Tusculum Earlybird in Greeneville, TN (9-24-2022)

[TusculumPearson]

This is the formal announcement and invitation of teams to the (still first-ever) Tusculum Earlybird, a high school novice-level quizbowl tournament to be held at the Meen Center at Tusculum University on September 24, 2022.

This event is made possible through the support of Tusculum University Admissions and the College of Science, Technology and Mathematics at Tusculum, and through that support we’re able to make free registration and lunch available to one team per school who attends.

Further information below, or move ahead with registration:
<https://forms.gle/vpSdJRgcrSW3vpaJ6>

SET
We are still finalizing discussions over the set usage for this tournament. Our target is to make the tournament friendly for both returning experienced teams and novice, first-time and JV teams. We’ve targeted our set with this in mind. We will update when the finalize the set selection.

FEE (OR LACK THEREOF)
Because of the support of Admissions and the College of STeM, every school attending this tournament may register one team free of charge. If that school intends to register additional teams, the fee will be $80 for each team.

All tournament participants (four players and one coach per team) will also receive a picnic box lunch on-campus (we’ll clarify contents at a later date; options for vegetarian participants will be available).

STAFF DISCOUNTS
Because of the nature of the fee structure for this tournament, there is no expectation that schools bringing a single team to this tournament will supply staff to support the running of the tournament. (We are happy to have support staff from schools bringing only one team, but we have no discounts that we can offer on zero fee.)

If a school does bring a second team or beyond, that school will be expected to provide support of one sort or another. We will provide a discount of $10 on the fee for each experienced staffer a school provides to the tournament (max $20 discount for staffers per team).

We will also consider discounts for buzzer systems as well.

The minimum fee for each additional team beyond the first from a given school registered is $60 if discounts are maximized.

We ask for staffers to register to participate, and we have a dedicated staffer registration form <https://forms.gle/Mue4x2F7RXvG3t429>.

PRIZES
No trophies! There will be book prizes for top scorers (overall and JV), for the top two teams overall, and for the top two JV teams.

COVID-19
There are no current campus guidelines against COVID-19 spread at Tusculum at this time, as the virus moves into a new phase. It is still necessary (in the tournament director’s view) to report the realities of the virus.

At last report from the state of Tennessee (dated July 23), Greene County has registered 384 weekly cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 residents and has a testing positivity rate of 27.8%. The CDC reports 8.6 new COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000, which sets Greene County at a MEDIUM “community level” for virus spread. This is in line with levels of virus spread throughout East Tennessee.

At this time it is likely that we will ask ALL participants (staff, players, coaches, and spectators) in this tournament to mask for the duration of the tournament while they are indoors, and to conduct themselves in a fashion that prevents airborne spread of the virus. We are going to base our instructions set on tournaments that were successful in Southwest Virginia last season (most especially the Eastern Montgomery Invitational last January, during the initial Omicron peak) and keep in mind the breadth of regions that this tournament might draw from.

Although we do expect to run the tournament at this time, we did schedule last year’s attempts at this tournament at the respective peaks of the Delta and Omicron waves, and we canceled both. I must be complete and note that we will not guarantee that we will not cancel the tournament owing to virus progress, and we have not put provisions in place to run the tournament online.

CONTACT
The tournament director of Tusculum Earlybird is Chuck Pearson; questions about the structure of the tournament or about staffing realities can be directed to <[email protected]>.

This tournament receives active support from Tusculum University Admissions; questions about directions to campus, food, or being on the Tusculum campus on the day of the competition can be directed to Laura Battel <[email protected]>.

REGISTER NOW
<https://forms.gle/vpSdJRgcrSW3vpaJ6>

DISCLAIMERS
Some information is subject to change; if changes occur, they will be communicated to registered coaches directly.

And, as always, in the words of the genial quizmaster, all decisions of the tournament director are arbitrary, capricious, and final.

We look forward to opening a fresh, complete quizbowl season in Greeneville on September 24. Come join us.

[TusculumPearson]

And of course, as these things go, I get the email confirming our use of the set as soon as I post this!

We're thrilled to be a mirror site for KICKOFF and KICKOFF Novice, giving our upper division and novice/JV division appropriate challenge on parallel sets. Thanks to Owen Riley for his support of our tournament!

[TusculumPearson]

Final field update, with divisions.

Experienced (playing KICKOFF, single round robin)
Central (Wise County, VA)
Cookeville A (TN)
Dorman (SC)
Gate City A (VA)
Jefferson County A (TN)
Jefferson County B
Richlands A (VA)
Southside A (Greenville, SC)

Novice (playing KICKOFF Novice, two groups of five plus crossover)
Gate City B
Lebanon (VA)
Midway Green (Roane County, TN)
Southside B
University School (Johnson City, TN)

Cookeville B
Gallatin (TN)
Midway White
Richlands B
Unicoi County (TN)

The reader pool is largely set. We still won't turn down late help. Visit https://forms.gle/Y5sZJyPquN2Ah8Bf6.

[TusculumPearson]

The field for Tusculum Earlybird is provisionally CLOSED.

There are a couple of interest groups that have contacted me, and I'm going to let their status resolve before I make any further decisions.

Again: I remain a measure low on established reading staff, and schools that are bringing two teams have not committed staffers to the pool. I am willing to expand the field, but it's going to take a surge of staff to equal the surge in teams. Please register at https://forms.gle/Y5sZJyPquN2Ah8Bf6 if you can help staff.

[TusculumPearson]

Bump for Wednesday-of-tournament-week field update.

Still getting a couple of team situations and staff situations resolving, and I've issued a deadline of Thursday night at 500 PM for those situations to finalize so I can release the schedule. If your team isn't recognized in the field update, please complete your registration.

I have n-2 to n+2 teams on the schedule, but based on verbal commitments, right now I'm planning on an 18-team event - 8 teams playing KICKOFF and 10 teams playing KICKOFF Novice.

Looking forward to seeing all the teams on Saturday.

[TusculumPearson]

Honors and gratitude from the inaugural Tusculum Earlybird, contested today at Tusculum University:



Congratulations to Richlands (VA) A (Joey Simmons, Gavin Littrell, Owen Bales, Jadyn Daniels) for clearing the field at 7-0 and winning the upper division of Earlybird. Southside (SC) A finished second on 6-1, and Cookeville (TN) A finished third on 5-2.



Top scorers in the upper division were (in order) Sam Albury of Southside A, Joey Simmons of Richlands A, Connor Ketron of Gate City (VA) A, Harry Rudd of Cookeville A, Reese Lawson of Dorman (SC), Malachi Ledford of Central (Wise County, VA), Caleb Slusher of Dorman, and Sarah Grace Williams of Southside A.



Congratulations to the JV team from Gallatin (TN; Gareth Turner, Marley McDaniel, Bryce Calhoun, Andrew Wright) for their unbeaten run to win the novice division of Earlybird. Cookeville B finished 2nd with a 2-1 record in the playoff flight, and Midway Green (from Roane County, TN) finished 3rd at 1-2. Special commendation to Unicoi County (TN), who swept their matches in the consolation flight.

Top scorers in the novice division were (in order) Logan Carroll of Midway Green, Daniel S. of Cookeville B, Maggie Grizzle of Gate City B, Gareth Turner of Gallatin, Andrew Wright of Gallatin, Emily Vandyke of Richlands B, Marley McDaniel of Gallatin, and Ellen Sautters of Lebanon (VA). 



The tournament was supported in its costs by Tusculum Admissions (thanks to Dr. Jake Fait and Laura Battel for their leadership, and to Steven Schultz for representing Admissions in the morning) and Tusculum’s College of Science, Technology and Mathematics (thanks to Dr. Heather Henson Ramsey for her unfailing support). Thanks also to Dean Zoch of Chartwells for arranging the catering of food and hospitality.

Compliments on the tournament staff were absolutely plentiful. The event received staffing support on two levels. First, the stalwarts among readers and scorekeepers of the region - Carey Wilson, Chandler Bowman, Peyton Dehaven, Liah Strouth, and Dylan Cox all pulled spectacular work. Special thanks to Ian Ostrander of Tusculum Upward Bound for contributing to his first tossup-bonus tournament. Second, the coaches of teams who pitched in and contributed to keep the tournament at pace. Brian Corbett of Southside, Cyrenna Moreno of Dorman, Sam Matson of Cookeville, Chris Hale of Richlands, Raye Pedigo of Jefferson County (TN), Meg Robinson of University School (Johnson City, TN), and Sarah Whisenhunt and Mary Alice McClellan of Gate City were absolutely invaluable to our efforts. And, of course, Dren Rollins of Midway and of East Tennessee Quizbowl is ever-present and ever-enthusiastic in support of our game in this region.



After two years of planning, and in the wake of pandemic, we are most of all grateful to the players of the game who renewed us with their enthusiasm. We’re hopeful for a great season in South Carolina, in Virginia, and in Tennessee, and we hope to see so many anew soon.