Dallas/North Texas Circuit?

[Chandragupta Maurya]

So, there is something that has been troubling me for a while, namely that Dallas doesn't have a real circuit to speak of.
I know Mr. Romero of the TQBA and Mr. Mlakar of St. Mark's are trying to make inroads, and I was wondering if there was anything I could do that may accelerate the growth of a Dallas-area circuit.
Does anyone have any advice on how to go about setting up a circuit?

[Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN)]

Does Cistercian host tournaments? Making good tournaments happen in your circuit is the most powerful thing you can do to spread good quizbowl in a quizbowl deficient area.

[Chandragupta Maurya]

Does Cistercian host tournaments? Making good tournaments happen in your circuit is the most powerful thing you can do to spread good quizbowl in a quizbowl deficient area.

At the moment, because we are so small, Cistercian does not host tournaments. St. Mark's hosts one per year, though.

[Kouign Amann]

Does Cistercian host tournaments? Making good tournaments happen in your circuit is the most powerful thing you can do to spread good quizbowl in a quizbowl deficient area.

At the moment, because we are so small, Cistercian does not host tournaments.

I'd encourage you to try hosting despite this perceived obstacle. Really, just give it your best shot. Small tournaments are better than no tournaments. Our club this year was, at some points, literally just me, Jacob, and our coach. We still hosted two reasonably sized tournaments. Just start trying to make things happen. Get whoever you can on board and go with what you have.

[tuscumbiaqb]

It appears that the Dallas area is in need of any tournaments it can get, so the size of the school shouldn't be a hindrance to hosting, say, a twelve- or eighteen-team tournament. (If the school literally does not have enough rooms to accomplish this or weird policies that make reserving rooms difficult to impossible, I stand corrected.) Our student body is less than half that of Cistercian's per grade level, and we hosted five tournaments last year. If you have six players who can moderate, you're basically good to go.

[Chandragupta Maurya]

If the school literally does not have enough rooms to accomplish this or weird policies that make reserving rooms difficult to impossible, I stand corrected.

I think the problem is that we don't have enough rooms to host a tournament

[Kyle]

Can you co-host a tournament with a nearby school that has more rooms but less playing experience?

[Stained Diviner]

Kyle is right. Also, there is nothing wrong with hosting a tournament with a field cap at 8-12 teams if you can get a small number of rooms. I realize that sometimes even that can be difficult--school buildings are often used for a variety of purposes on Saturdays, and a school can only host a tournament if the administration wants them to.

[etchdulac]

I think the problem is that we don't have enough rooms to host a tournament

TQBA has a tournament scheduled at Parish Episcopal on Sept. 29, and has in the past hosted at ESD and John Paul II, as well as Plano East and Shepton. Cistercian has declined to host across the years in which these five schools have volunteered.

Perhaps Fr. Gregory would like to offer input on why Cistercian does not host tournaments. It certainly would seem that the premier program in the Metroplex should be serving its community in this manner.

[Great Bustard]

For the record, NHBB had a tournament (which I ran and had a great time at) in Plano in Feb 2011. Then we ran up against the Plano school district's draconian policies regarding not letting students participate in tournaments for which they could qualify for a national tournament. Don't ask... In any case, we fully intend to be back in the Dallas area next year, and would love for any interested host school to get in touch with us (email me). The advantage of hosting for NHBB is that you can still play the tournament (and indeed, play for free, and get a discount on our Nationals if you qualify) as we'll send a director. In a related story, I'm strongly considering coming to Texas to volunteer at tournaments in the fall, and work on outreach, so hopefully that will help. Of course, I'm happy to talk to people I meet at schools that don't play qb about getting involved in all-subject tournaments too.