A New Novice Tournament?

[Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN)]

Hey everyone,
In the ACF Fall thread, it seemed that I and some other people agreed that there is still room in the circuit for more events that are novice-oriented. Next semester, the only events that fit the bill are NAQT’s D2 Sectional and the Minnesota Undergrad Tournament. I think this means there is still a lot of room in the calendar for some kind of easy novice tournament to appeal to players who could still benefit from playing at that level. Also, something we don’t consider when we setup fall as the main novice season is that if a team is forming, it may take them longer than by EFT to get everything in a row – I know of at least one team that is forming after Delta Burke has finished up. There are also lots of players who will sometimes play in high school, quit for a couple months out of concern for their grades, and then trickle back in at a later date. These are all players who could use more novice events to play but who probably won’t get that opportunity at the moment.
With that in mind, I would like to make a proposal. I just came up with it tonight, so some of the beats still need to be ironed out, but I think it’s pretty cool. I think it would be possible for us to find 15 good writers, give them novice answers to write about, and have them produce 15 novice level packets of 21/21 length games in a relatively short timespan. If we get even more than 15 writers, we could start pairing up people who may be weak in different categories, and suddenly there is less work for everyone. For instance, if somebody wants to work on a team packet instead, I can’t imagine a circumstance where we would refuse.
If we find enough people for this, I would be willing to pick all of the answers (outside of science, which Eric Mukherjee has told me he could pick), and work with a few other people on quality control. I have already discussed this in the IRC and gotten 10 people who are interested in writing, so we already have a decent pool of interest. If we can get more people soon, then it should be very easy for us to start working on this event quickly. I am hoping if it is ready to play by mid-January, we could give this set an extended timeframe for people to host it in their region until around Easter or so.
If you would be interested in writing NO MORE than 1 packet, please email [email protected] to sign up, and as soon as enough people are in, we will start coordinating everything.

[Mike Bentley]

I can write for this.

[Self-incompatibility in plants]

I just want to voice that I really like this idea, and that I truly look forward to another chance to compete in a college novice tournament this year after I missed EFT and ACF Fall. That is of course, if high schoolers are even allowed to compete in this. Regardless though, I hope everything works out, and I wish you all the best of luck!

[Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN)]

I think it would be safe to say high schoolers could play on this set. We will devise some kind of eligibility requirements before a full announcement is made (and perhaps it will be open ended), but expect this to probably not be open to everyone.

[Theory Of The Leisure Flask]

This is a really good idea and I would love to help make it happen.

[Auks Ran Ova]

Hey, I'll try to write a packet for this, contingent on being not being overwhelmed with work by the due date - any idea when, precisely, that'll be?

[ValenciaQBowl]

I'd be happy to write everything but science, so I could do a packet in tandem with someone sciencey. Or I could offer questions in lit, FA, and RMP to a general pool of questions if that's better.

[Jeremy Gibbs Lemma]

I will write a packet for this if you still need volunteers.

[Mike Bentley]

So is this happening?

[Maxwell Sniffingwell]

If given answers, I would like to* write a packet.

*And will. I may have a reputation in this area, but I will definitely do this.

[Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN)]

It will be pushed back slightly, since I will have no more than an hour or so per day of internet to use this week. I have most of the answers picked out though.

[Maxwell Sniffingwell]

by the due date - any idea when, precisely, that'll be?

[Charbroil]

Hey, is this still happening? I'm interested in bidding to host this event for Community Colleges in the Midwest (in the interest of not using an IS set if possible). Since I guess that means I wouldn't be able to play it, I'd also probably be willing to write for this.

[Edward Elric]

I echo Charles. I would love to see another Novice opportunity besides MUT to play.

[Skepticism and Animal Feed]

Isn't there some manner of "ACF Novice" planned for Fall 2010?

[Charbroil]

Isn't there some manner of "ACF Novice" planned for Fall 2010?

I was under the impression that there would be something for this semester, hence my curiosity. An ACF Novice tournament would be cool as well.

[Frauny Von Smiley]

I think it would be nice if there was a tournament for rookies at the beginning of each year. I think it would let teams and players now how they need to develop. With a novice tournament, there's still going to be quite a few people with an entire year under their belt. These tournaments are really more for developing people rather than real, aggressive competition.