2017 Sectional Championship Tournament Host Requirements
General
Sectional Championship Tournaments (SCTs) will be held on Saturday, February 4 and Sunday, February 5, 2017. SCTs will not start before 8:00 a.m., nor run later than 7:00 p.m.
SCTs in North America must use NAQT’s registration system.
Rules and Format
SCTs must be run according to NAQT rules; they must be timed and must use 10-minute halves. Tournament directors who fear they might be short on clocks may contact NAQT to borrow some.
The format used for the tournament must guarantee all teams at least nine games. Formats must follow NAQT’s policies on allowed tiebreakers 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. Other formats require advance approval from NAQT; send a description to sct@naqt.com.
Divisions
NAQT will produce separate sets of Division I and Division II questions (16 packets of each).
Tournament directors 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 fields must be combined.
If there are sufficient teams to run separate divisions, each SCT must award a Division I (Overall) title and a Division II title. SCTs 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, each SCT must award an Overall title. Each tournament must award an Undergraduate title if there is at least one all-undergraduate (Division I or Division II) team in the field. Each tournament 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.
Results
Tournament directors are expected to post team statistics at timely intervals during the competition in places that are convenient for participating teams to review them. They are encouraged, but not required, to post individual statistics during the tournament.
Statistics must be reported to NAQT in accordance with its SCT reporting requirements.
Tournament hosts that earn automatic bids (by supplying staff) must report whether they are taking their automatic bid(s) in Division I or Division II along with the team statistics (within three 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.
NAQT will be collecting and analyzing scoresheets from every Sectional to measure the actual rates at which individual tossups are converted. Tournament directors 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. Scorekeepers must also record which part(s) of each bonus was (were) answered correctly (by using the “Bonus Parts” column of the scoresheet). Tournament directors may subtract the cost of mailing the scoresheets from the amount it owes NAQT for the questions.
Fees and Finances
Each tournament director will be responsible for invoicing and collecting payment from schools that attend their tournament.
The SCT entry fee will be $125 for the first team from a school and $100 for each subsequent team. SCTs must offer these discounts:
| Discount | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Buzzer System | $10 | Allow at least one discount per team; systems must be functional |
| Clock | $5 | Allow at least one discount per team; clocks must be at least as easy to read as NAQT’s Cole-Parmer timers; team must provide battery or power cord |
| Moderator | $30 | Qualified team moderators must be accepted up to two weeks before the tournament; after that, discounts are at the host’s discretion |
| New School | per team: $20 | Teams from schools that neither competed in nor hosted a Sectional in the last two years |
Tournament directors may also offer additional discounts for scorekeepers, statisticians, early registration, long drives, 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 (including the host) 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. Teams that qualify for the new school discount cost only $25 for the first team and $20 for each subsequent team.
Other Requirements
Tournament directors must distribute, free of charge, one printed copy of the Division I questions to each school with a Division I team in attendance and one printed copy of the Division II questions to each school with a Division II team in attendance. (Note that this is one copy per school, not one per team.) Each host school may also retain one printed copy of each division’s set of questions. A school that only entered teams in one division may buy a printed copy of the questions for the other division from the tournament director for $10 (which the director may keep).
SCT hosts must provide a moderator and a scorekeeper in each Division I room and at least one official in each Division II room. Since Division II questions are shorter, it is hoped that a single staff member will be able to both read and keep score while still reading a satisfactory number of tossups. This is in addition to whatever control room staff are necessary to run the tournament, resolve protests, and tally statistics. Hosts that are earning automatic bids may not enter house teams if doing so would leave insufficient staff to meet these requirements.
Important: High school players may not staff SCTs. (NAQT is expanding the use of the Division II SCT set for spring-semester high school tournaments.)
The tournament director has the option of providing trophies or other awards to the top teams and individuals. NAQT prefers SCTs that provide prizes, but does not expect them to be lavish.
Registration
SCTs may not close their field 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 assistance of NAQT personnel and equipment), alternatives will be sought. As the SCT is the sole 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 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 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.
Announcements
Tournament directors must make a full announcement including contact information, tentative schedule, suggested lodging, tournament location, fees, included meals, special events, and any other relevant information by January 10, 2017, on the on the Quizbowl Resource Center’s Collegiate Announcements forum and by email to likely attendees.
Thereafter, tournament directors are expected to make approximately weekly updates 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.
During the Tournament
SCTs 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.
Tournament directors 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 game, with no game having fewer than 18 tossups read. NAQT hopes each Sectional will average 22 tossups per game with no game having fewer than 20. 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.
Questions
Please send any questions about these requirements to NAQT at sct@naqt.com.