Southern Applalachians Collegiate Novice (Greeneville, TN; 9/14/2024)

[TusculumPearson]

We're making a quick announcement and call for registrations for a Southern Appalachians Collegiate Novice, to be run at Tusculum University's Meen Center on September 14, 2024, using NAQT Collegiate Novice questions.

We’re using the NAQT registration system for this tournament, and as such registrations are open and active for teams that have not played the NAQT collegiate novice at other sites, since we are one of the last tournaments using this set in the cycle. Feel free to register now: 

<https://www.naqt.com/go/register/16304>

SET
The tournament is running on the NAQT Collegiate Novice set CNS-231C. It is an adaptation of the high school-focused IS-231 question set. As such, THIS IS A CLOSED COLLEGIATE EVENT and high school players and coaches will not be allowed to participate or spectate, and high school affiliated coaches, parents, or sponsors may not staff.

(Tusculum loves our high school coach staffers. We will miss you.)

ELIGIBILITY
This tournament is taking place early enough in the availability of the question set that we feel compelled to limit participation to players who are genuinely novices in their collegiate quiz bowl participation, and who have not demonstrated complete readiness for the collegiate game.

With thanks to Reilly Melville for helpful conversations, we've chosen to adopt the Purdue standards for novice participation, and ask the following groups of players to apply to Pearson <[email protected]> if they fall under the following restrictions and still wish to participate:

1. You have averaged three powers per game or more at a tournament on regular high school difficulty or harder questions.
2. You have averaged one power per game or more at HSNCT, PACE NSC, or any non-novice collegiate set.
3. You have qualified for or played at ICT or ACF Nationals, except for community college teams that qualified for ICT via CCCT.

If you meet rule 3 but did not contribute a substantial portion of your team's scoring, you are particularly encouraged to apply for an exemption.

FEES AND DISCOUNTS
The base fee for this tournament is $60 per team. We won’t offer discounts for multiple teams registering; every team from a school will pay $60 base.

We do ask schools bringing multiple teams to supply staffers. We will provide a discount of $10 per staffer, with a maximum of two discounts per team (not per school). We will also supply discounts for buzzers provided, at $5 per buzzer, maximum of two discounts per team. 

This makes the minimum fee per team $30. We will also support discounts for colleges that have not participated in a tossup-bonus quizbowl tournament in the past 5 years. Please contact Pearson <[email protected]> if this applies to your school.

We collect information from staffers. Please don't just show up to staff on the day; please contact Pearson <[email protected]> if you're able to staff, and we'll get what we need from you to firm up your commitment.

PRIZES
No trophies! There will be book prizes provided for top individuals and top teams.

CONTACT
The tournament director of Tusculum Earlybird is Chuck Pearson; all questions about tournament structure, fees, staffing, local amenities, and the like can be directed to <[email protected]>.

YEAH, THIS IS QUICK
We already know there is interest from regional colleges looking to find an onramp to active participation in the circuit. There will be a home team in the field. We have chosen this date in cooperation with Tusculum University's fall football schedule (sorry) and with the University of Tennessee quizbowl team, who we thank for their commitment of staffers to make the event function.

REGISTER NOW
<https://www.naqt.com/go/register/16304>

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.

Come join us on September 14.