24th Annual Walton Academic Challenge (10/12/13)

[Medelstein]

Dear Academic Team Coach,

You are cordially invited to enter your academic team in the Twenty-Fourth Annual Walton Academic Challenge. The competition will be held on Saturday, October 12, 2013 from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM at Walton High School in Marietta, Georgia.

Each team will play a minimum of five (5) matches with one (1) bye during the preliminary competition. A round will consist of sixteen (16) toss-up and sixteen (16) bonus questions with the “bounce back” rule in play. Thirty-two (32) teams will advance to a single-elimination play-off based upon overall record (win/loss). Ties will be broken by average points and, if necessary, a coin toss. Each play-off round will consist of twenty (20) toss-up/bonus questions; there will be no worksheets. The questions are written by current Walton players and are answerable as well as educational. They may include lesser-known facts, but each question will conclude with an obvious clue.

We will be using NAQT IS-127A, so this tournament should be a good one to get your new team(s) some experience (or your experienced team(s) up to speed).

A nonrefundable registration fee of $65 is required to enter your team. If you bring a qualified reader, then your registration fee will be $60. This includes a copy of the preliminary round questions. The registration fee MUST BE RECEIVED BY FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2013 to reserve your team’s place in the tournament. Multiple teams are welcome. The registration fee increases to $75 for schools registering after this date. Last year, the tournament was capped at 36 teams, so please make sure to get your entry in as soon as possible!!!

We will have a lunch break during which your team may go off campus. There are many restaurants within a 3 mile radius of the school from which you may choose.

Please complete and return the enclosed registration form. Make checks payable to WALTON HIGH SCHOOL. Confirmation will be sent by e-mail (please write your e-mail address legibly). The Walton Academic Team looks forward to hosting your team at the Twenty-fourth Annual Walton Academic Challenge!

For further information please contact:

Matthew Edelstein, Tournament Director
School: (770) 578-3225 (Voice Mail - 538) FAX: (770) 578-3227
Email: [email protected]

[Medelstein]

UPDATED 9/27
Paid & Sent in Forms:
Bleckley County - 1
Blessed Trinity - 2
Brookwood - 4
Cedar Shoals - 3
Chattahoochee - 3
Collins Hill - 2
Duluth - 1
Dunwoody - 1
East Paulding - 1
Etowah - 2
Flowery Branch - 1
Gordon Central - 1
Lassiter - 2
Mount Paran Christian - 1
North Cobb - 1
Prince Avenue Christian - 1
River Ridge - 1
Roswell - 1
St. Pius X - 1
South Forsyth - 1
The Walker School - 2
Westminster - 2

Expressed Interest/Intent:
Alpharetta - ?
Centennial - 2
Lakeside (GA) - 2
McCallie - 2
Northview - 1
Woodward Academy - 1

[Medelstein]

Just a quick update...as of right now, there are 35 confirmed teams and 8 or 9 teams who have expressed interest/intent (please see the above field list). Based on the number of readers that I have availiable, I am going to cap the tournament at 42. Also the registration deadline is this Friday (9/27). If your team is interested in participating and has not yet gotten in touch with me, please do so very soon (as I will not be here next week and will not be able to contact you).

Thanks.

[Medelstein]

The deadline has now passed for entry into the 24th Annual Walton Academic Challenge. As of right now, we have 35 confirmed teams. A few other schools have contacted me and have expressed interest in entering the field (please see the above posts for the current field list and list of potential teams who may join the field).

PLEASE NOTE: I will be out-of-town and will not be able to get to school from Saturday 9/28 - Monday 10/7. So, if there are any schools who have not contacted me, I will not be able to know if I have room for you until I return on Tuesday 10/8. Also, if you have yet to register/contact me and are still interested, the entry fee is now $75. If you are one of the schools that has already contacted me and/or you have entry fees/registration form on the way, I won't be able to know if that has arrived until 10/8 (and therefore won't be able to send a confirmation e-mail until then).

Thanks!

[pajaro bobo]

Results:
1st: Chattahoochee A
2nd: Westminster A
3rd: Brookwood A
4th: Alpharetta A

I believe stats will be posted soon.

[pajaro bobo]

Stats are up. Only match scores are available, though. Nothing else.
http://www.naqt.com/stats/tournament-te ... playoffs=1

[CSQuizJags]

Stats are up. Only match scores are available, though. Nothing else.
http://www.naqt.com/stats/tournament-te ... playoffs=1

They've done this since the beginning. They wanted to do SQBS but couldn't get it done this year. Perhaps next year.

[dtaylor4]

Stats are up. Only match scores are available, though. Nothing else.
http://www.naqt.com/stats/tournament-te ... playoffs=1

They've done this since the beginning. They wanted to do SQBS but couldn't get it done this year. Perhaps next year.

Surely for a tournament of this size they can still spare (at worst) 3 people to do stats for five rounds? Even if that's not feasible, someone can spend part of a single afternoon putting these in, or am I missing something?

[Medelstein]

Actually, I think I am missing something. I have never kept such stats and don't even know HOW to use that system (nor what you were talking about until I e-mailed Mr. Richards and asked him). Furthermore, since this is a novice tournament where literally about 35 out of 42 teams are teams that this is the only tournament that they attend, what would such stats accomplish in the long run? I'd be more than happy to provide such stats if NAQT required them and somebody showed me how to utilize this system.

[AKKOLADE]

Furthermore, since this is a novice tournament where literally about 35 out of 42 teams are teams that this is the only tournament that they attend, what would such stats accomplish in the long run?

Conversion data of the questions, which will allow for determination if the sets being written are of the appropriate difficulty.

Edit: I'll also note that 22 of the 42 teams at your event averaged at least 300 points per game. Considering it's a format with a maximum number of, what, 720 points per game? Must be really great novices.

[pajaro bobo]

literally about 35 out of 42 teams are teams that this is the only tournament that they attend

There are definitely much more than about 7 teams that attend tournaments other than Walton.

[Blackboard Monitor Vimes]

A guide to using SQBS can be found here.