EMIT 1 (1/15/22)

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Hello all. I'm Bob Powers, the coach of the Eastern Montgomery High School scholastic bowl team. I am happy to announce our inaugural Eastern Montgomery Invitational Tournament (EMIT) will take place in-person at Eastern Montgomery High School in scenic southwest Virginia. We've scheduled our tournament for January 15, 2022.

LOCATION: Eastern Montgomery High School, 4695 Crosier Road, Elliston, VA, 24087

AFFILIATION: The top 15% of the field will qualify for NAQT's HSNCT at the end of the season. We are seeking PACE affiliation at this time.

QUESTIONS: We have reserved IS-209A for this tournament.

FORMAT: Right now, we are planning to offer 10 rounds of competition. Our field cap is 18 teams but we reserve the right to expand the field should we find enough moderators. The format of a round will be the standard 20/20. We will award trophies to the top ten teams and some sort of prize for our top ten individuals after preliminary play.

REGISTRATION AND FEES:
BASE FEE: $70 per team. There is no limit to the number of teams who can attend from one school.
STAFF DISCOUNT: $10 per qualified staffer. Details about what will be required of staffers will be passed along to those we need to help with the tournament.
BUZZER DISCOUNT: $5 per working buzzer system. Please make sure your system is in complete working condition for two teams of four individuals before attending our tournament.
TRAVEL DISCOUNT: $15 off for any team that had to travel in excess of 150 miles determined by Google Maps using the schools as endpoints.
FIRST TIMERS DISCOUNT: For any team that has not participated in any invitational (outside of VHSL competition), their FIRST team will receive a 50% discount off the base fee (i.e., $35). However, any additional team they bring will need to pay $70 per team.
Minimum entry fee per school: $30

TEAM & ROSTER SIZE: There may be a maximum of six players on one team's roster, up to four of whom may play at one time. If you bring more than six players, you should register a second team to have all of them play. There is a halftime substitution opportunity in each game. Each player may appear on only one team's roster throughout the day-no switching from the B team to the A team, etc. Teams may also play shorthanded with only three or less players. We also ask that there is an adult on the premises that is responsible for the team.

FOOD: Usually it's customary for us hosting to provide a complimentary breakfast to our contestants but due to COVID regulations, we cannot this year. As for lunch, since we are in a fairly remote location, we will be taking lunch orders from teams before the tournament starts to have it ready for the teams by lunch time. We are looking into some options right now but think boxes of pizzas with drinks.

COVID REGULATIONS: In alignment with current practices in our school system, all participants (players, coaches, parents, observers, staff) will be required to wear a mask covering nose and mouth when indoors and not actively eating, regardless of vaccination status. Buzzer systems will be wiped down between rounds by our staffers. We encourage teams to limit close contact with other schools during the course of the competition. Additionally, we rely on players and coaches to self monitor and not attend EMIT this year if they are displaying symptoms of COVID.

If you have any questions or wish to register, feel free to contact Bob Powers at [email protected]. We look forward to seeing you all here!

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FIELD: (15 teams/8 buzzers/5 staffers)
Gate City (3/2/2)
Eastern Montgomery (1/2/0)
Blacksburg (3/2/2)
Rockbridge County (2/0/0)
Cave Spring (2/0/0)
Richlands (2/1/1)
JR Tucker (2/1/0)

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Congratulations to Cave Spring A for finishing 1st in the inaugural Eastern Montgomery Invitational Tournament. Kudos also go to Rockbridge County A for placing 2nd, and Blacksburg A for 3rd place. Very exciting final rounds to watch as after two rounds, all the teams were tied and basically playing for any place between 1st and 4th in the last round. I don't think I've ever quite seen a situation like that happen before. Nonetheless, it made for a very chaotic but suspenseful end to the day.

I also want to thank the many, MANY people who came to help staff a small tournament out in the middle of nowhere like Eric Chang for driving down from Northern Virginia to help. Michael Hundley who always lends his wise perspective. Ken and McKennon Flint who are the finest moderators one could have. Bennett Snyder, who was quite the trooper and helped us out on both sides of the room. And many thanks to the Virginia Tech Academic Competition Organization who came to help out.

For the rest of you, all the stats for the tournament can be found here: https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/7285/. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to send them to me. Thanks again and best of luck with your seasons!