SANDS National Online Mirror (05/06/2023)

[1992 in spaceflight]

Hello Quizbowl,

We’re pleased to announce that we’re likely to be hosting a final, national online mirror for any teams that haven’t been able to play the SANDS set yet. This mirror is scheduled for May 6, 2023. In order to host this tournament, we need to have at least 8 teams play. I (Jacob O'Rourke) will be the TD for this tournament.

In order to be eligible to play this mirror, you need to meet the following eligibility requirements:
-You have not yet played the set at any in-person mirror
-You have not scored 50 ppg or more at any high school tournament
-You have not averaged 2 powers/game or more at any high school tournament
-You have not scored 50 ppg or more on a team that has placed in the top 25 of any year of MSNCT
-You have not played on a team that has reached either playoffs of any year of HSNCT or the top half of any year of PACE

Our fees will be as follows:
-$50 per team
-$15 discount per staffer

I would prefer to be paid as close to before the tournament as possible. (If I am paid by check, I will not cash the check until after the tournament has run. Likewise, I will not transfer any payments from Venmo or PayPal until after the tournament has run)

Rosters are capped at 6 players, and only 4 players may play at one time. We will be using PACE's Online Ruleset (with the addendum of us using Google Meet instead of Zoom), and active players must have at least ONE HAND on camera if they don’t have an exemption from the TD. Players will additionally follow PACE's Honor Code. Any suspicions of cheating will be investigated and may be reported to quizbowl organizations.

Anyone involved with the tournament, including but not limited to: coaches, players, staff, the tournament director, and spectators must adhere to the PACE Code of Conduct. Misconduct can be reported to this form and/or sent to [email protected].

We will likely use Google Meet as the platform for this tournament.

Field
Our initial field cap is 12 teams, but that can expand depending on team and staff recruitment/interest.

To register for the tournament, please fill out this form.

Independent staff that aren’t being claimed for a staff discount will be paid $25 for the full day (any partial days will be paid half of that). To sign up as an independent staffer, please fill out this form.

[1992 in spaceflight]

Field (8/12):
-Guilder [1 team, 1 staffer]
-Ocean Air Elementary [1 team, 0 staffers]
-Team ROT [1 team, 0 staffers]
-Daniel Wright [1 team, 0 staffers]
-Carmel [2 teams, 0 staffers]
-Chaska [1 team, 0 staffers]
-Mesa Verde Middle [1 team, 0 staffers]

[Joshua Li]

Can we combine middle school teams to play in this tournament? Thanks!

[1992 in spaceflight]

Can we combine middle school teams to play in this tournament? Thanks!

I'm going to ask about this with the other editors and see what we want to do. I'll try and have an answer by Friday.

[1992 in spaceflight]

Can we combine middle school teams to play in this tournament? Thanks!

So long as students on these teams are eligible to play, and you email me to let me know about this (at jacob.orourke.7 at gmail.com, please), combined middle school teams are allowed to play this tournament.

[Joshua Li]

Ok, thank you so much!!!

[1992 in spaceflight]

Since we now have 7 teams registered, I'm making an executive decision that we have enough teams that we won't cancel the tournament. Teams should feel free to register, although any expansion beyond 12 teams will be subject to how much staff we have.

[randycoxclemson]

Our team's last possibility for an in-person tournament fell through. I don't really follow all that 50 ppg limit stuff, but can a team that has just formed this semester, played in three tournament, and won only about 3 total games across all those tournaments participate? Do all players need to be in the same room (which could be tricky on a weekend in terms of getting into the school)?

Thanks,
Randy Cox
Berea HS, SC

[Halinaxus]

Our team's last possibility for an in-person tournament fell through. I don't really follow all that 50 ppg limit stuff, but can a team that has just formed this semester, played in three tournament, and won only about 3 total games across all those tournaments participate? Do all players need to be in the same room (which could be tricky on a weekend in terms of getting into the school)?

Thanks,
Randy Cox
Berea HS, SC

If the school in question is this Berea High School, then all of your players appear to satisfy the eligibility requirements.

I'll let Jacob or someone else affiliated with the tournament address the room requirement question, but in my experience with online tournaments players do not need to be in the same room as long as they are all appropriately visible on camera. I played my entire junior year of high school from my basement, separate from any teammates (and, for that matter, my old high school team plans to play this tournament separately as of now).

[1992 in spaceflight]

Our team's last possibility for an in-person tournament fell through. I don't really follow all that 50 ppg limit stuff, but can a team that has just formed this semester, played in three tournament, and won only about 3 total games across all those tournaments participate? Do all players need to be in the same room (which could be tricky on a weekend in terms of getting into the school)?

Thanks,
Randy Cox
Berea HS, SC

If the school in question is this Berea High School, then all of your players appear to satisfy the eligibility requirements.

I'll let Jacob or someone else affiliated with the tournament address the room requirement question, but in my experience with online tournaments players do not need to be in the same room as long as they are all appropriately visible on camera. I played my entire junior year of high school from my basement, separate from any teammates (and, for that matter, my old high school team plans to play this tournament separately as of now).

Reilly is correct, players do not need to be in the same room for the entire tournament to play, so long as each players camera will work.

And based on what you said about your team upthread, Coach Cox, your entire team should be eligible to play.

[1992 in spaceflight]

For anyone else who may still be interested in registering for this tournament, I would just like to remind you to fill out the registration form.

To register for the tournament, please fill out this form.

[1992 in spaceflight]

I'm going to cut off registrations for this tournament at 2:30 PM Central Time, to give myself time to get the schedule out before I'm out of my house for most of the night.

[1992 in spaceflight]

Congratulations to Carmel A, who went undefeated throughout the day to win the SANDS National Online Mirror! Daniel Wright went 5-2 to finish in second place.

Full statistics from today's tournament can be found here. Please let me know if there are any issues.

Special thanks to Mike Laudermith, Sophia Guo, Reece Chae, Andrew Zhu and Keshav Kumar for staffing today's tournament! You all made my job very easy today.