NAQT has made a number of changes to its rules and policies for the 2019–2020 season:

Gameplay Rules

We made the following changes to the NAQT Gameplay Rules (highlighted on the page):

• Significantly reduced the role of the captain. The rules previously recommended that the captain give bonus answers and allowed only the captain to ask the moderator to skip multiple parts of a bonus at once. Now the rules do not prescribe any role for the captain in bonus answering, unless multiple players simultaneously direct answers at the moderator (in which case the captain is still responsible for choosing the team’s answer, per rule H.2), and any player may ask the moderator to skip multiple parts of a bonus at once. The resolution of simultaneous directed bonus answers is now the only role for the captain prescribed by the rules (rule D.4), though teams may give the captain additional duties. This involved minor rephrasings to a number of rules.
• Rephrased rule F.2.b to clarify what matches are untimed and how untimed matches work.
• Changed rule H.3 to indicate that on a bonus part that allows an amount of time other than 5 seconds, the moderator will ask for an answer 1 second before time expires (rather than after 4 seconds regardless of the total amount of time). This was always the intent of the rule, and we expect moderators were already doing what was intended, but now the text is correct.

Eligibility Rules

We made the following changes to NAQT Eligibility Rules (Middle School, High School, Community College, and Collegiate):

• In all four, added the following rule:

  In a given competition year, a player may only compete at NAQT championship events at the secondary or post-secondary levels, but not both. The secondary-level NAQT championships are the Middle School National Championship Tournament, Small School National Championship Tournament (SSNCT), High School National Championship Tournament (HSNCT), and Individual Player National Championship Tournament (IPNCT); the post-secondary-level NAQT championships are the Community College Sectional Championship Tournaments (CC SCT), Community College Championship Tournament (CCCT), four-year Sectional Championship Tournaments (SCT), and Intercollegiate Championship Tournament (ICT). For example, a player may not play both the HSNCT and CC SCT (but may play both the MSNCT and HSNCT, if otherwise eligible). This applies regardless of dual-enrollment status and does not affect eligibility to compete in events other than the aforementioned NAQT championships, even if they use NAQT eligibility rules.

• In all four, consolidated and clarified the procedure for requesting exceptions. All requests for special rulings are now covered by the last section of each set of eligibility rules (highlighted).
• In all four, introduced a new (highlighted) section explaining bans and (in broad terms) how they work. The Community College Eligibility Rules and Collegiate Eligibility Rules already had a brief section addressing bans (which has been amended); the Middle School Eligibility Rules and High School Eligibility Rules did not.
• In the Middle School Eligibility Rules and High School Eligibility Rules, adjusted the definition of “school” that we introduced last year. The changes are highlighted on the respective pages.
• In the Community College Eligibility Rules and Collegiate Eligibility Rules, copied section G from the Middle School Eligibility Rules and High School Eligibility Rules, which concerns competing at multiple levels. We also removed a phrase referring to question sets produced for different levels, since the rules in that section should apply based on whether question sets are identical or overlapping, regardless of whether the sets were produced for different levels.
• In the Collegiate Eligibility Rules, added a section (highlighted) regarding consortia of schools as recognized by the NCAA, NAIA, and USCAA; and other groups of schools.

Qualification Rules

For the Small School National Championship Tournament, Middle School National Championship Tournament, and High School National Championship Tournament…

• We have specified that “singles” (or “solo”) and “doubles” tournaments cannot be qualifiers. (This was always our policy, but we wanted to make sure that was clearly supported by the text of the rules.)
• We have added a general clause that “NAQT reserves the right to decide that a tournament is not a qualifier if NAQT believes that the tournament deviated very strongly from acceptable quiz bowl practices or involved substantial aspects that are not quiz bowl, or otherwise at NAQT’s discretion.”

Other

We amended our Terms of Use to require that anyone with an naqt.com account be at least 13 years old.

We amended our Privacy Policy with additional ways we use data to promote quiz bowl and teams’ and players’ accomplishments.