstrong High School."
Prizes:
The top four teams overall will receive novelty team trophies and the members of the winning team will receive novelty individual trophies. The top team from a small public school (with a non-selective admission policy and fewer than 500 total students in grades 10-12) will receive a novelty trophy. The top eight individual scorers will receive novelty All-Star awards, as will the top freshman and sophomore scorers. Note that players must play at least three complete games' worth of tossups (i.e., 60 tossups) to be eligible for individual prizes.
Question Security:
This tournament will use questions provided by National Academic Quiz Tournaments, LLC. We are using Invitational Series #74 and have purchased geographic exclusivity for Minnesota. It is the responsibility of participating teams to make sure that they have not attended (and do not plan to attend) another tournament anywhere in the country that is using the same packet set. Teams can find explanations of geographic exclusivity and their responsibility in maintaining question security on NAQT's website. Teams can also look up the sets assigned to past and future tournaments. Teams with questions about exclusivity or security should contact NAQT at naqt@naqt.com.
Preparing for the Tournament:
Teams that are completely new to NAQT may be interested in purchasing NAQT's New High School Package and in reading its online article about starting a new high school team.
The NAQT format is a tossup-bonus format similar to the old "GE College Bowl" television show. It is somewhat different from Minnesota's traditional quiz bowl format, but we hope that you and your teams will be willing to try something new. NAQT is a national format that is played in 33 of the 50 states and drew the largest, most diverse, and strongest field to its national championship in 2007.
We recommend reading the rules, but the basics of gameplay are as follows:
NAQT sells practice questions for teams that would like to prepare more fully for the event. These are tournament questions from previous years so they are exactly like what you will be competing on at this event. We recommend Invitational Series #61A, #63A, and #65A for new teams. There are also sample packets available that are identical in style and distribution to the questions that we will be using.
Teams may also be interested in checking out the free You Gotta Know articles that give brief overviews of answers that come up very frequently (for example, "You gotta know these French kings."). They may also be interested in frequency list study guides, which were NAQT's best-selling preparatory material last year.
Further Questions:
If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to contact Matt Quinn by e-mail or phone (763.504.8904).