New England Discussion and Date Claims 2011-12

[Great Bustard]

New England needs a boost in the world of quiz bowl! NHBB may actually hold tournaments in all six states this year; New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island seem all but certain, and Vermont and Maine are more likely than not to happen. It seems that Vermont has been the most active state in recent years; let's hope all states in New England start seeing more tournaments, and more teams who go to national tournaments and do well there. From an NHBB perspective, watch out for North Quincy (MA) led by junior Tim Bill - though I'm sure there are all sorts of great teams out there just waiting to rise to the occasion. Email me to add to this list, and post in this thread to discuss the rise of New England quiz bowl!

Date Claims for New England Tournaments - Updated on Dec. 8


1/21 - NH - New Hampshire Bee and Bowl, Hanover High School, Hanover (NHBB Set C)

1/28 - MA - Massachusetts History Bee and Bowl, Everett High School, Everett (NHBB Set B)

2/11 - CT - Connecticut History Bee and Bowl, Yale University, New Haven (NHBB Set C)

2/25 - MA - MITBAT, MIT, Cambridge (NAQT Set IS - 111)

3/17 - VT - Vermont History Bee and Bowl, Burlington High School, Burlington, VT (NHBB Set B)

3/24 - CT - Bulldog High School Academic Tournament, Yale Universtiy, New Haven, CT (Housewrite)

4/7 - CT - Connecticut Invitational III, Univ. of Connecticut, Storrs, CT (HSAPQ Tourn-22)

4/27-28 - National History Bee and Bowl National Championships (Washington, DC)

5/25-27 - NAQT High School National Championship Tournament (Hyatt Regency, Atlanta, GA)

6/9-10 - PACE National Scholastics Championship (Washington Univ., St. Louis, MO)

6/16-17 - NASAT - State all-star tournament (Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH)

[Adventure Temple Trail]

You forget HFT.

BHSAT will be sometime in the spring semester, as usual - more information when it's available.

[Tower Monarch]

It also looks like Hanover High will be hosting Fall Novice on either Nov 12 or 19.

[Adventure Temple Trail]

This is a reminder that we at Yale will be hosting FAcT on October 22, and strongly encourage teams across New England to come to it, even if it's their first time at a Yale tournament. We're very eager to welcome teams from Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire who want a good kick-start to their year before HFT, local events, etc.

I also can't help but notice that December and February are entirely empty in terms of high school tournaments hosted in the region, particularly the CT/RI/MA area. Are there schools out there that are interested in getting new high school tournaments off the ground during that time? If so, I'd like to see what I can do to help - while the vagaries of school and college playing mean I might not always be available to staff, I'd be glad to offer logistical advice and that sort of thing if asked. I definitely sense a great opportunity to expand the number of competitive opportunities for schools up here, especially given that adding two or three more tournaments could literally double the amount of events a local team gets to attend.

[Great Bustard]

NHBB is looking to hold tournaments in all 6 New England states this year. It is very likely that quite a few of those will be in February. We have hosts lined up in RI, MA, and NH, have an interested school in CT, some leads in VT, and well, then there's Maine. But we'll make it work. We're happy to promote any and all tournaments at our events. Also, VT is likely to have its Scholars Bowl championships in February too.

[kcommo]

The Vermont Scholars' Bowl functions a lot like a season-long league. We run seven regional tournaments between October and early December and then hold playoffs starting in midwinter and ending on the first Saturday in April.

I direct the Sue Pasco and Pre-Holiday tournaments on behalf of the league, and while the former is a largely an informal event, we would love to have any school from around the region make the trip up for PHAT.

We also hope to run an NAQT state tournament again this year, probably in February at Spaulding High School in Barre.

Elsewhere, it's looking like Lyndon State College is going to hold a Fall Novice mirror again this year on Nov. 12.

[biggiebird89]

Elsewhere, it's looking like Lyndon State College is going to hold a Fall Novice mirror again this year on Nov. 12.

See my thread concerning "2nd Annual L.S.C. 'Quest for the Nest' Tournament (11/12/11)" for more information on our tournament. This event is taking the place of Hanover (NH)'s tournament.

[Adventure Temple Trail]

Yale will be home to the Connecticut state History Bowl on February 11th, using the C-set, and to BHSAT on March 24th. Come one, come all!

[rpirrie]

Hello--floating an idea here--2 years back we set up the CT Invitational I through Southington High School. A splendid time was had by all. Last year we set up CT INV II, but I think we set it up too late, so very few schools signed up and we had to cancel.
SO, if we set up CT INV III for late February/early March in conjunction with IQConn (it would therefore be held on the beautiful UConn campus), how many folks would be interested in that? I would promote it as a New England thing, not exclusively a CT thing. Please chime in with your thoughts. Thanks.

[Adventure Temple Trail]

Hello--floating an idea here--2 years back we set up the CT Invitational I through Southington High School. A splendid time was had by all. Last year we set up CT INV II, but I think we set it up too late, so very few schools signed up and we had to cancel.
SO, if we set up CT INV III for late February/early March in conjunction with IQConn (it would therefore be held on the beautiful UConn campus), how many folks would be interested in that? I would promote it as a New England thing, not exclusively a CT thing. Please chime in with your thoughts. Thanks.

I would do anything in my power to help this fantastic competition opportunity happen again. As of now, it looks like February 18th is the date of the college tournament ACF Regionals (precluding the possibility of colleges hosting or available college students staffing) and March 3rd is Prison Bowl at Hunter College HS (a fine tournament within driving range of many Northeast schools, which I'd encourage E.O. Smith among others to attend). It seems like your ideal date is February 25th; failing that, the 18th wouldn't be a disaster either, though I'd be unable to make any physical commitments that day.

As another point, I'm unsure how many teams the CT Invitational had registered when it was cancelled last year, but I'd encourage the event to go forward even if it has as few as six teams this year. Six teams can play a full double round-robin of ten games and be fairly ranked while having a great time, and tournaments have even existed with five or four teams in the past, managing to break even and get competitive teams more inspired to play even if they didn't make money. (Of course, that's suboptimal and I'd put in some outreach work to get the number much higher.)

Coach Pirrie / IQConn members: what are your thoughts on being the first New England tournament ever to use questions from HSAPQ? They're a pretty great question vendor which provides a style of question that the area should take to very fondly.

[jdauphinais]

Bob-

Thomaston would be interested again in the CT Inviational III this year. Hope that helps to get the ball rolling. I know we tried to do it last year, but didn't have enough schools involved. Let me know if I can help.

-Jeff Dauphinais

[rpirrie]

Hello--don't want to show our hand yet, as other people are involved, but a decision on a date is imminent. Thanks for the interest.

Bob Pirrie

[rpirrie]

Hi folks--just posted CT INV III on the Regular Season Tournament Announcements--hope we can use it to promote New England Quiz Bowl. Cheers.

[deserto]

The Hanover High School quiz bowl club is trying to organize an easy-regular difficulty tournament for Vermont and New Hampshire teams, and anyone else who would like to come, to be held sometime in the next few months. At this point, the most likely date for the tournament is February 18th. We are currently deciding on an appropriate set to use and are leaning toward the novice one written by members of the U. Minnesota team. I will post a full announcement in the Regular Season Tournament Announcements forum as soon as we settle on a date and a set.

[deserto]

In case any interested New England teams missed it in the tournament announcements forum, viewtopic.php?f=1&t=12630.

[Kyle]

Apparently, not all tournaments in Massachusetts are competently run. The idea that there is quizbowl of any variety in Watertown is news to me, but perhaps somebody ought to try to get these schools more involved?

http://www.wickedlocal.com/watertown/ne ... z1lR1PQUbD

[Important Bird Area]

Adding two more date claims: NAQT's New Hampshire championship will be at Hanover on April 14th, and the Massachusetts championship at Harvard on April 28th. Both events will use IS #114A.

I am also tentatively planning a small event for Boston-area teams to be held at MIT on Sunday, March 18th. Please email me to register.

Edit: MIT has confirmed rooms, so there is now a formal announcement for March 18th. We'll be using NAQT IS #110A.

[jessbowen]

I'm in Marlborough, MA and am just getting a Quiz Bowl team at my school off the ground. Last year, we just did on-line stuff (KMO, Chip Beal's) and tried out for the PBS show (didn't make it.). This year, we participated in tournaments at MIT and the CT Invitational. The kids were new to the pyramid style (so was I) but they loved the adrenaline rush of competing head to head and I think I have them hooked.

I'd love to learn more about events in MA and New England and do what I can to help the Quiz Bowl community.

Jess Bowen

[rpirrie]

CT teams--
Check out the CT state championship on May 12th. See the regular announcements for details. I will be checking with my folks to see if they can go.

[Adventure Temple Trail]

Congratulations to E.O. Smith High School for making the playoffs at the 2012 High School National Championship Tournament, the first time a Connecticut team has done it (ever? at least in a long time). Congratulations also to Hanover from New Hampshire for their 33rd place finish, holding eventual champions Bellarmine to within 50 points in their match!