Starting a brand new QB team

New high school teams looking for advice should post here.
Post Reply
User avatar
quizbowl_cvhs
Kimahri
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Mar 23, 2013 4:22 pm

Starting a brand new QB team

Post by quizbowl_cvhs »

Hey folks!

I'm looking to create a brand new QB team, and I have absolutely no idea where to start, what to do, or where my priorities should be.

I already have several students interested, but I don't know what do with them. Help! :shock:

Thanks for your assistance in advance!
John V. Wood
Academic Competition Coach
NCASA member

Cleveland High School
Clayton, NC


"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge, but imagination." --Albert Einstein
User avatar
AKKOLADE
Sin
Posts: 15783
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2003 8:08 am

Re: Starting a brand new QB team

Post by AKKOLADE »

Hey John,

I'd advise, in general, the best thing to do is to go to as many tournaments using good questions as possible. You should also keep your expectations realistic - the number of teams that immediately start out as very good is very, very low. Keeping a positive attitude is key through this; prioritize having fun and learning over immediate wins. You can also draw more players if you're an active team that actually plays tournaments, rather than just shows up for states.

I'd also advise you get your players to start going through old questions, determining who's good at what, and so forth. No matter how good at history your four players are, science and literature are still going to come up.
Fred Morlan
University of Kentucky CoP, 2017
International Quiz Bowl Tournaments, CEO, co-owner
former PACE member, president, etc.
former hsqbrank manager, former NAQT writer & subject editor, former hsqb Administrator/Chief Administrator
User avatar
vinteuil
Auron
Posts: 1454
Joined: Sun Oct 23, 2011 12:31 pm

Re: Starting a brand new QB team

Post by vinteuil »

Unfortunately, the only tournament left in NC this year is the NCATA tournament (I think), but there are always plenty of tournaments on good questions, many in Raleigh. I definitely encourage you to check out viewtopic.php?f=50&t=13137 and next year's equivalent.
Jacob R., ex-Chicago
mithokie
Rikku
Posts: 345
Joined: Mon Apr 17, 2006 2:39 pm
Location: Blacksburg, VA

Re: Starting a brand new QB team

Post by mithokie »

There are a couple of tournaments that are upcoming in the Richmond, VA area if you are willing to travel about 2 1/2 hours. VCU is hosting on 4/20 and Maggie Walker is hosting in May.
Matt Beeken
Eastern Montgomery High School
Math Instructional Coach
Scholastic Bowl Coach (2022 - ??)
mbeeken AT mcps DOT org
User avatar
The Goffman Prophecies
Quizbowl Detective Extraordinaire
Posts: 1611
Joined: Wed Mar 03, 2004 10:25 pm
Location: Wichita, KS

Re: Starting a brand new QB team

Post by The Goffman Prophecies »

Make sure to check out the HSQB tournament DB on a regular basis as tournaments are added: http://hsquizbowl.org/db/
There is a distance-based search function you can use and bookmark.

Here's the links for the relevant tournaments mentioned in this thread:

NCATA Tournament (4/20; Greensboro): http://www.hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/1424/
VCU Season Finale (Also 4/20; Richmond, VA): http://www.hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/1335/
Maggie Walker Spring Tournament (5/18; Richmond, VA): http://www.hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/1404/

And if you're up to making the trip, we'd love to have you in Blacksburg for our tournament on 4/13: http://www.hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/1209/
Dan Goff
HSQB sysadmin

Virginia Tech '13
South Carolina '15
and a couple other places
Not Thomas Dale HS

STAAATS
User avatar
ryanrosenberg
Auron
Posts: 1890
Joined: Thu May 05, 2011 5:48 pm
Location: Palo Alto, California

Re: Starting a brand new QB team

Post by ryanrosenberg »

Hi John,

I'm a member of the quiz bowl team at UNC-Chapel Hill, and we'd love to have Cleveland at our high school tournaments. Unfortunately, we just hosted our last tournament of the year on Saturday, but we'll be hosting our fall tournament, Tar Heel Cup, early next school year. Feel free to ask me any questions you might have, or email our club at [email protected].
Ryan Rosenberg
North Carolina '16
ACF
fett0001
Tidus
Posts: 707
Joined: Wed Feb 27, 2008 11:50 am

Re: Starting a brand new QB team

Post by fett0001 »

The Motley Eye wrote:
And if you're up to making the trip, we'd love to have you in Blacksburg for our tournament on 4/13: http://www.hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/1209/
If you are making said trip, as a new team from such a distance, we will give you a very substantial discount on entry fees.
Mike Hundley
PACE Member
Virginia Tech
User avatar
quizbowl_cvhs
Kimahri
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Mar 23, 2013 4:22 pm

Re: Starting a brand new QB team

Post by quizbowl_cvhs »

Thanks to everyone for replying!

I'm not even thinking about tournaments this year, being as I'm the softball coach and already have a busy spring.

I am, however, trying to build up my question resources (in binders) and make as many tournament contacts as I can for 2013-14.

I do have a question I hope you guys can answer. What type of buzzer system would you suggest I invest in? My county is willing to buy it for me, but I don't know which one you guys would suggest.

Thanks again for your help! This Quiz Bowl n00b appreciates it!

I look forward to see you guys in tournaments in the fall!
John V. Wood
Academic Competition Coach
NCASA member

Cleveland High School
Clayton, NC


"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge, but imagination." --Albert Einstein
User avatar
Important Bird Area
Forums Staff: Administrator
Posts: 6113
Joined: Thu Aug 28, 2003 3:33 pm
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Contact:

Re: Starting a brand new QB team

Post by Important Bird Area »

quizbowl_cvhs wrote: I am, however, trying to build up my question resources (in binders)
If you haven't already, please take a look at our packet archive.
Jeff Hoppes
President, Northern California Quiz Bowl Alliance
former HSQB Chief Admin (2012-13)
VP for Communication and history subject editor, NAQT
Editor emeritus, ACF

"I wish to make some kind of joke about Jeff's love of birds, but I always fear he'll turn them on me Hitchcock-style." -Fred
User avatar
vinteuil
Auron
Posts: 1454
Joined: Sun Oct 23, 2011 12:31 pm

Re: Starting a brand new QB team

Post by vinteuil »

quizbowl_cvhs wrote:I do have a question I hope you guys can answer. What type of buzzer system would you suggest I invest in? My county is willing to buy it for me, but I don't know which one you guys would suggest.
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=13349 is probably a lot to read, but has a good discussion.

Our team has been very happy with products from http://www.andersonbuzzersystems.com/
Jacob R., ex-Chicago
mithokie
Rikku
Posts: 345
Joined: Mon Apr 17, 2006 2:39 pm
Location: Blacksburg, VA

Re: Starting a brand new QB team

Post by mithokie »

http://www.hsapq.com/samples is another good resource for practice questions. Best of luck with everything.
Matt Beeken
Eastern Montgomery High School
Math Instructional Coach
Scholastic Bowl Coach (2022 - ??)
mbeeken AT mcps DOT org
fett0001
Tidus
Posts: 707
Joined: Wed Feb 27, 2008 11:50 am

Re: Starting a brand new QB team

Post by fett0001 »

perlnerd666 wrote:
quizbowl_cvhs wrote:I do have a question I hope you guys can answer. What type of buzzer system would you suggest I invest in? My county is willing to buy it for me, but I don't know which one you guys would suggest.
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=13349 is probably a lot to read, but has a good discussion.

Our team has been very happy with products from http://www.andersonbuzzersystems.com/

I'd second the Anderson's. Make sure you get a system that can handle at least 2 teams of 4. I personally prefer the hub design, from a maintenance standpoint, but I do understand the daisy-chain's easy setup appeal.
Mike Hundley
PACE Member
Virginia Tech
Rahulr
Lulu
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Nov 30, 2012 10:08 pm
Location: Belmont, MA

Re: Starting a brand new QB team

Post by Rahulr »

Hey,

I started a QB team at my high school back in December. I actually started it as a student, so not only am I the club president but I'm also the de facto coach and run all operations.

Of course, the very first thing you do is to make an official club for the school. At my school there's a specific process to go through to get a club approved, and that may or may not be the case with yours. Granted, you'll only have to take care of that at the beginning of next year.

Contacts: NAQT is willing to supply a list of established teams in your area. Also, if you know of any schools with QB teams in the area, shooting them an email to ask for a contact list is usually pretty effective.

Tournaments: All NAQT-related tournaments are posted here (http://www.naqt.com/schedule.jsp?hs=yes). Seeing as you're in North Carolina, this thread will be of good use (viewtopic.php?f=50&t=13137). Of course, these will be available in the next academic year when you're ready to attend tournaments.

Question Sets: As previous posters have already pointed out, the packet archives and the sample question page on the HSAPQ website are extremely useful. If you're willing to spend some money, NAQT's past questions depict a reasonable difficulty level for what can be expected at their tournaments.

Funding: Like the vast majority of school activities, quizbowl does have costs involved. In my experience, the club didn't spend anymore than $250 this year, which compared to other activities isn't too much. If you have a well-funded PTO or if the county can help cover funds then that will work. Otherwise hosting some fundraisers will do fine. Also, tournament hosts are usually willing to provide discounts for your team if you tell them that you're brand new.

I remember that I started out with an informational meeting for anyone who was interested, and that cleared up any misconceptions about what quizbowl was. After that, we played quizbowl matches every meeting with the lockout system, which is the best way to get match/tournament experience (aside from attending actual tournaments, of course). Sometimes we'd also spice it up by playing Jeopardy! or having an in-club solo competition.

Wow, sorry about writing such a long post. If you have any further questions, don't hesitate to contact me. I can also provide the informational meeting content if desired.
Rahul Ramakrishnan
President, BHS Quizbowl
Belmont High School '16
Belmont, MA
Post Reply