New High School Team

New high school teams looking for advice should post here.
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dzhuthethird
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New High School Team

Post by dzhuthethird »

I'm a middle school student who has just moved over winter break. I played quizbowl for my middle school (Holmes Junior High) previously as well as Davis Senior High. I want to start a quizbowl team at my high school next year, but I'm not sure how. Any suggestions?
Daniel Zhu- Monte Vista High School '19
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Re: New High School Team

Post by i never see pigeons in wheeling »

Hi Daniel,

I'm Ankit Aggarwal, and I help run the quiz bowl circuit in Northern California, including co-directing the California Cup tournaments at which I believe you competed with Davis. I also moderated at the tournament Holmes won in December. What high school are you going to attend? If it's in Northern CA, I could be of help, and if it's elsewhere, I can point you to the correct regional contacts.
Ankit
Cal '16
Bellarmine College Preparatory '12
teddybknox
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Re: New High School Team

Post by teddybknox »

Daniel,

Although our Quiz Bowl Club did not really start this year, it experienced its first year of real outreach, recruitment, and expansion. Last year, we were sending 1-2 teams made up of mostly just people from a group of friends that played. This year, through outreach and advertisement, we have built an active and diverse club, sending up to seven full teams at some tournament. We took a couple of important steps towards recruitment:

1. Registration booth
At DHS's class registration event, which happens a few days before school starts, clubs have the opportunity to set up a booth for recruitment. We came with some sample easy one-line questions, a bag of candy, and a sign-up sheet. We took down about 40 names and email addresses. Of those 40, about 20 came to the club's first few meetings, and about 10 have continued to play throughout the year.

2. Daily announcements
Our school delivers daily announcements over the PA system. We submitted announcements with a "Quiz Bowl Question of the Day", more easy one-line questions with the goal of piquing the interest of Quiz Bowl-minded people. This succeeded in getting the attention of a few new people and reminding those that saw our registration booth of the days of our meetings.

3. Fun first meetings
At our first few meetings, we "sold" Quiz Bowl to be exciting and entertaining as possible (of course it is a lot of fun, but there can sometimes be a bit of an entry barrier to overcome). We brought candy for when kids got powers, and we read easy sets (starting as easy as CMST) so that tossup and bonus conversion were maximal.

4. Separate practices for new players
We were worried that if all DHS Quiz Bowlers played at the same practices, the 4-5 returning players would dominate the tossups and bonuses and intimidate the new players. We scheduled practices for first-year players on Wednesdays, separate from our second-year practices on Thursdays.

Your situation may be made even more difficult because you will also be new to your school next year. I suggest getting in touch with your school's Student Government/ASB in advance of the school year so that you know what administrative procedures you must take to found a club. You already have two classes at the high school, right? Maybe one of those teachers would be interesting in acting as your club's advisor.

I am really excited to see you start a new program at your school, and I wish you the best of luck in a competitive circuit! I am always happy to help you out if you have questions on running a High School Quiz Bowl club. You know where to call!
Teddy Knox
UChicago 2020
Davis High 2016
"thank you so much dude. i know grant you the title buzzer scholar, a large step up from buzzer bitch mind you" ~Buzzer Czar Kai Smith
dzhuthethird
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Re: New High School Team

Post by dzhuthethird »

Hi ankit! I'm going to be attending monte vista high school in the fall. (Not to be confused with monta vista). There isn't a quizbowl team there.
Daniel Zhu- Monte Vista High School '19
dzhuthethird
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Re: New High School Team

Post by dzhuthethird »

Thanks teddy, I'll be sure to try some methods that you mentioned!
Daniel Zhu- Monte Vista High School '19
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Re: New High School Team

Post by Important Bird Area »

Monte Vista in fact does have some players interested in starting a team; I'll send you their contact information.
Jeff Hoppes
President, Northern California Quiz Bowl Alliance
former HSQB Chief Admin (2012-13)
VP for Communication and history subject editor, NAQT
Editor emeritus, ACF

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