PACE Announces Tournament Certification

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PACE is pleased to announce that it has made changes to the process by which it affiliates tournaments. In order to better recognize tournaments that use excellent questions and fair formats, PACE has adopted a three-tiered certification system to allow more teams to qualify from tournaments that go above and beyond the basic principles of good high school quizbowl.

Beginning immediately, PACE will also recognize "gold-certified" and "platinum- certified" tournaments. These are tournaments of exceptional quality, which qualify more teams than usual and give their qualified teams the right to register earlier due to their higher likelihood of corresponding to the results of the NSC.

Gold-certified tournaments are affiliated tournaments which offer all teams at least seven games, use varsity-level questions deemed "good" by the PACE Certification Committee, and have at least two teams in attendance likely to finish in the top half of the NSC. Gold-certified tournaments will qualify 2 additional teams at each field size level in comparison to normal affiliated events--the top 4 for tournaments of fewer than 20 teams, the top 6 for tournaments of 20 to 39 teams, and the top 10 for tournaments of 40 or more teams. Teams who qualify through a gold-certified tournament receive $40 off their NSC registration fee and may register beginning January 15, or as soon as they qualify afterward.

Platinum-certified tournaments are affiliated tournaments which offer all teams at least nine games, use varsity-level questions deemed "excellent" by the PACE Certification Committee, have at least four teams in attendance likely to finish in the top half of the NSC, do not use single-elimination playoffs, have geographic diversity in their attendees, and report their statistics in SQBS or TAFT format shortly after the tournament. Platinum-certified tournaments who receive this status in advance are directed by a school or TD who has organized at least one prior tournament in the very recent past that was well-received and demonstrated excellence in scheduling, staffing, and other aspects of tournament operation; the tournament itself demonstrates those qualities if granted retroactively. Platinum-certified tournaments will qualify 4 additional teams at each field size level in comparison to normal affiliated events--the top 6 for tournaments of fewer than 20 teams, the top 8 for tournaments of 20 to 39 teams, and the top 12 for tournaments of 40 or more teams. Teams who qualify through a platinum-certified tournament receive $60 off their NSC registration fee and may register beginning December 1 (*), or as soon as they qualify afterward.

PACE does not expect to award platinum certification to more than a handful of tournaments per year. It is reserved for tournaments which not only meet the standards of good high school quizbowl, but far exceed those standards.

Please note that PACE is not yet prepared to discuss which affiliated tournaments that have already run will receive which level of certification, but we expect to be prepared to do so soon and will begin announcing as soon as possible. PACE is pleased to answer any other questions regarding the certification system. Questions may be directed to Kyle Haddad-Fonda at [email protected]

(*) Please note that no platinum tournaments have yet been certified, and registration for the 2009 NSC has not yet opened.