NHBB Tournaments Directed by Participating Coaches

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Great Bustard
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NHBB Tournaments Directed by Participating Coaches

Post by Great Bustard »

I'm interested in people's thoughts, though especially high school coaches here, on the idea of having coaches of participating teams direct NHBB tournaments. Basically, my thoughts have been evolving on this point, as I've talked to more people whose opinions I respect and who have indicated that they don't have any problem with this. I've been notably wary in the past of this, lest teams (especially new ones who are not necessarily familiar with otherwise well-known coaches and teams) think that there's a conflict of interest. We have done this in some places with limited field sizes where the teams know each other, but I'm thinking of expanding this practice to other tournaments. I'm only wary of this due to the perception of a conflict of interest - logistically, though, it would be easier for NHBB too if this became a more widespread practice. It would cut down on travel expenses for directors, and open up our directing pool to many experienced tournament directors. If anyone wants to comment either way on this, feel free to post here. I'm certainly interested in people's feedback.
David Madden
Ridgewood (NJ) '99, Princeton '03
Founder and Director: International History Bee and Bowl, National History Bee and Bowl (High School Division), International History Olympiad, United States Geography Olympiad, US History Bee, US Academic Bee and Bowl, National Humanities Bee, National Science Bee, International Academic Bowl.
Adviser and former head coach for Team USA at the International Geography Olympiad
mlaird
Tidus
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Joined: Tue Oct 05, 2004 10:07 am

Re: NHBB Tournaments Directed by Participating Coaches

Post by mlaird »

I mean it would ostensibly be the same as me hosting a tournament on NAQT questions that Loyola played in. We have certainly done that many times, and never had an issue. The only place where this isn't the norm is at NHBB. I should think you should only be hiring your outside people for places where the circuit is young and people might not have experience directing tournaments.
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Adventure Temple Trail
Auron
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Re: NHBB Tournaments Directed by Participating Coaches

Post by Adventure Temple Trail »

Yeah, I don't think this would be a huge problem. Most coaches can be trusted to run an even-handed tournament, keep the questions from their team, etc. in the interest of fair competition.
Matt Jackson
University of Chicago '24
Yale '14, Georgetown Day School '10
member emeritus, ACF
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