VCU Season Finale Tournament II: 05/03/08 (Richmond, VA)
Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 2:45 pm
This is the general announcement for the second incarnation of the VCU Season Finale Tournament, a high school academic quizbowl tournament to be held at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond on Saturday, May 3 from 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM.
This tournament will be affiliated with the Partnership for Academic Competition Excellence, a national quizbowl organization which will provide the questions. This will be the last opportunity to qualify for the National Scholastics Championship, which is run by PACE and will occur at George Mason University on May 31 & June 1. The tournament is, however, open to everyone--teams who are not interested in attending nationals, and teams who have already qualified for nationals, are welcome to participate alongside those schools attempting to qualify. Questions will be of an appropriate difficulty level to provide an entertaining experience for all teams in attendance. All schools who participate in the tournament will receive a copy of the questions by e-mail, for no additional charge, after the event.
LOCATION, DIRECTIONS, PARKING: The tournament will take place on our Monroe Park campus (aka "Academic Campus"). The specific building will be announced shortly. Registration will begin at 8:30, and the first round will begin as soon as possible after that. Please arrive by 8:30 to guarantee that you do not miss the start of gameplay.
-You can use "900 Park Ave, Richmond VA" if you need to put something into your map software of choice. I will have more specific directions once the building is known.
-On most Saturdays, parking on the street is free and available in most places around the campus. I will include alternate parking instructions to use if there is a major event going on during the tournament, once I know the building.
FORMAT: We anticipate a field of between 24 and 32 teams. 32 is the limit on the field size for the moment. The ideal tournament format will involve seven bracketed preliminary games and three to four rounds of crossover playoffs, followed by a final. The specific format depends on the exact number of teams who register. However, any format used will guarantee all teams the opportunity to play a minimum of seven games. Rounds will proceed from shortly after 8:30 until the end of the tournament at about 3:30, and there will be a 60-minute lunch break midway through the day.
REGISTRATION AND FEES:
-The fee structure is as follows:
Base fee: $60 per team (i.e., $60 if you are bringing one team, $120 if you are bringing two teams, $180 if you are bringing three teams). Right now, there is no limit to the number of teams who can attend from one school.
Buzzer discount: $5 off school's total fee for each fully functional system (control box and eight activators all work)--no limit to # of systems you can bring
Staff discount: $15 off school's total fee. This could be a coach, parent, student who is not playing, etc. Team-provided staffers will keep score for various games not involving the team with which they are affiliated. Volunteer staffers must stay through all the preliminary games in order to receive credit for their school. There is no limit to the number of staffers you can bring.
Minimum fee: The minimum fee is $0 (you can bring enough buzzers and staffers to eliminate your entire fee via discounts, but you cannot have a "negative fee.")
-The registration deadline is April 25 or whenever the field cap is hit, whichever comes first.
-To register, post in this thread or mail me at weinerm @ vcu dot edu with the number of teams, buzzers, and staffers you want to bring, and an email address where you can be contacted with details. Feel free to forward this announcement to any schools that you think would be interested in attending. There will be a snail mail version of this announcement going out later this week, but follow-up communication will be via email only.
METHOD OF PAYMENT: To pay your registration fees for this tournament, please bring either cash, or a check (institutional or personal) made out to Andrew Alexander, who is the Quizbowl at VCU treasurer. Do not bring checks made out to Matt Weiner, to VCU, to "quizbowl," etc. We cannot use them and you may be asked to pay out of pocket if you bring an unusable check. We strongly prefer not to deal with purchase orders, but if your school absolutely requires it, then you need to send us the paperwork no later than April 1 so that we can get it back in time for you to have a check written before the tournament. Contact me for details if you need to physically mail something to me or to Andrew.
DELINQUENT PAYMENT: Teams who still owe us money from last year's tournament will need to mail a check by April 15 for the total amount owed, PLUS this year's entry fee, if they are to participate. Contact me for details if this applies to you. Other teams who do not pay on the morning of the tournament will be charged a $25 penalty and will have two weeks to pay their total amount before we start mailing letters to your school about it.
TEAM & ROSTER SIZE: There may be a maximum of six players on one team's roster, though only four may play at one time. There are two substitution opportunities in each game.
-Each player may appear on only one team's roster throughout the day--no switching from the B team to the A team, etc.
-Teams may also play shorthanded with only three players. Teams consisting of one or two players may not play without my express prior permission.
FOOD: Neither breakfast nor lunch will be provided by the tournament. There are several eateries within walking distance of campus buildings and a vast cornucopia within a ten minutes' drive; maps and suggestions will be provided at the tournament.
Post here or mail me if you have any further questions. I'm looking forward to seeing a wide variety of teams from Virginia and surrounding states on May 3.
This tournament will be affiliated with the Partnership for Academic Competition Excellence, a national quizbowl organization which will provide the questions. This will be the last opportunity to qualify for the National Scholastics Championship, which is run by PACE and will occur at George Mason University on May 31 & June 1. The tournament is, however, open to everyone--teams who are not interested in attending nationals, and teams who have already qualified for nationals, are welcome to participate alongside those schools attempting to qualify. Questions will be of an appropriate difficulty level to provide an entertaining experience for all teams in attendance. All schools who participate in the tournament will receive a copy of the questions by e-mail, for no additional charge, after the event.
LOCATION, DIRECTIONS, PARKING: The tournament will take place on our Monroe Park campus (aka "Academic Campus"). The specific building will be announced shortly. Registration will begin at 8:30, and the first round will begin as soon as possible after that. Please arrive by 8:30 to guarantee that you do not miss the start of gameplay.
-You can use "900 Park Ave, Richmond VA" if you need to put something into your map software of choice. I will have more specific directions once the building is known.
-On most Saturdays, parking on the street is free and available in most places around the campus. I will include alternate parking instructions to use if there is a major event going on during the tournament, once I know the building.
FORMAT: We anticipate a field of between 24 and 32 teams. 32 is the limit on the field size for the moment. The ideal tournament format will involve seven bracketed preliminary games and three to four rounds of crossover playoffs, followed by a final. The specific format depends on the exact number of teams who register. However, any format used will guarantee all teams the opportunity to play a minimum of seven games. Rounds will proceed from shortly after 8:30 until the end of the tournament at about 3:30, and there will be a 60-minute lunch break midway through the day.
REGISTRATION AND FEES:
-The fee structure is as follows:
Base fee: $60 per team (i.e., $60 if you are bringing one team, $120 if you are bringing two teams, $180 if you are bringing three teams). Right now, there is no limit to the number of teams who can attend from one school.
Buzzer discount: $5 off school's total fee for each fully functional system (control box and eight activators all work)--no limit to # of systems you can bring
Staff discount: $15 off school's total fee. This could be a coach, parent, student who is not playing, etc. Team-provided staffers will keep score for various games not involving the team with which they are affiliated. Volunteer staffers must stay through all the preliminary games in order to receive credit for their school. There is no limit to the number of staffers you can bring.
Minimum fee: The minimum fee is $0 (you can bring enough buzzers and staffers to eliminate your entire fee via discounts, but you cannot have a "negative fee.")
-The registration deadline is April 25 or whenever the field cap is hit, whichever comes first.
-To register, post in this thread or mail me at weinerm @ vcu dot edu with the number of teams, buzzers, and staffers you want to bring, and an email address where you can be contacted with details. Feel free to forward this announcement to any schools that you think would be interested in attending. There will be a snail mail version of this announcement going out later this week, but follow-up communication will be via email only.
METHOD OF PAYMENT: To pay your registration fees for this tournament, please bring either cash, or a check (institutional or personal) made out to Andrew Alexander, who is the Quizbowl at VCU treasurer. Do not bring checks made out to Matt Weiner, to VCU, to "quizbowl," etc. We cannot use them and you may be asked to pay out of pocket if you bring an unusable check. We strongly prefer not to deal with purchase orders, but if your school absolutely requires it, then you need to send us the paperwork no later than April 1 so that we can get it back in time for you to have a check written before the tournament. Contact me for details if you need to physically mail something to me or to Andrew.
DELINQUENT PAYMENT: Teams who still owe us money from last year's tournament will need to mail a check by April 15 for the total amount owed, PLUS this year's entry fee, if they are to participate. Contact me for details if this applies to you. Other teams who do not pay on the morning of the tournament will be charged a $25 penalty and will have two weeks to pay their total amount before we start mailing letters to your school about it.
TEAM & ROSTER SIZE: There may be a maximum of six players on one team's roster, though only four may play at one time. There are two substitution opportunities in each game.
-Each player may appear on only one team's roster throughout the day--no switching from the B team to the A team, etc.
-Teams may also play shorthanded with only three players. Teams consisting of one or two players may not play without my express prior permission.
FOOD: Neither breakfast nor lunch will be provided by the tournament. There are several eateries within walking distance of campus buildings and a vast cornucopia within a ten minutes' drive; maps and suggestions will be provided at the tournament.
Post here or mail me if you have any further questions. I'm looking forward to seeing a wide variety of teams from Virginia and surrounding states on May 3.