NHBB Opening Announcement for 2013-2014 High School Division

[Great Bustard]

The National History Bee and Bowl is pleased to announce the start of its 2013-2014 high school competition season. This will be our fourth year of running both individual and team-based history quiz tournaments across the country (over 100 sites are planned), and we are excited to be preparing for thousands of students and teams to take part. Registration is now open at http://www.historybowl.com/registration for all tournaments that have a definitive date and host site set (these are the tournaments denoted by a green dot on the map). As in past years, no prior registration is required for the National History Bee High School Division Regional and State tournaments, though schools that need an invoice can acquire one by registering at http://www.hs.historybee.com/registration. Registration closes for the Bowl tournaments on the Thursday before each tournament, though teams are encouraged to register early to make it easier for us to coordinate the tournament logistics.

Individual NHBB tournaments do not typically have an announcement posted on the forums, though for some of the larger tournaments, there will be announcements (and subsequent post-tournament feedback discussions) on the individual NHBB forum. That said, NHBB will do its best to communicate news of upcoming tournaments to area teams, and to try as hard to avoid date conflicts with standard quizbowl tournaments.

Some highlights and important points for this year’s tournaments follow, in no particular order:

1. All tournaments at the Regional or State level cost $75 for a team of 3-6 players, $50 for a team of 2 players, and $25 for a solo team. The Bee costs $15 per student, and the US Geography Olympiad (separate announcement pending) costs $10. These prices are the same as last year’s. There is also a $5 discount per functioning buzzer system brought.

2. There is no difference in terms of how tournaments designated “Regionals” and tournaments designated “State Championships” work. It’s simply a naming convention, so we can have designated state champions. State Championships are open to out of state teams; if an out of state team or student wins, then the highest placing in-state team will be the state champion, though the winner will be considered the tournament champion.

3. We are expecting to hold somewhere between 100 and 110 state and regional tournament sites around the USA. The final number will depend on exactly where we find host schools and dates. As in past years, each tournament will have a designated set (A, B, or C), and schools can play each set once. The set for each tournament is posted on its page; we will also soon have a list of each set’s tournaments on the NHBB forum.

4. The question distribution is very broad-based, with questions in each round on the history of the arts, literature, science, religion/mythology/philosophy, recent history, historical geography, and the history of sports and entertainment. The focus is always on the history of these subjects, but this results in a competition that is also of interest to many players, not just history specialists. Please see the link at http://www.historybowl.com/official-rules/ for our Official Distribution file.

5. Teams and students can qualify for our National Championships at any Regional or State tournament. They can do this for the Bowl by posting a .500 record in the prelim matches, or by finishing in the top half of the Bee draw. Our fourth National Championships will be held in Arlington, VA and Washington, DC on April 26-27, 2014. A separate post will be forthcoming with more information on Nationals.

6. We will also be debuting an all-US History Bee later this school year. This will be contested at a separate group of regional competitions; the top students will then qualify for the National Championships, to be held during the day on Friday, April 25, 2014 in Arlington, VA or Washington, DC. Additional information, including the website, will be forthcoming soon. My colleagues Eric Huff and Nick Clusserath are overseeing this effort; please contact them at [email protected] for all inquiries pertaining to the US History Bee.

7. Likewise, Eric and Nick are also overseeing the elementary and middle school divisions of the National History Bee and the National History Bowl. Please see http://www.historybee.com or email them for more information.

8. During the 2013-2014 school year, we are also in the process of greatly expanding our international tournaments, which run under the banner of the International History Bee and Bowl. We anticipate running about 20 overseas tournaments, leading to separate European and Asian Championships. With the spread of our tournaments around the world, we are in the preliminary stages of making plans for the first ever International History Olympiad, to be held in the USA during the summer of 2015.
While plans are in the very early stages of development, we anticipate that US students will be able to qualify for the Olympiad already at our 2014 National Championships. Students who are seniors this year will be allowed to compete even after 1 year of college, if they qualify at this year’s Nationals. The Olympiad will last for about a week, and will encompass both quizbowl and non-buzzer based events. For more information on the Olympiad and our international tournaments, see our new worldwide homepage at http://www.ihbbglobal.com.

9. We have just finished writing a guide for new students and teams who are getting involved with NHBB. This may also be of interest to veterans, though. It can be accessed at: http://www.historybowl.com/info-for-new-schools-teams/ For more information on NHBB, please either see http://www.historybowl.com, http://www.hs.historybee.com, or contact me at [email protected]. Thanks for your interest in NHBB, and we look forward to seeing you at one of our tournaments soon!