The St. Olaf College quiz bowl club is pleased to announce that it is working with Robert Hentzel of National Academic Quiz Tournaments, LLC to host a high school quiz bowl tournament on Saturday, October 31, 2009. The top finishers (including the Top Small School) will qualify for the 2010 NAQT High School National Championship Tournament (HSNCT) to be held Memorial Day weekend in 2010.
We'd love to see a local high school bring home the national championship and, better yet, meet some seniors who might be joining our collegiate team for 2010-2011.
Location:
The introductory meeting (and check-in) will be in Science Center 282. Teams can park in the Larson Road spaces, Science Center lot, Holland lots, Old Main area, and behind the Thompson honor house. Lot A (North of Buntrock) would have the most spaces and a scenic walk. In general, any space/lot marked "faculty," "staff," or "visitor only" will be fine. Maps are available on the college website. The Science Center is building 43 on the map.
The actual tournament games will be held in the New Science Center (Regent's Hall) on the St. Olaf campus in Northfield, Minnesota. Regent's Hall is building 38 on that map.
Schedule:
Teams may check in between 8:30 and 9:00 on Saturday, October 31, in the auditorium (room 282) of the Science Center. At this time they will pay 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 (also in the auditorium) 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. Between eight and sixteen teams will advance to afternoon playoffs. The exact number that advance (as well as the exact criterion for doing so) will be determined by the tournament format which, in turn, will be determined by the final field size.
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 in the auditorium (room 282). This will be kept brief and teams will be able to leave immediately thereafter.
Eligibility and Qualification:
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 current players on the St. Olaf quiz bowl team, alumni/ae, and collegiate players from other institutions. Coaches will not be required to assist with the running of the tournament and will be able to watch their team(s) throughout the event.
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 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 R. Robert Hentzel if you are interested in attending or in receiving updates on the tournament.
The base registration fee is $80 per team. There is a $10 discount for a bringing a working lockout system. There is a $10 penalty for waiting to register until October 29. This fee includes one printed copy of the questions used at the tournament. Please note that the questions will not be distributed until the conclusion of the tournament; teams that opt to leave early may pay ($5) to have their sets shipped to them.
Teams will pay when they check in at the tournament site. Please make checks out to "St. Olaf College."
Teams may bring checks with them to the tournament, but if they wish to mail them in advance, they should be sent to:
Stewart Olson
1500 St. Olaf Ave
Northfield, MN 55057
Prizes:
The top four teams overall will receive team trophies and the members of the winning team will receive individual trophies. The top team from a small public school (with non-selective admission policy and fewer than 500 total students in grades 10-12) will receive a trophy. The top eight individual scorers will receive All-Star awards as will the top freshman and sophomore scorers. Players must have at least 60 tossups heard during the tournament to be eligible for individual awards.
Question Security:
This tournament will use questions provided by National Academic Quiz Tournaments, LLC. We are using Invitational Series #87A 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:
The NAQT format is a tossup-bonus format similar to the old "GE College Bowl" television show. This format predominates at the college level, so if your players enjoy the game and would like to continue playing after they graduate, familiarity with it will stand them in good stead.
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 #84A, #82A, #80A, and #78A (or NAQT's New High School Package) 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 R. Robert Hentzel by e-mail or phone (952.888.2277).