Arizona Quizbowl Association - February 1st NAQT Qualifier

[AZQuizbowl]

Arizona Quizbowl Association is proud to present our February NAQT Qualifier on February 1st! This will be the final NAQT qualifier prior to the state championship.

The NAQT February Qualifier deadline is Monday, January 27th at 1pm. The tournament will be located on ASU's Tempe Campus in the Durham Language and Literature building.

We will be using NAQT's Invitational Series #134 packet.

The tournament will follow Official NAQT Rules. Mixed teams are permitted to participate via AQA's Participation Guidelines, but are ineligible for HSNCT qualifications per NAQT's rules and ineligible for NSC qualification per PACE's rules. Teams will consist of four students and one alternate. Additional alternates per team may be designated for an additional fee. The tournament will feature a minimum of 9 rounds of play, to be determined once the field is set.

The top three teams and top three students from each division will receive trophies, and the students with the most powers in each division will be awarded a coveted Power Plaque. According to NAQT qualifier rules, the top 15 percent of the total number of teams participating will qualify for HSNCT from this tournament (though teams in the Novice division are not eligible), and AQA is actively pursuing PACE NSC certification for all qualifying tournaments this season.

The fee is $55/team.
There is a $5 discount for each working buzzer system provided for use on tournament day.
There is a $10 discount for each team that travels from out of state.
There is a $3 fee for each alternate in excess of one. The exception to this rule is if alternates are taken from another team. (For example, a team with six players will pay an additional 3 USD, but only if all their other teams (if any) have five players.)

Schedules and Divisions

The final schedule will be available after the registration deadline, but for now you can plan on registration from 8-8:30am, a rules meeting starting at 8:30, and the first round starting at 9am. The schedule will be made to finish by 5pm at the latest.

This tournament will feature both a Varsity "Upper" division and a Novice "Lower" division, so please specify on your form which division each team would like to participate in. Please keep in mind that we will require a minimum of 6 novice teams to run a novice division, and that teams competing in the novice division will not be eligible to qualify for HSNCT--only teams competing in the upper Varsity division will have the chance to qualify teams. If we receive fewer than 6 teams in either division, the tournament will be combined and run with no divisions.

While there is currently no strict definition of a "novice" team according to AQA, we do reserve the right to place teams that we feel do not belong in the novice division into the varsity division. This applies to individual students as well. These decisions will be made based off scores from prior tournaments, and coaches will be notified if an issue like this comes up, as well as suggestions to resolve the problem.. The novice division is for students and teams with less quizbowl experience and is designed to make quizbowl fun and accessible to students of all skill levels. If you have any questions or would like guidance such as which division to place a student/team in, we will be happy to help. (Note: We do not anticipate any problems with divisional placing, but would also like to prevent any future issues. Thank you for understanding!)