Date claimings for DC/MD/VA area tournaments for 2007-08

[Robbie Ram]

Last year the quizbowl forum had a thread for DC/MD/VA (and perhaps other Mid-Atlantic area) teams who typically host tournaments to tentatively announce/claim dates for the upcoming school year.

The idea was to try to prevent host schools from schedule conflicts-- i.e. two regional tournaments on the same day or a tournament on an SAT testing date, et al.-- and to allow the teams who usually attend several tournaments in this circuit to do some long-range schedule and budget planning. (This also assists teams who might wish to try hosting a DC/MD/VA-area tournament for the first time by helping them find an "open" date on the calendar.)

So far, the "Regular Season Tournament Announcements & Info" lists the following tournaments:

9/15/07 -- "Mid-Atlantic Season Opener" tournament (sponsored by Academic Initiative) at Paint Branch High School in Burtonsville, Maryland.

9/30/07 -- "Maryland Fall Classic" at the University of Maryland

10/20/07 -- "Blake HS Tournament" at Blake High School in Silver Spring, Maryland

SAT dates for 2007-08 are: 10/06/07, 11/03/07, 12/01/07, 1/26/08, 3/01/08, 5/03/08, and 6/07/08.

ACT dates (does this actually matter to anyone in this region?!?) are: 10/27/07, 12/08/07, 2/09/08, 4/12/08, and 6/14/08.

So... can any other DC/MD/VA/Mid-Atlantic tournament host schools tentatively claim their dates for 2007-08?

Post away!

(edit: added Blake's tournament just recently posted)

[Red-necked Phalarope]

NC has a list of claimed and quasi-claimed dates here, though I suspect that many won't be a problem for most MD/DC teams.

[Zip Zap Rap Pants]

The EFT Mid-Atlantic mirror will be on October 6th at William & Mary. We'll have a high school division if we can get at least 6 teams or so (and this division will probably be PACE-affiliated). I know that's about when TJ hosts their tournament...if anyone feels torn I mean, it's a college tournament first and foremost, so come to ours if your team really feels up to the challenge, otherwise TJ is probably a better bet.

[BuzzerZen]

Actually, given the SAT date, I doubt we will be hosting our fall tournament on the 6th. Stay tuned.

[Zip Zap Rap Pants]

Oh my bad, didn't notice the SAT dates. Well in that case, come one, come all!

[mithokie]

I am the coach at Auburn High School, we are located in Montgomery County, VA (near Blacksburg and Christiansburg) a few miles off of Exit 114 on I-81... I am planning on hosting a tournament using an NAQT A level set. I am currently looking at October 20 or October 27 as a possible date. (VT plays at home on Thursday 10/25 so those two Saturdays are free.) Much of my help will be unavailable if we pick a VT game date. I suppose that December 8 would be my next choice if October does not work.

I see conflicts to our south; Robinson HS is planning on hosting on 10/20 and UNC on 10/27. SW and Central VA would be our main target area for teams, but we would welcome teams from all over.

The conflicts I definitely want to avoid are
Virginia Tech
UVA
Cave Spring
Spotswood HS

Do any of these institutions have dates picked for fall tourneys?

[First Chairman]

I'd still like to claim a weekend in March for Patriot Games. I'm not sure if I'll do the split squad sequence the same way that I did last year or rather do two separate weekends on identical questions. But I'm giving everyone a heads up on that.

I do intend to run High School Celebrity Shoot in the fall semester at Mason, but I have to be sure about dates with my own real work schedule.

[Lapego1]

Usually, Maggie Walker holds GSAC on that second Saturday in December, which would be December 8 (tentatively).

[segregold]

I know RM is planning on having two tournaments next year using house-written questions, but I don't know when either one is planned for. Expect one in fall and one in spring, I'd suspect, but I'll update once more information is available.

[Oddi]

UVa's Cavalier Classic will be held Oct. 27th.



-Samantha Oddi
07-08 President

[mithokie]

Auburn High School will host on October 20, 2007 to avoid conflict with UVA's Cavalier Classic.

[Gonzagapuma1]

Gonzaga is gonna go ahead and claim February 9th for thier tournament using what should be a really good Academic Intiatives set.

[STPickrell]

Gonzaga is gonna go ahead and claim February 9th for thier tournament using what should be a really good Academic Intiatives set.

VHSL states will almost certainly be on February 23rd at William & Mary. For a MD/DC tournament, you might be able to get away with a tournament on that day, as only two teams from Northern VA will be going down there.

The Northern Region tournament (along with the "regular seasons" for VHSL play) will be sometime in late January. IMO, that'd be the real "date to avoid," as non-TJ NoVA teams would be less able to send a team (TJ could send 2-3 teams to try and pull a "double victory" but they are very much the exception.)

Most other regions will probably have their region tournament on the 2nd or 9th. District tournaments will be on the 12th, 19th, or 26th of January, or even the 2nd of February, and no man including myself will know when they all are. Most districts have only one or two teams that are tournament regulars, in any case.

[Matt Weiner]

VHSL states will almost certainly be on February 23rd at William & Mary. For a MD/DC tournament, you might be able to get away with a tournament on that day, as only two teams from Northern VA will be going down there.

The Northern Region tournament (along with the "regular seasons" for VHSL play) will be sometime in late January. IMO, that'd be the real "date to avoid," as non-TJ NoVA teams would be less able to send a team (TJ could send 2-3 teams to try and pull a "double victory" but they are very much the exception.)

Most other regions will probably have their region tournament on the 2nd or 9th. District tournaments will be on the 12th, 19th, or 26th of January, or even the 2nd of February, and no man including myself will know when they all are. Most districts have only one or two teams that are tournament regulars, in any case.

It sure would be nice if these dates were compacted or at least standardized so that the VHSL series would stop horning in on the regular circuit for months at a time.

[STPickrell]

It sure would be nice if these dates were compacted or at least standardized so that the VHSL series would stop horning in on the regular circuit for months at a time.

Matt, do you have any evidence that this is actually occurring?

[Matt Weiner]

Matt, do you have any evidence that this is actually occurring?

Well, you just gave us a list of every single weekend in January and February to avoid scheduling tournaments on, plus we've discussed various regions that will not attend invitationals during the "VHSL season" before.

[STPickrell]

Matt, do you have any evidence that this is actually occurring?

Well, you just gave us a list of every single weekend in January and February to avoid scheduling tournaments on, plus we've discussed various regions that will not attend invitationals during the "VHSL season" before.

Come up with a concrete proposal of some sort and I will provide comment and quite probably approval. It'd help if there were endorsements from coaches around the state, too.

Given the increasing attendance at and increasing numbers of independent tournaments, I simply cannot agree with your assertion that VHSL series competition in somehow undermining the independent circuit.

[Matt Weiner]

Come up with a concrete proposal of some sort and I will provide comment.

Proposal: All districts and regional tournaments should be held at the same time on a standard date in late January, at the regionals locations, with a pre-announced snow date of the following weekend. Districts in the morning, winners advance to regionals in the afternoon. As far as I am aware there is no region where this would create a tournament anywhere near as large as the largest invitationals held in Virginia, so the logistics should be feasible. Most of these tournaments are abnormally short as it is, and the qualifying process doesn't need to take up two weekends.

If not discouraged outright, after-school "regular season play" should be limited to within-district competitions on Mondays through Thursdays, so that teams will be encouraged to use their weekends and travel patience to attend regular invitationals on Saturdays.

If the above is too drastic, the main thing is that the dates need to be standardized and spaced out so that people know when to schedule other tournaments, and teams know in advance if they have qualified for the next level so they can register for or pull out of other tournaments with enough notice.

[STPickrell]

Come up with a concrete proposal of some sort and I will provide comment.

Proposal: All districts and regional tournaments should be held at the same time on a standard date in late January, at the regionals locations, with a pre-announced snow date of the following weekend. Districts in the morning, winners advance to regionals in the afternoon.

This is what the Northern Region already does and it seems to work okay for them. I can see this working in the Eastern Region, Central Region, and Region D as well.

The regions this probably wouldn't work in would be the Northwest (Manassas down to Danville), Region C (Staunton to Wytheville), and Region B (Clarke County down to Martinsville). Teams already are traveling 4+ hours to regionals and so an all-day tournament might not be feasible.

Other regions may balk at the travel idea, and lots of people may not relish the thought of playing 13-14 matches in a single day.

Other districts will balk at having their tournament in the winter; they consider SB to be a fall activity.

HOWEVER, it provides a good starting point for further discussion.

Another idea would be to allow large (by geography) regions to hold district tournaments on a Tuesday and then regionals on that Saturday.

As far as I am aware there is no region where this would create a tournament anywhere near as large as the largest invitationals held in Virginia, so the logistics should be feasible.

There's plenty of experience with running 6-8 team tournaments, and your idea is essentially running 4 district tournaments simultaneously in the morning. I assume we'd need 16 rooms and I don't think there are many schools where finding 16 rooms would be a problem.

Most of these tournaments are abnormally short as it is, and the qualifying process doesn't need to take up two weekends.

I see no reason not to start encouraging districts to have their tournaments during the week (many already do.) Also, regions can be encouraged to have their tournaments on the same day.

If not discouraged outright, after-school "regular season play" should be limited to within-district competitions on Mondays through Thursdays, so that teams will be encouraged to use their weekends and travel patience to attend regular invitationals on Saturdays.

All regular season play is already on school nights. 90% is within districts, the exceptions being in far southwest Virginia where there simply is no tournament circuit. I disagree the abolition of regular seasons would lead to an upsurge in tournament attendance.

If the above is too drastic, the main thing is that the dates need to be standardized and spaced out so that people know when to schedule other tournaments, and teams know in advance if they have qualified for the next level so they can register for or pull out of other tournaments with enough notice.

Teams know when their own district and region tournaments are. At the least we can improve communication.

I agree the current system could be changed; I think the "key" will be to talk up question security. Ensuring question security is something even the once a year schools can be convinced is an important issue.

Protecting and growing the independent tournament circuit will be of zero importance to principals and ADs whose schools simply do not play in outside tournaments (now the idea of doing the regular tournament attenders a favor might be a selling point.)

I think I can see a "districts on Tuesday-regionals on Saturday" system selling better than a "everything on Saturday" system.

[jkohn]

The EFT Mid-Atlantic mirror will be on October 6th at William & Mary. I know that's about when TJ hosts their tournament...

TJ's tournaments will be October 13 and January 12 (both Saturdays). We were considering the 6th, but since that's an SAT day we threw it out.