The Quizbowl Resource Center

by **Blahhunter** » Sat Jul 16, 2011 11:09 pm

Hunter College High School (71 East 94th Street, New York, NY, 10128) is pleased to announce its mirror of the Fall Novice Tournament (FNT) on Saturday, October 29, 2011.
The tournament will be co-directed by Zihan Zheng and Marianna Zhang. If you have any questions concerning the tournament, please feel free to contact us at hchsqb@gmail.com.

Eligibility

Eligibility will be restricted to players in their first or second year of high school quiz bowl and who have not attended PACE NSC or NAQT HSNCT at any point.

Registration
Interested teams can register by emailing hchsqb@gmail.com; please include the number of teams that the school wishes to register as well as the number of moderators and buzzer sets the school will send.

The field is capped at 36 teams. Each team can have a maximum of 6 players. Any individuals who wish to play in this tournament but who cannot form a team within their own school should also contact the tournament directors. Registration will be open until Wednesday, October 26th.

Tournament Format
The tournament will follow standard ACF rules.

The tournament structure will consist of round-robin prelim rounds, rebracketing by record, round-robin or crossover playoff rounds, and an ACF-style final. We will strive for as many guaranteed rounds as possible. All ties will be played off, packets permitting.

Stats will be kept using SQBS, and teams will be updated about them at several intervals during the tournament.

Question Set

This set will consist of 13 rounds of 20 tossups and 20 three-part, 30-point bonuses, plus tie-breaker questions. There will be no computational math, and popular culture will be less than 5% of this set. The set from last year can be found here: http://www.quizbowlpackets.com/archive/2010FNT/, and the link for the offical set thread can be found here http://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewto ... =1&t=11696.

Fee Structure

$50 for the first team from a school

$40 for each subsequent team

-$5 for each buzzer system (up to 3 per school)

-$10 for each experienced moderator

Further discounts (such as travel) may be negotiated on a case-by-case basis with the tournament directors.

Team limit per school has been removed.
Registered Field
(# Teams/#Moderators/#Buzzers) Currently (26/6/19)
Ridgewood (5/1/4)
Preston (1/2/1)
North Babylon (3/0/3)
King's Park (2/1/1)
St. Joe's (2/1/1)
Bergen (3/1/2)
Valley Stream (2/0/3)
Trinity (1/0/0)
Great Neck South (2/1/0)
Seton Hall (2/0/2)
St. Peter's (2/1/0)
Team Tribeca (1/1/2)

Expressing Interest
Ward Melville (?)

by **Nun's puffs** » Thu Jul 28, 2011 1:40 am

I am told that Kings Park and a team that may or may not be Ward Melville are interested, but not necessarily "officially".

by **jonpin** » Sat Jul 30, 2011 1:58 am

Assuming that administration gives us approval to host our middle-school event on that Sunday, Bergen is likely to attend with roughly two teams.

by **Standard-winged Nightjar** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 2:35 pm

Ridgewood is interested in bringing 2-4 teams to this. I can bring enough buzzers to cover the whole tournament, and certainly moderate myself. I presume that eligibility is open to juniors and seniors, as long as they haven't played QB for more than 1 year, right? If they played in 1 tournament 2 years ago, I presume that means they are ineligible? If that tournament was the Tri-State History Bowl, does that count? Just making sure.

by **The Predictable Consequences** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 2:54 pm

Ardsley will look in to sending 1-2 teams to this, unofficially as of now. I won't be in the state that weekend, but we should be able to get people down to you.

Question though: does QU/NAC count as quiz bowl for eligibility purposes? It wouldn't tremendously affect our team, but would be good to know.

by **Blahhunter** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 9:18 pm

Dripping Springs State Park wrote:Ardsley will look in to sending 1-2 teams to this, unofficially as of now. I won't be in the state that weekend, but we should be able to get people down to you.

Question though: does QU/NAC count as quiz bowl for eligibility purposes? It wouldn't tremendously affect our team, but would be good to know.

No; for the purposes of this tournament, we only count participation in quiz bowl tournaments run on sets/formats that are mACF, NAQT, or equivalents.

nationalhistorybeeandbowl wrote:I presume that eligibility is open to juniors and seniors, as long as they haven't played QB for more than 1 year, right? If they played in 1 tournament 2 years ago, I presume that means they are ineligible? If that tournament was the Tri-State History Bowl, does that count? Just making sure.

If the tournament in question was the Tri-State History Bowl, they will still be considered eligible since that tournament was limited to a specific subject. And also yes, juniors or seniors in school who have only played a year or less of quiz bowl would be eligible.

by **Edward Powers** » Thu Sep 22, 2011 6:08 am

We have some newbies, mostly Freshmen & Sophomores, who have expressed interest in attending; we'll let you know soon.

by **jiajie2005** » Sat Sep 24, 2011 7:10 pm

Hi, I'm the president of Team Tribeca. We have yet to decide how many people to send, but we will bring buzzer sets.

by **lchen** » Thu Sep 29, 2011 6:47 pm

Hey everyone, this is coming up in a month. We'd love to see as many local teams as possible, so please register (by emailing the TDs at hchsqb@gmail.com) soon!

by **The Predictable Consequences** » Thu Sep 29, 2011 9:37 pm

I'm sorry, but we won't be able to come to this.

by **Edward Powers** » Fri Oct 07, 2011 4:50 pm

We will definitely be bringing 1 novice team to this event & quite possibly 2. I will confirm the exact number via email within the next week or so when we formally register.

by **MWYang** » Sat Oct 08, 2011 9:25 pm

Valley Stream South is currently looking into this.

Question:
Do either LIFT or HHH qualify as tournaments that would make a player ineligible to attend? I know that HHH uses NAQT-A question sets, so I'm not sure if that would count.

by **Just a Guy Made Of Dots and Lines** » Sun Oct 09, 2011 12:32 am

MWYang wrote:Question:
Do either LIFT or HHH qualify as tournaments that would make a player ineligible to attend? I know that HHH uses NAQT-A question sets, so I'm not sure if that would count.

Not at all - the only event restrictions are the national tournaments (NAQT's High School National Championship Tournament) and PACE's National Scholastics Championship.

by **tmrood** » Sun Oct 09, 2011 5:08 am

East Hampton NY will most likely bring 2 teams to this. I am the coach, and I will confirm attendance pending approval this week.
Timothy Rood
Coach
East Hampton (NY) Academic Team

User was reminded to add a signature.

by **jonpin** » Sun Oct 09, 2011 12:54 pm

It's possible that he's asking as to whether those count as "playing quiz bowl" with respect to the "Can't have played quiz bowl for two years prior to this", since that's what an earlier discussion in this thread was about.

by **lchen** » Sun Oct 09, 2011 1:36 pm

jonpin wrote:It's possible that he's asking as to whether those count as "playing quiz bowl" with respect to the "Can't have played quiz bowl for two years prior to this", since that's what an earlier discussion in this thread was about.

In that case, yes, playing at a quiz bowl tournament prior to the 2010-2011 academic year would make a player ineligible for this tournament. We may be able to make exceptions on a case-by-case basis (for example, if the player in question hasn't played any other tournaments since then), since the rule is really meant to exclude seasoned players with a lot of experience, so please email the TDs about that.

by **Edward Powers** » Wed Oct 12, 2011 3:44 pm

St. Joe's will officially be bringing 2 teams, 1 buzzer & 1 moderator to this novice event.

by **MWYang** » Thu Oct 13, 2011 11:24 pm

What time is the tournament scheduled to begin? I'm probably missing this vital piece of information while it's right there, in black and white. Thanks!

by **Blahhunter** » Fri Oct 14, 2011 11:23 am

MWYang » Thu Oct 13, 2011 11:24 pm What time is the tournament scheduled to begin?

The games are currently scheduled to start at 9am with registration going from 8:00 to 8:45 am.

by **Standard-winged Nightjar** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 10:49 pm

Ridgewood is putting down 5 teams for this. This may still go up. Is there a final deadline for firming up # of teams?

by **SHP Pirate** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 6:08 pm

SHP is trying to get a team or two together for this. I will have better information on Monday.

by **Blahhunter** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 10:36 pm

nationalhistorybeeandbowl » Wed Oct 19, 2011 10:49 pm Is there a final deadline for firming up # of teams?

We would strongly prefer if everyone could finalize the number of teams being sent by Thursday night (10/27) for logistical purposes.

by **Standard-winged Nightjar** » Sun Oct 23, 2011 1:55 pm

Question: Ridgewood has two middle schools that feed into it; while this might not be an issue, since they'll be going to Bergen's middle school tournament the following day, would middle schoolers be eligible to come to this on high school teams? I'm going to go visit AP classes tomorrow and talk this up - we may end up with 7-10 teams; we'll see.

by **SHP Pirate** » Sun Oct 23, 2011 4:24 pm

In light of the potential "invasion of Ridgewood" ... please reserve two teams/two buzzers for SHP! Final confirmation to follow ASAP.

by **serasuna** » Sun Oct 23, 2011 7:11 pm

nationalhistorybeeandbowl wrote: would middle schoolers be eligible to come to this on high school teams?

Middle schoolers would be eligible if they haven't played at a national tournament.

by **jiajie2005** » Wed Oct 26, 2011 5:32 pm

Team Tribeca will send one team, two buzzer systems, and one moderator to the tournament.

by **serasuna** » Fri Oct 28, 2011 4:45 pm

Currently, the field is set at 27 teams including a house team. We would like to have 28 teams for optimal bracketing, so if any school currently registered would like to bring an additional team, or additional players to form scab teams at no additional cost, email us at our hchsqb email.

by **djsmay27** » Fri Oct 28, 2011 11:20 pm

Hello everybody,
My name is David Somers and I'm the Co-Captain of St. Peter's Prep's Academic Bowl Team. Our moderator's car broke down near Philadelphia and he is not able to make it back to New York by the morning. We, therefore, cannot make the tournament tomorrow.

by **Edward Powers** » Sat Oct 29, 2011 6:02 am

We are scheduled to bring 10 students, 5 per team. Assuming all show up, I will talk to them to see if they are interested in splitting into 3 teams of 4, 3 and 3, if you will still will need an extra team. Given the cancellation of St. Peter's Prep's 2 teams, this of course might not be necessary. But if it turns out that somehow you will need an extra team, we might be able to help in this way. I'll talk to you when we arrive circa 8 AM.

by **Standard-winged Nightjar** » Sat Oct 29, 2011 6:41 am

RIdgewood could probably have either 4 or 5 depending on what would be easiest on our esteemed schedulers.

by **Edward Powers** » Sat Oct 29, 2011 5:51 pm

Just returned form Hunter's FNT. It's a shame so many schools felt compelled to leave due to the storm. Still, our kids had a great time and, as a reader, I sensed the kids for whom I read also felt similarly. Also, although the Championship rounds were never finished due to the departure of so many teams, we hope you do post whatever stats you do have, for our kids are exicted to see how they compared against their first real opponents ever. So, if you can, please post whatever results you do have. Thanks.

by **SHP Pirate** » Sat Oct 29, 2011 6:47 pm

Unfortunately, we were one of those teams compelled to leave due to the weather. (4 1/2 hours from Manhattan to Clifton - less than 10 miles and still 15 miles from where we started in South Orange! Kids are in my living room, waiting for parents to get here.)

We enjoyed the tournament and I know that my kids played enjoyed the tournament. I echo Ed .... whatever stats you have, however disjointed, please post them. Several of us were using today to evaluate freshman players!

Edited for clarity.

by **Edward Powers** » Sat Oct 29, 2011 7:01 pm

For the record,we were not blaming teams for leaving. In fact, we felt compelled to leave as well---we concluded that prudence dictated that discretion was the better part of wisdom, and getting students home safely took priority over playing any additional matches, however much fun the kids were having. I assume everyone else who decided to leave did so for the same prudential reasons, so I miscommunicated above--decisions to leave were surely not based upon mere subjective feelings, as my post above might lead some to believe. I am sure they were made carefully and thoughtfully and in the best interests of students, so if anyone thought I was suggesting otherwise, I apologize for my ambiguous, indeed, for my poor, writing.

by **SHP Pirate** » Sat Oct 29, 2011 7:22 pm

I would never think that, Ed. Perhaps the LONG commute home caused me to use quotes when I did not mean to imply anything! When NJ transit suspended service, we had to find avwayvhome before things got worse! Sorry for the confusion.

by **MServetasF1** » Sat Oct 29, 2011 7:30 pm

Even though most of the teams had left early, I think we still had fun during the preliminaries, so it was not a complete loss.

by **gnshsqb** » Sat Oct 29, 2011 7:51 pm

Hey, just wanted to say that all of the players from my team had a great time, great job TDs!
It was a really good experience to introduce new players, I thought...
Also I enjoyed meeting/talking to everyone, which don't necessarily get to do as a player :).
Disappointed with the outcome, but things happen....

by **youngster68** » Sat Oct 29, 2011 7:56 pm

Oh my - this is not the first Hunter event that has been disrupted by a freak snowstorm (viewtopic.php?t=8643&start=50#p176489), but it is especially sad because this is the first tournament for some students. Obviously we hope this experience doesn't leave any of them with a bad taste for quizbowl.

I want to thank all the teams who participated for all of your patience and understanding. We definitely don't blame any teams for leaving - it is truly a mess out there and it sounds like it will get worse before it gets better. The Hunter students are the ones who run our tournaments (I just nudge the ship in the right direction every now and then). They really tried hard to run a good event and to accomodate all of the diverging needs as the afternoon progressed. We hope that everyone gets home safely and can say that, with the exception of the travel, they had a good day at FNT.

The students will post the stats they have ASAP, and I guess I'll just scratch the dates off the trophies and save them for next year! :wink:

by **lchen** » Sat Oct 29, 2011 8:02 pm

Thank you for coming today, everyone! We hope you still had fun despite the weather.

Here are the stats from the prelims (rounds 1-5): http://www.hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/34/stats/prelims_%28rd_1-5%29/

We also have some stats from rounds 6-7, which I will post shortly.

by **SHP Pirate** » Sat Oct 29, 2011 8:05 pm

Stephen and the entire Hunter team,

Despite the gods conspiring against you once again, my kids had a great time. They enjoyed (what they heard of) the set and I have to admit that I heard more laughing by both students and moderators than I ever remember!

by **lchen** » Sat Oct 29, 2011 8:30 pm

Here are (very) incomplete stats for Rounds 6-7 in the Championship Tier: http://www.hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/34/stats/playoffs_%28rd_6-7%29_-_incomple/

Consolation Tier playoff stats will be posted if/when they surface...

by **Standard-winged Nightjar** » Sun Oct 30, 2011 4:19 am

Just wanted to add that Ridgewood had a great time, and thanks to Steve, Zihan, Marianna, and everyone at Hunter for running a great tournament under highly challenging conditions. We actually had tremendous luck coming home; I think we left at precisely the right time, as the roads were not actually that bad getting back to Ridgewood, but we had a sense that things could get much worse over the course of the evening. Also, I apologize for all the confusion surrounding the number of teams from Ridgewood; it's herding cats at times trying to hammer down numbers, but that said, the kids are super enthusiastic, and were quizzing each other on the whole bus ride home. They had a great time and lots of fun!
Also, I'd like to compliment the writers of the set - it was very well-written and more accessible than other novice sets I've seen, and was perfectly calibrated to the level of the teams who were there. Thanks to Hunter for giving NYC area teams the opportunity to play it!

by **serasuna** » Sun Oct 30, 2011 7:05 pm

On behalf of Zihan and myself, I would like to give a huge thank you to all the teams that attended our tournament, as well as all of the coaches, moderators and students who helped make this tournament happen! We hope that everyone had fun and got home safely. Since most of the field left early, we're sorry to say that there will be no final results for this tournament. Prelim stats have been posted here while stats for the final few games will be posted tomorrow afternoon. For questions or comments regarding the set, contact Dwight at dpwynne@gmail.com. Otherwise, please remember not to discuss the set until the last FNT mirror on 12/17. Again, thanks for coming and we hope to see everyone in March at Prison Bowl!

by **Lightshayde** » Mon Oct 31, 2011 12:14 pm

Please contact the TDs if anybody has lost an Apple product or a shoe while at Hunter.

by **Down and out in Quintana Roo** » Mon Oct 31, 2011 3:06 pm

Lightshayde wrote:Please contact the TDs if anybody has lost an Apple product or a shoe while at Hunter.

by **bmanzo44** » Mon Oct 31, 2011 3:24 pm

Althoough I was unable to go, from what I heard it was a great tournament. North Babylon very much appreciates the efforts of the Hunter students and coaches who helped out. We hope to return next year!

by **jonpin** » Mon Oct 31, 2011 7:04 pm

Hunter ran a fine tournament, and it's a shame that the weather caused its abrupt end. One thing I will say however, is that I disapprove of the change in playoff format. I mentioned it at the time because the added two rounds left no chance of completing the tournament*, but the real reason I disapproved is because you just shouldn't change mid-tournament. The announcement at the start of the day was that finishing in the top two of your group got you into the top 8, and to change that after the fact (even in the interest of getting everyone more games, which I understand) is in my mind inappropriate.

*-At the time Z came into my room, we were about to start playoff round 3. If we had one round of playoffs and then finals, I would've had my teams stick around, but with 3 rounds plus finals still to go, I could not.

by **lchen** » Mon Oct 31, 2011 9:01 pm

jonpin wrote:The announcement at the start of the day was that finishing in the top two of your group got you into the top 8, and to change that after the fact (even in the interest of getting everyone more games, which I understand) is in my mind inappropriate.

I'm mostly to blame for this. I thought it would be good to keep more teams in the running and give everyone more games, but I failed to consider the possible negative effect on teams already in the top group in the original format. And in light of the weather, lengthening the tournament might not have been a wise decision either. I am so very sorry for the bad judgement on my part.

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