Community College Sectional Championship Tournament Host Requirements

General

Community College Sectional Championship Tournaments (CC SCTs) are typically held the weekend after Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in January. This page currently contains the information for the 2024 CC SCTs. NAQT expects most CC SCTs to be one-day events, but they may take place during any portion of this weekend, Friday through Sunday.

The 2024 Community College Sectional Championship Tournaments will be held the weekend of January 19–21.

CC SCTs may be held in-person or online. NAQT expects that there will be some sites hosted in-person and others hosted online.

CC SCTs must use NAQT’s registration system for all teams in attendance.

Rules and Format

CC SCTs must be run according to NAQT rules. Among other matters, they must be timed.

All teams must be guaranteed at least seven games. Tournaments must follow one of the approved formats or receive special approval from NAQT for a different format.

CC SCTs must use NAQT’s Community College Eligibility Rules; in particular, chimera teams and high school teams are not allowed to play (even as exhibition teams). Players who are dual-enrolled in high school and community college are subject to the High School Eligibility Rules’ requirement for notification to NAQT (E.5).

Questions and Divisions

Each CC SCT will use an Invitational Series set designated by NAQT. In 2024, this is Invitational Series #228.

Each CC SCT must be conducted as a single division.

Results

Statistics must be reported to NAQT in accordance with its SCT reporting requirements.

We strongly prefer that SCT hosts use the NAQT paper scoresheet or NAQT electronic scoresheet. If a host wishes to use a different scorekeeping method, they must receive permission in advance from NAQT. Scoresheets must consist of a contemporaneous spreadsheet record of all relevant aspects of each game, including part-by-part bonus conversion. TJ Electronic Scoresheets is not an acceptable system.

Hosts must retain all scoresheets while results are being checked. After that (when NAQT so instructs), they must be sent to NAQT (by mail or electronically).

Fees and Finances

Hosts may set their entry fees and discounts as they see fit. Each CC SCT will be responsible for invoicing and collecting payment from schools that attend their tournament.

The cost of the questions (to be paid by the host to NAQT) is $30 per team (not per school). This is the only fee paid by the host to NAQT, and it applies to all teams, including “house teams” (i.e., teams the host school enters in its own tournament).

Other Requirements

Tournament directors may (but are not required to) distribute, free of charge, one printed copy of the questions to each school in attendance. (This is one copy per school, not one per team.) Each host school may also retain one printed copy of the questions.

Tournament directors may not distribute questions electronically to teams. NAQT will provide programs with access to the questions via Locklizard after all CC SCT sites have ended.

CC SCT hosts must provide at least one experienced staff member in each game room. This is in addition to whatever control room staff are necessary to run the tournament, resolve protests, and compile statistics. Staff members assigned to moderate matches should be capable of typically completing at least 20 tossup-bonus cycles per game. Moderators who are slower than this should be paired with scorekeepers. Providing scorekeepers in all rooms is encouraged (but not required).

CC SCTs held online must use Zoom and premium room keys from BuzzIn.Live (at their own expense).

NAQT will provide email and telephone access to support, including a “protest committee,” during the CC SCTs. Tournament directors have the authority to rule on protests at their own events, but they are strongly encouraged to contact NAQT about any nontrivial protests or any other matters of concern.

Important: High school and middle school players and coaches may not work at or observe CC SCTs, except in accordance with proper procedures pertaining to dual enrollment. (The same questions are used for some high school tournaments.)

The tournament director has the option of providing trophies or other awards to the top teams and individuals. NAQT prefers CC SCTs that provide prizes, but does not expect them to be lavish.

Registration

CC SCTs may not close their fields until seven days before the tournament. If a tournament director does not have the resources to handle the number of teams that wish to play (even with the potential assistance of NAQT personnel and equipment), alternatives will be sought. Teams who attempt to register fewer than seven days before the tournament may be accepted or rejected at the tournament director’s discretion.

Tournament directors may charge teams that withdraw within 72 hours of the beginning of the tournament a cancellation fee of up to $40. They may charge teams that withdraw within 24 hours of the beginning of the event, or that 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 incurs unnecessary expenses due to a team’s cancellation and not as a simple matter of course.

All players must use their real names in a reasonably complete form. This does not have to be a full legal name; it can be any version of a “full name” (first and last) the person regularly uses in life. This includes, but is not limited to, a prohibition on the use of pseudonyms.

During the Tournament

SCTs are expected to run an initial rules meeting that covers, at a bare minimum, the location and date of the Community College Championship Tournament, 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.

CC 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 requests of individual teams, dressing appropriately, and refraining from offensive, rude, or abusive behavior while interacting with teams, staff, and others.

NAQT believes that quiz bowl is an activity for everybody, in which all participants should feel welcome and respected. Tournament directors should make participants aware of how to report misconduct, both on-site and via the community misconduct form.

Next Steps and Questions

Please send any questions about these requirements to cc@naqt.com.

Tournament Schedule

NAQT maintains a schedule of college events, including novice tournaments, sectional championships, and the Intercollegiate Championship Tournament.

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