The Quizbowl Resource Center

High School Academic Pyramid Questions announces that it will be holding the fourth HSAPQ National All-Star Academic Tournament on June 15-16, 2013 at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. The tournament will convene at 8:30 AM on Saturday, June 15 and run until about 6 PM, then conclude from 8:30 AM to about 3:00 PM on Sunday. We will announce details as soon as possible regarding the specific buildings on the OSU campus that will be used, though we expect to once again use the Dreese lecture hall and the Central Classroom Building.

As the past three NASATs have been widely praised for their logistic smoothness and high-quality questions, and OSU proved to be an excellent site in 2012, our goal this year is to continue that tradition and break the 20-participant mark.

This tournament will once again be open to all-star teams representing all states, the District of Columbia, all US territories, and all Canadian provinces and equivalents (as well as state or province-equivalent divisions of any other countries). Each state or equivalent may enter up to one team, with up to six players on its roster, up to four of whom may be playing at any one time. Any player who was enrolled in the 9th through 12th grade in a school physically located in that state during the 2012-2013 academic year is eligible to play on his or her state's team. Generally speaking, home school students are also eligible; any questions about eligibility will be answered by HSAPQ as needed. This tournament is intended for states seeking an all-star event. We encourage single-school teams looking for national championships to investigate two such championships run by groups that are unaffiliated with HSAPQ: the National Scholastics Championship run by the Partnership for Academic Competition Excellence and the High School National Championship Tournament run by National Academic Quiz Tournaments.

We will continue to keep cost under control; in line with that, the tournament will not be held at a resort, but rather on a college campus, much like many other high school quizbowl events held throughout the year. Furthermore, we will use a normal format comparable to regular-season events: games will consist of twenty tossups, with a thirty-point bonus being played after each correct tossup answer. Teams will play head-to-head, two at a time. "Performance-based," multimedia, calculation, and pop culture questions will not be used. Teams will play twelve to sixteen games, in line with other national championship events, over the two days of the tournament. Because this event will be played by highly skilled all-star teams, the question difficulty will be higher than that used at existing national championships such as the NSC and HSNCT. The style and subject distribution of the questions will be quite similar to existing HSAPQ sets. The entry fee is $525 per team with a $20 discount for bringing up to one buzzer system per team. HSAPQ will be issuing suggestions on nearby hotels, transportation and dining options, and so on, but will be neither providing nor selling such accommodations ourselves, with the exception of a possible Friday night event. Teams travelling by air are advised that Port Columbus International Airport (CMH) is the major airport serving the metro area.

We can already recommend the Hyatt Place Columbus-OSU (http://columbusosu.place.hyatt.com/hyat ... x.jsp?null) as a hotel.

All teams must submit an application to HSAPQ for entry into the tournament. In the vast majority of these cases, applications will be accepted outright. However, if more than one contingent from a state seeks to enter this tournament, HSAPQ will evaluate applications from each potential team and determine who may represent their state at the National All-Star Academic Tournament. The only criterion that will be used in this decision is our assessment, based on a review of the players' achievements in the 2012-13 competition year, of which team is likely to perform the best at the tournament. Therefore, GPA, test scores, and non-academic extracurricular activities should not be included on any application; other academic extracurricular activities (e.g. Science Bowl) should only be included if there were limited opportunities for teams in the state to compete at quizbowl. HSAPQ plans to continue consulting with a regional network of advisors who will consult with HSAPQ on these decisions.

HSAPQ will once again use a rolling application procedure: teams who submit applications to HSAPQ on or before March 14 will be notified of HSAPQ's decision no later than March 21. We may also approve an application submitted from this point onwards as soon as "immediately" if we find it unlikely that a stronger team from the state could be assembled. Teams who submit applications to HSAPQ between March 14 and June 1, inclusive, will be notified no later than one week after the application is received. In other words, March 14 is not a hard deadline, and you may still enter the tournament afterwards, though you are encouraged to start forming and fundraising as soon as possible so that a logistical problem does not cause an interested team to miss the tournament. Once a team from a state or state-equivalent has been approved by HSAPQ, HSAPQ will no longer accept alternate applications from that state, but will accept roster changes made by the official team contact (in most cases, the individual that submitted the application). Team applications will be handled by Matt Weiner ([email protected]).

We look forward to a diverse field and another excellent event in Columbus this year!

Will there be an announcement for this up on the HSAPQ site?

Bids have begun to come in and be accepted (from Michigan, Illinois, and Missouri). I've contacted about a hundred people all around the U.S. and Canada to try to find out who else is planning to attend this year. As always, I urge those who are interested to get a jump on what has proven important in attending, which is: developing a concrete, realistic plan about transportation and financing that involves people who are unambiguously committed to participating, and doing so sooner rather than later.

Team Illinois will consist of Morgan Venkus (Loyola Academy), Tristan Willey (Macomb), Dylan Minarik (Belvidere North), and Alex Pandaya (Rockford Auburn). Sharon Lorinskas (Carbondale) and I return as co-coaches for 2013. We are looking forward to another great tournament and hope that the field is another excellent one like last year.

These states* will definitely be attending and have filed bids, which have been accepted:

California
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
Kentucky
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
New Jersey
Ohio
Texas
Virginia

These states are making meaningful plans about attending but have not yet made a final commitment to do so:

Guam

Someone from these states responded that they would ask around about the possibility of going, but haven't said anything further:

Alabama
New Hampshire
New York
Vermont
Washington, D.C.
West Virginia

These states have multiple good quizbowl tournaments per year but aren't coming as far as anything that has been communicated to us indicates. HSAPQ hopes they will be able to attend in the future:

Alberta
Arkansas
Arizona
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Hawaii
Louisiana
Maryland
North Carolina
Oklahoma
Ontario
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
Tennessee
Washington

*Please read as "states, provinces, and state-equivalent territories" in all cases.

As you can see, HSAPQ's medium-term goal is to have a team at NASAT from each of the 35 states, territories, and provinces that currently have good quizbowl circuits. Eventually, we would like to see even more participation as good quizbowl continues to grow across North America and beyond.

You should probably get Madden to promote NASAT at the NHBB Friday events.

Guam!

New Jersey is in the process of trying to select a team, but it will probably take several weeks at least to finish the process. In the meantime, can anyone recommend a pristine set of questions that can be used for competitive try-outs in Lit, Science, History and the Arts/Humanities? Since Penn-ance and MUT have recently been posted, these are not options.

This year's MUT?

Edward Powers wrote:MUT [has] recently been posted

It has not.

My mistake---thanks for the correction.

What's the subject distribution for NASAT?

Teams may claim an additional $25 off their entry fee if they mail a valid check to Shawn Pickrell that is postmarked on or before May 31. Teams paying afterwards/at the tournament will need to pay the full fee as indicated above. Get in touch with me if you need the payment address.

Is there a question distribution available?

Northern Central Railway wrote:What's the subject distribution for NASAT?

kibinai wrote:Is there a question distribution available?

The same as each past NASAT--each 20/20 packet has 4/4 each of literature, history, and science; 3/3 arts; 2/2 RMP; 1/1 social science; 1/1 geography; and 1/1 split between current events and academic general knowledge. There is no trash in the tournament. Subdistributions are as usual for HSAPQ.

Matt Weiner wrote:

Northern Central Railway wrote:What's the subject distribution for NASAT?

kibinai wrote:Is there a question distribution available?

The same as each past NASAT--each 20/20 packet has 4/4 each of literature, history, and science; 3/3 arts; 2/2 RMP; 1/1 social science; 1/1 geography; and 1/1 split between current events and academic general knowledge. There is no trash in the tournament. Subdistributions are as usual for HSAPQ.

I was hunting for this information on the website and not finding... perhaps there should be a blurb underneath NASAT on the HSAPQ website for such info?

I'm looking for an update on New York's plans to attend the tournament. Everyone else is quickly settling into their status.

Matt Weiner wrote:I'm looking for an update on New York's plans to attend the tournament. Everyone else is quickly settling into their status.

New York will most definitely have a team, but the roster is still up in the air. We should know before HSNCT.
Edit: team has been submitted

Marianna Zhang wrote:New York will be represented by the following players:
Irit Huq-Kuruvilla (Ithaca)
Wilton Rao (Hunter)
Max Servetas (North Babylon)
Alec Vulfson (Irvington)
Marianna Zhang (Hunter)
Cyrus Zhou (Great Neck South)

What's the updated field? Is Guam coming?

Guam ultimately was not able to come. The final field is:

California
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
Kentucky
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
New Jersey
New York
Ohio
Texas
Virginia

so we will use the same 13-team schedule as last year. A full update went out to registered teams last week.

Matt Weiner wrote:Guam ultimately was not able to come. The final field is:

California
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
Kentucky
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
New Jersey
New York
Ohio
Texas
Virginia

so we will use the same 13-team schedule as last year. A full update went out to registered teams last week.

Will a complete roster be posted prior to the tournament?

Matt Weiner wrote:so we will use the same 13-team schedule as last year. A full update went out to registered teams last week.

Last year there were only two or three rounds on Sunday, right? I'm not sure what time we ended on Saturday, but I remember feeling like those games could have easily been done on Saturday instead of Sunday, and then you could leave Sunday for exhibition games or just for travel.

Well, it could take as much as two rounds in tiebreakers after prelims and as much as two after playoffs, which means a total of 13+2+3+2=20 rounds in one day, which sounds a bit nuts.

Sunday will have the playoffs as well as any finals needed plus the awards luncheon. National History Bee & Bowl is sponsoring lunch for the whole tournament, during which they will give out their National Quizbowl Awards and HSAPQ will award the NASAT trophies. That should make it worth the while.

We also like to tell teams to plan for a tournament ending on Sunday morning because it's hard to tell how big the field will be, and thus what format/how many rounds we will require, until after most teams have already locked in their plans.

It is a pretty cool thing that NHBB is providing a luncheon for NASAT participants.

Matt Weiner wrote:National History Bee & Bowl ... National Quizbowl Awards

I'd like to hear some more details about these. What will the awards be given for and who is doing the selecting? Have there been further suggestions on changing the awards since the last public mention of the awards six months ago, and if so, which will be implemented?

RyuAqua wrote:It is a pretty cool thing that NHBB is providing a luncheon for NASAT participants.

Matt Weiner wrote:National History Bee & Bowl ... National Quizbowl Awards

I'd like to hear some more details about these. What will the awards be given for and who is doing the selecting? Have there been further suggestions on changing the awards since the last public mention of the awards six months ago, and if so, which will be implemented?

I have about 10 hours in an airplane today as I make my way back from Vienna to DC, and will write up a post with details on how this will work somewhere over the Atlantic. One thing we need to be sure of is that the people voting are knowledgeable about the players in questions- there were some issues with that last year. Also, just to clarify "whole tournament" means for everyone at the tournament on Sunday; not whole tournament as in "both Saturday and Sunday."

If people are interested, I've been granted permission from Connor Teevens to run TAMIL, a visual movie set, as a side event at this tournament. Entry fee is $5/player.

NASAT is currently underway.

Livestream Links can be found below:

Room 202: http://ustre.am/LEfJ
Room 209: http://ustre.am/10jmX
Room 206: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasat-2013---room-206-2
Room 204: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasat-2013---room-204
Room 211: http://ustre.am/10jnn
Room 212: http://ustre.am/10jpx

If those links don't work for you, you can follow Team Illinois via an electronic scoresheet here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc ... GV0E#gid=2
You can also follow Team Missouri via electronic scoresheets here (Thanks Jeffrey Hill): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc ... DN6bkZ2aWc

DISCLAIMER: These links have not been working for some people. We are currently trying to work out why.

NASAT Round 7 Stats can be found here: http://www.hsquizbowl.org/db/tournament ... s/prelims/

Apparently the live streams aren't working for a lot of computer users on Firefox and Chrome, but I and a few other people have gotten it to work on Android by downloading the app. Odd.

If Ustream isn't working again on computers by tomorrow, we'll set up on a different service for the playoffs and finals. It is working on both Iphones and Android right now.

Is there a link to the schedule that lists which teams are playing in which rooms?

http://i.imgur.com/PB1CRVl.png

We're about to start round 6, then the lunch break, then round 7 will pick up at 1:45 eastern.

List of Fighting Spirit characters wrote:Is there a link to the schedule that lists which teams are playing in which rooms?

Yes, the schedule can be found https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid= ... 15HcEFFy4w

California won the tiebreaker against Michigan and are now the fourth seed in the top playoff bracket.

Full Prelim stats can be found here: http://www.hsquizbowl.org/db/tournament ... s/prelims/

Final Prelim Placement:

Top Bracket
1. Missouri
2. Texas
3. Ohio
4. California

Second Bracket
5. Michigan
6. Illinois
7. Kentucky

Third Bracket
8. Virginia
9. New York
10. New Jersey

Fourth Bracket
11. Georgia
12. Indiana
13. Minnesota

Tomorrow's playoff format will be a round robin within each of the brackets. After that an ACF-style Final will be played between the top two teams if needed.

I will be broadcasting from my room and the finals. It looks like the computer interface for Ustream is still not working, and no viable alternatives were found. You can listen on a phone. I am also taking recordings that I will post at the first opportunity.

NASAT games will be broadcast live today at the following URLs. Unfortunately, an issue on UStreams side prohibits the viewing of games on laptops. It will be possible to follow each game on your phone though.

Room 202: http://ustre.am/LEfJ
Room 204: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasat-2013---room-204
Room 212: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasat-2013---room-206-2

Today's playoff schedule can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc ... NWEE#gid=0

Playoff stats will be kept here: http://www.hsquizbowl.org/db/tournament ... /playoffs/

Congratulations to Team Missouri for defeating Team Texas in the first game of the final to win the 2013 NASAT!

Combined stats can be found here: http://www.hsquizbowl.org/db/tournament ... /combined/

Since NH wasn't able to attend NASAT, I'm sort of interested in vicariously experiencing the tournament for myself...will audio recordings maybe be posted at some point?

I took a few recordings once it was clear that the streaming services weren't fully working properly. I'll clean them up and post them and let this thread know when they are available.

Could someone change my name in the stats from Nichoals to Nicholas? Thanks.

Euler's Constant wrote:Could someone change my name in the stats from Nichoals to Nicholas? Thanks.

Sure, but give me a day or so. Speaking of fixing stats, if you find any errors please let me know via PM or by emailing me at dgh4bp[at]virginia[dot]edu

Is the set going to be posted soon?

Off To See The Lizard wrote:Is the set going to be posted soon?

http://www.hsapq.com/downloads/tournament41/