2009 SCT Host Requirements

Significant changes from the 2008 host requirements are indicated in red.

Sectional Championship Tournaments (SCTs) must be held on the weekend of February 6-8, 2009 (Friday-Sunday). Interested hosts should e-mail hosting@naqt.com by September 30, 2008, to indicate their interest in hosting.

Tournaments may be Friday/Saturday, Saturday-only, or Saturday/Sunday events. Of those, Friday/Saturday and Saturday-only events are preferred. Despite this flexibility, every 2008 Sectional chose to be a Saturday-only event and NAQT expects that will also be the case in 2009.

Tournaments should not begin before 5:00 p.m. on Friday nor be scheduled to end later than 8:00 p.m. on Saturday (for Friday/Saturday and Saturday-only events). Tournaments should be scheduled to end before 3:00 p.m on Sunday (for Saturday/Sunday events).

SCTs must be run according to NAQT rules; in particular, they must be timed. Hosts who fear that they might be short on clocks may contact NAQT in order to rent some.

The application to host must be made by two team members (or one coach/advisor) who plan on remaining with the host institution throughout the 2008-2009 competition year and who intend to take an active role in the planning and execution of the event. At least one of the hosting applicants must be planning to or willing to serve as the tournament director of the event and not compete in it.

NAQT must be provided with mailing addresses, e-mail addresses, and phone numbers for all contacts as well as general contact information for their club and its advisor.

The format used for the tournament must guarantee teams at least ten games. Sixteen packets will be provided by NAQT. Formats must follow NAQT's policies on allowed tie-breakers and elimination. The format must not include byes if that is logistically possible. It is strongly suggested that teams use the suggested formats provided by NAQT; if a decision is made to use a different format, it must be cleared with NAQT (send a description to sct@naqt.com) before being generally announced. NAQT will produce a separate Division II set as well.

Hosts must offer separate competitions for Division I and Division II teams if there are at least four teams in each Division. If there are fewer than four teams in either Division, the field may be combined.

If there are sufficient teams to run separate divisions, hosts must award a Division I (Overall) title and a Division II title. Hosts must award a Division I (Undergraduate) title if there is at least one all-undergraduate Division I team in attendance.

If there are insufficient teams to run separate divisions, hosts must award an Overall title. Hosts must award an Undergraduate title if there is at least one all-undergraduate (Division I or Division II) team in the field. Hosts must award a Division II title if there is at least one Division II team in the field.

Four-year SCT hosts do not award a Division II (Community College) title even if community college teams are in attendance.

Statistics must be reported to NAQT in accordance with its official results reporting guidelines.

Hosts must report whether they are taking their automatic bids in Division I or Division II along with the full team statistics (within 3 days of the end of the event) or all such bids will be assumed to be in Division I. Please note that, under some circumstances, earning an ICT berth through competition will dissolve an automatic bid.

The SCT entry fee will be $120 for the first team from a school (including the host) and $100 for each subsequent team. Hosts may offer discounts for moderators, scorekeepers, lockout systems, clocks, or anything else they feel will contribute to a quality event.

The cost of the questions is $40 for the first team from a school and $35 for each subsequent team. Other than this per-team licensing fee, there is no other fee to be paid to NAQT to host a Sectional.

If a team is from a school that has neither competed in nor hosted a Sectional in the last two years, it is eligible for a $40 "new school" discount. Hosts owe NAQT only $25 for the first team from a new school and $20 for each subsequent team.

Hosts will distribute, free of charge, one copy of the Division I questions to each school with a Division I team in attendance and one copy of the Division II questions to each school with a Division II team in attendance. Hosts may also keep one copy of each set of questions for its own use.

Hosts may not enter house teams if doing so would leave insufficient staff for each room to have two game officials.

It is the host's responsibility to provide trophies or other awards to the top teams (and, optionally, individuals).

Hosts may not close their field until seven days before the tournament. If a host does not have the resources to handle the number of teams that wish to play (even with the assistance of NAQT personnel and equipment), alternatives will be sought. As the SCT is the principal method of qualifying for the ICT, it is important that no team (even multiple teams from the same school) be turned away. Teams who attempt to register fewer than seven days before the tournament may be accepted or rejected at the host's discretion.

Hosts may charge teams that withdraw within 72 hours of the beginning of the tournament a cancellation fee of up to $40. Hosts may charge teams that withdraw within 24 hours of the beginning of the event, or which do not show up at all, a cancellation fee of up to $80. Historically, it is rare for cancellation fees to be charged at quiz bowl tournaments; NAQT expects that they would be used only when the host actually occurs unnecessary expenses due to a team's cancellation and not as a simple matter of course.

Hosts must make a preliminary announcement including contact information and approximate schedule by December 12, 2008, on the Yahoo! Quiz Bowl group, on the hsquizbowl.org forum, and by e-mail to likely attendees.

Hosts must make a full announcement including contact information, schedule, format, suggesting housing, tournament location, fees, included meals, special events, and any other relevant information by January 9, 2009, on the Yahoo! Quiz Bowl group, on the hsquizbowl.org forum, and by e-mail to interested schools and likely attendees.

Thereafter, hosts are expected to make approximately weekly updates on the Yahoo! quizbowl club, to NAQT, and to registered teams as to the current and estimated size of the field and the situation with respect to having sufficient staff, buzzer systems, and visible clocks.

Hosts are expected to post team statistics at timely intervals during the competition in places that are convenient for participating teams to review them. Hosts are encouraged, but not required, to post individual statistics during the tournament.

NAQT will be collecting and analyzing scoresheets from every Sectional to measure the actual rates at which individual tossups are converted. Hosts will be expected to promptly mail their scoresheets to NAQT after the event and to have staff who fill them out in such a way that it can be quickly and accurately determined which tossups were answered, powered, and interrupted. The standard method of recording "-5", "10", "15" in the player column suffices to fulfill this requirement. Hosts may subtract the cost of mailing the scoresheets from the amount it owes NAQT for the questions.

Hosts are expected to run an initial "rules" meeting that covers, at a bare minimum, the eligibility requirements for Undergraduate and Division II titles, the location and date of the ICT, the qualification procedures, and the ways to contact NAQT with questions, problems, or comments. There should also be a period during which questions about the format, rules, and other issues may be asked and answered.

Hosts are expected to distribute printed copies of the tournament schedule, official rules, and any forms provided by NAQT to the teams.

NAQT requires as an absolute minimum that each Sectional have sufficiently trained staff to realistically expect to average 20 tossups read per round with no game having fewer than 18 tossups read. NAQT encourages readers to try to get through as many tossups as possible without sacrificing coherency.

Finally, SCT staff are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner while planning and administering NAQT tournaments. This includes, but is not limited to, sending prompt and informative responses to interested and registered teams, attempting to accommodate reasonable requirements of individual teams, dressing appropriately, and refraining from offensive, rude, or abusive behavior while interacting with teams and volunteers.

Please send any questions about these requirements to NAQT at sct@naqt.com. To express interest in hosting, e-mail NAQT at hosting@naqt.com.