Mid-Atlantic Quiz Bowl League

Dormant threads from the middle school section are preserved here.
Locked
mohanmal
Lulu
Posts: 15
Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2012 2:39 pm

Mid-Atlantic Quiz Bowl League

Post by mohanmal »

We are going to try to hold this for middle-school students from the states of Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. We are creating the questions for the Fall and Winter Tournaments. For the spring tournament we will probably buy questions from NAQT so that it can be counted as an MSNCT qualifier. For more info go to http://maqbowl.webs.com/ . The tournaments will be held in Newark, DE. If you are interested please reply. We will reserve a registration spot for you as the league will be capped at 50 teams (if we even succeed in getting that many). League registration is $50 and each tournament will cost from $100 to $150 to enter.

Correction: We will try to buy NAQT MS series for our tournaments instead of writing them.
Last edited by mohanmal on Thu May 03, 2012 10:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Mohan Malhotra
The Independence School '12
Charter School of Wilmington '16
User avatar
Matt Weiner
Sin
Posts: 8145
Joined: Fri Apr 11, 2003 8:34 pm
Location: Richmond, VA

Re: Mid-Atlantic Quiz Bowl League

Post by Matt Weiner »

Hi, I have some questions:

1) Who are you?
2) What are your qualifications to write questions?
3) What middle school teams in Virginia do you believe exist aside from Longfellow?
4) Why would a middle school team in Virginia pay $200 to play a tournament in New Jersey when most high school teams won't even travel that far and high school tournaments generally cost between $50 and $70?
Matt Weiner
Advisor to Quizbowl at Virginia Commonwealth University / Founder of hsquizbowl.org
mohanmal
Lulu
Posts: 15
Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2012 2:39 pm

Re: Mid-Atlantic Quiz Bowl League

Post by mohanmal »

You have very good questions and I am very glad you asked. As I posted this I was thinking the very same thing about the question writing. I think that most likely we will buy questions for NAQT for all of our tournaments after reconsidering. To answer your question about who I am, I am from The Independence School in Delaware. My parents and friends are helping me with organizing this event as we would like to open the experience of quiz bowl to middle school students in the Mid-Atlantic region. I actually do not know of any other middle school teams that exist in Virginia aside from Longfellow, but I would love to know if any were interested. As for the price of the tournament, would it help to attract more teams if we pulled the price down to $50 to $70 ? I am new to trying to organize tournaments, so I don't really have much knowledge when it comes to pricing. Also, the tournaments will be in Newark, DE not Newark, NJ. If you have any more questions please reply. Also, if anyone else has advice (as this my first time trying to organize tournaments) please reply.
Mohan Malhotra
The Independence School '12
Charter School of Wilmington '16
yellow7206
Wakka
Posts: 106
Joined: Sat Jan 10, 2009 9:45 pm

Re: Mid-Atlantic Quiz Bowl League

Post by yellow7206 »

Since there are plenty of high school tournaments in Maryland, Virginia and DC, Longfellow probably would not go all the way to Newark to compete. To qualify for the MSNCT in the past, we have gone to the Charter Challenge or received a wild card from NAQT, so we would not need another qualifier. Generating interest from Maryland and Delaware middle schools is a worthy endeavor though, so I hope this league works.

I don't know of another middle school in Virginia who does quiz bowl. This is sad. Based on their incredibly strong science olympiad and math teams, there are middle schools that could field great qb teams. I have written letters to some of these schools, but I have received little to no interest. Arlington County middle schools all participate in the KMO, so if you want new Virginia teams, you may want to start there. You can easily find their names at the KMO website or from Arlington County.
Eugene Huang, King of 109
Coach, Longfellow MS
Langley HS, 1989
Longfellow MS, 1985
Spring Hill Elem. 1983
User avatar
Down and out in Quintana Roo
Auron
Posts: 2907
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 7:25 am
Location: Camden, DE
Contact:

Re: Mid-Atlantic Quiz Bowl League

Post by Down and out in Quintana Roo »

This is kind of a cool idea. I would be eternally grateful if it helped other middle schools in Delaware play, as currently not a single one south of the C&D Canal have played any quizbowl event (discounting the Texaco Star Challenge from the 1990s).

I'm curious as to how this is going to work. Where is your outreach? How are you going to contact schools? Where are the events going to be held (specifically, not just "Newark")? Are you raising money for a school or for your nebulous "organization"?
Mr. Andrew Chrzanowski
Caesar Rodney High School
Camden, Delaware
CRHS '97-'01
University of Delaware '01-'05
CRHS quizbowl coach '06-'12
http://crquizbowl.edublogs.org
User avatar
the return of AHAN
Auron
Posts: 1988
Joined: Thu Feb 01, 2007 10:40 pm

Re: Mid-Atlantic Quiz Bowl League

Post by the return of AHAN »

Darn. I got excited about the possibility of more MS quizbowl tournaments sets being available to mirror. Never mind. Hopefully NAQT produces more than the 2 sets they cranked out this year.
Jeff Price
Barrington High School Coach (2021 & 2023 HSNCT Champions, 2023 PACE Champions, 2023 Illinois Masonic Bowl Class 3A State Champions)
Barrington Station Middle School Coach (2013 MSNCT Champions, 2013 & 2017 Illinois Class AA State Champions)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
User avatar
btressler
Tidus
Posts: 612
Joined: Fri Mar 26, 2004 7:23 pm
Location: West Chester, PA
Contact:

Re: Mid-Atlantic Quiz Bowl League

Post by btressler »

the return of AHAN wrote:Darn. I got excited about the possibility of more MS quizbowl tournaments sets being available to mirror. Never mind. Hopefully NAQT produces more than the 2 sets they cranked out this year.
In fact this topic was discussed. My response was I think we could do a third set in a year with the caveat of an allowance for some level of repeat material between sets. (We tried to keep this to a minimum for MS#2 and MS#3.)
Bill Tressler,
Dickinson ('97) Carnegie Mellon ('99) Delaware ('06)
Seen moderating at various SE Pennsylvania events.
mohanmal
Lulu
Posts: 15
Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2012 2:39 pm

Re: Mid-Atlantic Quiz Bowl League

Post by mohanmal »

Down and out in Quintana Roo wrote:This is kind of a cool idea. I would be eternally grateful if it helped other middle schools in Delaware play, as currently not a single one south of the C&D Canal have played any quizbowl event (discounting the Texaco Star Challenge from the 1990s).

I'm curious as to how this is going to work. Where is your outreach? How are you going to contact schools? Where are the events going to be held (specifically, not just "Newark")? Are you raising money for a school or for your nebulous "organization"?
I'm happy you think this is a cool idea! As of right now we are still trying to see if we can generate enough interest to actually hold this. We are thinking about holding it at Independence Middle School and are currently still talking with the school about this possibility as we are not running this through the school. Our goal is with this is to generate an interest for quiz bowl among Mid-Atlantic students and to send stronger teams from our state and the surrounding states to MSNCT. Any money we raise will go to creating better tournaments in future years, lowering costs of future tournaments, and funding teams who need help raising money to go to compete at MSNCT. As far as contacting school go, I am hoping that this post on here will help alert schools. If you can give me any advice on this that would be greatly appreciated.
Mohan Malhotra
The Independence School '12
Charter School of Wilmington '16
User avatar
Down and out in Quintana Roo
Auron
Posts: 2907
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 7:25 am
Location: Camden, DE
Contact:

Re: Mid-Atlantic Quiz Bowl League

Post by Down and out in Quintana Roo »

mohanmal wrote:
Down and out in Quintana Roo wrote:This is kind of a cool idea. I would be eternally grateful if it helped other middle schools in Delaware play, as currently not a single one south of the C&D Canal have played any quizbowl event (discounting the Texaco Star Challenge from the 1990s).

I'm curious as to how this is going to work. Where is your outreach? How are you going to contact schools? Where are the events going to be held (specifically, not just "Newark")? Are you raising money for a school or for your nebulous "organization"?
I'm happy you think this is a cool idea! As of right now we are still trying to see if we can generate enough interest to actually hold this. We are thinking about holding it at Independence Middle School and are currently still talking with the school about this possibility as we are not running this through the school. Our goal is with this is to generate an interest for quiz bowl among Mid-Atlantic students and to send stronger teams from our state and the surrounding states to MSNCT. Any money we raise will go to creating better tournaments in future years, lowering costs of future tournaments, and funding teams who need help raising money to go to compete at MSNCT. As far as contacting school go, I am hoping that this post on here will help alert schools. If you can give me any advice on this that would be greatly appreciated.
A grand total of 1 middle school from Delaware knows about/reads this forum. You're going to have to do a whole lot better than that. I suggest sending physical letters AND calling the administrations of the middle schools you're interested in reaching.
Mr. Andrew Chrzanowski
Caesar Rodney High School
Camden, Delaware
CRHS '97-'01
University of Delaware '01-'05
CRHS quizbowl coach '06-'12
http://crquizbowl.edublogs.org
yellow7206
Wakka
Posts: 106
Joined: Sat Jan 10, 2009 9:45 pm

Re: Mid-Atlantic Quiz Bowl League

Post by yellow7206 »

Yes, you have to be aggressive if you want to get new schools to participate. Announcements do not reach schools who do not frequent these sites. You need to send letters through regular mail. Plus, you need to visit these schools' math clubs or science clubs. Ask to give a demonstration. Take a buzzer set and a several sets of questions. Put on a scrimmage. Then leave some sets for them to practice on their own.
Eugene Huang, King of 109
Coach, Longfellow MS
Langley HS, 1989
Longfellow MS, 1985
Spring Hill Elem. 1983
User avatar
SunWukong
Lulu
Posts: 67
Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2011 6:10 pm

Re: Mid-Atlantic Quiz Bowl League

Post by SunWukong »

I'm not very involved with it, but I know that GDS does have a middle school quizbowl program (tended and trained by my high school teammates) that would probably be interested in playing some tournaments. I'm not sure what to make of the idea of a league that one has to pay to get into. I think you're probably going to have enough trouble getting teams (very few tournaments reach their caps in this area nowadays) as is, without restricting the field with the idea of a league. Also, unless I've read this wrong, you're writing the questions yourselves; if you're looking for a writers/editors I'd be interested in helping out.
Daniel Brach-Neufeld
Georgetown Day School 2012
Brown University 2016
User avatar
The Stately Rhododendron
Rikku
Posts: 484
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2011 7:18 pm
Location: Heart's in the woods

Re: Mid-Atlantic Quiz Bowl League

Post by The Stately Rhododendron »

I'm pretty sure there isn't a single middle school in Maryland that does quizbowl. However, many middle and elementary schools do Black Saga, which deals exclusively with African-American culture/history. In Howard County alone 15 teams attended the county tournament. If those teams could be contacted, I'm sure at least a few would be interested in joining the league.

EDIT: P.S.: Isn't the fee a bit pricey? If you want at least 50 teams to sign up, maybe you should lower it from $150 per tournament.
IKD
Yale 18
Oakland Mills 14
"I am the NAQT beast I worship."
User avatar
Important Bird Area
Forums Staff: Administrator
Posts: 6112
Joined: Thu Aug 28, 2003 3:33 pm
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Contact:

Re: Mid-Atlantic Quiz Bowl League

Post by Important Bird Area »

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
AKKOLADE
Sin
Posts: 15773
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2003 8:08 am

Re: Mid-Atlantic Quiz Bowl League

Post by AKKOLADE »

Is this actually a planned league, or just a one day tourney?
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
mohanmal
Lulu
Posts: 15
Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2012 2:39 pm

Re: Mid-Atlantic Quiz Bowl League

Post by mohanmal »

Lord Hatefun Complainington wrote:I'm pretty sure there isn't a single middle school in Maryland that does quizbowl. However, many middle and elementary schools do Black Saga, which deals exclusively with African-American culture/history. In Howard County alone 15 teams attended the county tournament. If those teams could be contacted, I'm sure at least a few would be interested in joining the league.

EDIT: P.S.: Isn't the fee a bit pricey? If you want at least 50 teams to sign up, maybe you should lower it from $150 per tournament.
We have reduced the price to $70. Thanks for the information on the Maryland Schools. I will try to contact them to see if any are interested in coming
Mohan Malhotra
The Independence School '12
Charter School of Wilmington '16
mohanmal
Lulu
Posts: 15
Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2012 2:39 pm

Re: Mid-Atlantic Quiz Bowl League

Post by mohanmal »

Fred wrote:Is this actually a planned league, or just a one day tourney?
Its a series of hopefully 3 tournaments...though if NAQT only writes 2 middle school packets this year it may only be 2 (although we could use A series).
Mohan Malhotra
The Independence School '12
Charter School of Wilmington '16
User avatar
btressler
Tidus
Posts: 612
Joined: Fri Mar 26, 2004 7:23 pm
Location: West Chester, PA
Contact:

Re: Mid-Atlantic Quiz Bowl League

Post by btressler »

mohanmal wrote:Its a series of hopefully 3 tournaments...though if NAQT only writes 2 middle school packets this year it may only be 2 (although we could use A series).
Don't forget that Wilmington Charter probably has first right of refusal on one of those sets if they are running a tournament again this year. They ran NAQT tournaments the past two years, and ran six house-written middle school events before that.
Bill Tressler,
Dickinson ('97) Carnegie Mellon ('99) Delaware ('06)
Seen moderating at various SE Pennsylvania events.
Great Bustard
Auron
Posts: 1463
Joined: Sun Aug 29, 2010 9:23 pm
Location: DC, NJ, and everywhere else
Contact:

Re: Mid-Atlantic Quiz Bowl League

Post by Great Bustard »

On the other hand, NHBB had about 15 schools in MD and VA take part this year, and I think 10 in PA. (nobody in DE yet, though that will change next year). You need to get in touch with Nick Clusserath - email him at info at historybee dot com - he can certainly help spread the word about your worthy endeavor. Next year, we are aiming for 2000+ middle schools to be involved across the country, so this can work. Also, we *may* have a formal middle school bowl next year, though no announcement on that will be forthcoming until August 15 or so. In any case, though, middle schools will be for NHBB, at a minimum, welcome to compete in the JV level at high school tournaments, and have their own separate National title (Longfellow won the inaugural one this year). But again - start a dialogue with Nick. He and Mr. Tressler are going to be your biggest allies here, if you are serious about pursuing this.
David Madden
Ridgewood (NJ) '99, Princeton '03
Founder and Director: International History Bee and Bowl, National History Bee and Bowl (High School Division), International History Olympiad, United States Geography Olympiad, US History Bee, US Academic Bee and Bowl, National Humanities Bee, National Science Bee, International Academic Bowl.
Adviser and former head coach for Team USA at the International Geography Olympiad
mohanmal
Lulu
Posts: 15
Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2012 2:39 pm

Re: Mid-Atlantic Quiz Bowl League

Post by mohanmal »

I am going to take a step back here for a while. We will continue with the planning of this after the end of the school year, in June. I also have to wait for the Independence Board to get back to me on whether it is okay to hold the tournament there, and the earliest I will get a reply will be sometime after the end of this school year.
Mohan Malhotra
The Independence School '12
Charter School of Wilmington '16
mohanmal
Lulu
Posts: 15
Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2012 2:39 pm

Re: Mid-Atlantic Quiz Bowl League

Post by mohanmal »

I talked to my coach at the Independence School and have decided that we will not have this tournament this year. The reason is that most likely NAQT will put out 3 middle school sets this year and the Charter School of Wilmington will most likely have a tournament as well as Bergen County Academies in Hackensack, NJ. Independence may attend both of these and as for the third set, they would like to hold a tournament themselves. Also, I can get experience on how to run a tournament for the future if I volunteer to work with Independence to run theirs. If they are going to run one they will make a formal announcement about that, so that is not final. As of now, I'm not sure when I will get to work on MAQ Bowl again.
Mohan Malhotra
The Independence School '12
Charter School of Wilmington '16
Locked