Small Circuits, High Schools Teams, and ACF Fall
Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2018 12:52 am
[EDIT: Although I reference SCT, my main argument applies only to ACF Fall and independent housewrites. This may not have been clear in the original post.]
Last season, the CU Boulder team hosted both Fall and SCT. Both tournaments came uncomfortably close to getting canceled, and both eventually ran as 4-team round robins (which, as anyone who's played one knows, tend to be extremely monotonous). Some may recall this thread, in which it was revealed that the the Colorado site of SCT did not have enough teams to act as a qualifier.
In both of these cases, we could have added 2-3 more teams to the field if we had brought in local high schoolers. There are several Colorado high schools while not currently national powerhouses, would welcome a chance to play something more challenging. Unfortunately for everyone, neither ACF nor NAQT permits high schools to play in their events.
This is my (perhaps immodest) proposal: allow some ACF Fall sites, upon approval by ACF, to open the field up to high school teams At the very least, local high schools should be able to sign up standby teams in the case of a last minute cancellation.
Here's my justification (Many of these are Mountain-west-specific, but can be generalized to any sparse circuit):
-- It's more fun to play against another couple teams, regardless of their skill, than to play the same 3 teams over and over in a multiple round robin.
-- Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that the main justification for ACF's policy is to prevent top-tier high school teams from thrashing new college players. The makes sense for circuits like Illinois and Texas, but Colorado is neither Illinois nor Texas, and the circuits probably won't be comparable for a great while.
-- I understand that, since both SCT and Regionals are qualifiers for collegiate nationals it makes sense to exclude non-college teams (though I would welcome a rules change permitting high schools to play D2 SCT). Fall does not have this problem.
-- In areas with sparse high school circuits, high schoolers don't get a lot of other chances to play, especially not at difficulties above IS. I recognize that we can change this with outreach (which we're doing plenty of), but outreach takes time, and it doesn't change the fact that existing teams could play another tournament right now if ACF made an exception. In addition, Fall offers a nice change of pace from the standard high school quizbowl fare, since the vast majority of HS tournaments (especially in small circuits) are on NAQT questions. Hell, my very first tournament was Fall, and I greatly enjoyed the experience.
-- There is plenty of precedent for high school teams playing non-ACF and NAQT college tournaments with good results, especially in the Mountain West. The Boise State site of 2017 EFT, for example, was greatly improved by the presence of a high school team. Everyone I spoke to at the tournament had an excellent time, including the BSU players who lost to the high schoolers (keep in mind that quizbowl novices are not idiots, and generally understand that a more experienced team will do better regardless of age).
If this isn't doable, I completely understand. However, I hope that ACF sincerely considers this suggestion.
Last season, the CU Boulder team hosted both Fall and SCT. Both tournaments came uncomfortably close to getting canceled, and both eventually ran as 4-team round robins (which, as anyone who's played one knows, tend to be extremely monotonous). Some may recall this thread, in which it was revealed that the the Colorado site of SCT did not have enough teams to act as a qualifier.
In both of these cases, we could have added 2-3 more teams to the field if we had brought in local high schoolers. There are several Colorado high schools while not currently national powerhouses, would welcome a chance to play something more challenging. Unfortunately for everyone, neither ACF nor NAQT permits high schools to play in their events.
This is my (perhaps immodest) proposal: allow some ACF Fall sites, upon approval by ACF, to open the field up to high school teams At the very least, local high schools should be able to sign up standby teams in the case of a last minute cancellation.
Here's my justification (Many of these are Mountain-west-specific, but can be generalized to any sparse circuit):
-- It's more fun to play against another couple teams, regardless of their skill, than to play the same 3 teams over and over in a multiple round robin.
-- Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that the main justification for ACF's policy is to prevent top-tier high school teams from thrashing new college players. The makes sense for circuits like Illinois and Texas, but Colorado is neither Illinois nor Texas, and the circuits probably won't be comparable for a great while.
-- I understand that, since both SCT and Regionals are qualifiers for collegiate nationals it makes sense to exclude non-college teams (though I would welcome a rules change permitting high schools to play D2 SCT). Fall does not have this problem.
-- In areas with sparse high school circuits, high schoolers don't get a lot of other chances to play, especially not at difficulties above IS. I recognize that we can change this with outreach (which we're doing plenty of), but outreach takes time, and it doesn't change the fact that existing teams could play another tournament right now if ACF made an exception. In addition, Fall offers a nice change of pace from the standard high school quizbowl fare, since the vast majority of HS tournaments (especially in small circuits) are on NAQT questions. Hell, my very first tournament was Fall, and I greatly enjoyed the experience.
-- There is plenty of precedent for high school teams playing non-ACF and NAQT college tournaments with good results, especially in the Mountain West. The Boise State site of 2017 EFT, for example, was greatly improved by the presence of a high school team. Everyone I spoke to at the tournament had an excellent time, including the BSU players who lost to the high schoolers (keep in mind that quizbowl novices are not idiots, and generally understand that a more experienced team will do better regardless of age).
If this isn't doable, I completely understand. However, I hope that ACF sincerely considers this suggestion.