MIT Fall Academic Tournament (September 19, 2015)

[alinktothefuture]

Hello, everyone! I am pleased to announce the fourth annual MIT Fall Academic Tournament on Saturday, September 19, 2015.

LOCATION AND SCHEDULE: The tournament will take place on MIT's campus in Cambridge, MA. Teams should report to room 6-120 (located in Building 6) in the morning for registration and opening announcements. We ask that teams arrive between 8:15 and 8:45 in the morning for registration; the opening meeting will start as soon as all teams have arrived, with games beginning immediately following the meeting's conclusion. Games will take place in Building 4. A map with these locations highlighted can be found here.

Teams will play a minimum of 9 games. If everything runs smoothly, we expect the tournament to conclude around 5 PM.

GETTING TO MIT: MIT is easily accessible via the Boston T system by taking the Red Line to the Kendall/MIT stop. We recommend teams avoid driving if possible, as parking is very difficult to find on the MIT campus. Driving directions are available here, and a list of parking locations on campus can be found here.

FORMAT: Rounds will consist of 20 tossup questions that can be answered by members of either team. If a team answers a tossup question correctly, they will then play an unrelated three-part bonus question that only their team can answer.

Each team can have up to six players on its roster, but only four players may play at any one time. Schools planning to bring seven or more players should register a second team.

QUESTION SET: We will be using NAQT's IS-147A question set. This set is geared to accommodate new and less experienced players, so it should be ideal for new teams or new members of established teams. A sample question packet is available here.

Teams placing in the top 15% of the tournament will qualify for NAQT's High School National Championship Tournament (HSNCT). This tournament has also received gold certification from PACE, meaning that the top 20% of the tournament will qualify for the PACE National Scholastic Championship (NSC).

FEES: The registration fees for this tournament are as follows:

+$75: first team from a school
+$65: each additional team from a school
-$10: each volunteer staffer provided by a school.
-$5: each buzzer set provided by a school. In order to receive this discount, the buzzer system must be fully functional.
-$10: for teams traveling in excess of 200 miles one-way, as determined by the distance Google Maps provides between MIT and your school.
+$10: to purchase a paper copy of the questions used.
The minimum fee for a school is $0.

PAYMENT: Teams may pay either in advance or on the day of the tournament. Either cash or check is acceptable; please make checks out to "MIT Quiz Bowl Team." If your school requires an invoice prior to payment, please let us know as soon as possible.

REGISTRATION: This tournament is open to teams from all geographic areas and levels of experience. Teams will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. The initial cap is 24 teams, but this cap may increase depending on staff availability. Once the cap is filled, new teams will enter a waitlist and be added to the field if registered teams drop.

In order to register for this tournament, please email ALL of the following information to me at saumilb [AT] mit [DOT] edu:
1. School name
2. Number of teams you are registering
3. The name, email, and cell phone number of a coach or responsible adult who will be present at the tournament.
4. The number of buzzers and staffers you are intending to bring.
5. If you would like to purchase a paper copy of the questions (maximum one per school).

Although expressions of interest in this forum are appreciated, the only official means of registration is by emailing the above information to me. Registering teams should receive an email of confirmation within a day.

Please feel free to contact me at saumilb [AT] mit [DOT] edu if you have any questions or concerns about the tournament. We look forward to hosting your team for an exciting day of quizbowl!

[alinktothefuture]

REGISTERED TEAMS
Acton-Boxborough (2 teams; 1 buzzer)
AMSA (2 teams; 2 buzzers)
Belmont (1 team)
Bishop Guertin (1 team)
Boston Latin School (1 team)
Brookline (2 teams; 1 buzzer; 1 staffer)
E. O. Smith (2 teams; 2 buzzers; 1 staffer)
Framingham (1 team; 1 staffer)
Gotham (1 team)
Hingham (2 teams; 2 buzzers)
Lexington (3 teams; 1 buzzer)
Middlesex (2 teams; 2 buzzers)
Needham (1 team; 1 buzzer)
Phillips Academy (1 team; 2 buzzers)
Phillips Exeter (1 team)
Shrewsbury (1 team; 1 buzzer)

TOTAL: 24 teams; 15 buzzers; 3 staffers

WAITLIST
None

[alinktothefuture]

I am pleased to announce that MIT Fall has received Gold certification from PACE, meaning that the top 20% of the field will qualify for this year's PACE National Scholastic Championship (NSC)!

[KnicksRule]

AMSA would like to bring a team and two buzzers.

[alinktothefuture]

Unfortunately, we may have fewer staff available for this tournament than originally expected. In the interest of ensuring we can run a quality tournament, I am lowering the field cap to 18 teams pending acquisition of additional staff. Any registrations beyond that will be placed on a waitlist.

Hopefully this will be a temporary measure; the field cap will be restored to 24 teams as soon as we have enough staff to be able to do so. We would greatly appreciate any staffers teams can provide; the more staffers we can get, the more likely it is we can re-expand to 24 teams.

[alinktothefuture]

The field is now full. Further registrations will be placed on a waitlist.

I should be able to announce within the next few days whether we can re-expand to 24 teams. Stay tuned!

[alinktothefuture]

We have acquired sufficient staff, so the field has re-expanded to 24 teams! There will be no further field expansions.

All teams on the waitlist have entered the field. The field is now full once again; new registrations will be added to our waitlist.

[alinktothefuture]

A team has dropped, so we have one remaining spot in the field. Email me if your team would like to take it!

EDIT (9/16): This spot has been taken, so our field is once again at capacity.

[alinktothefuture]

Another team has dropped, so if you have some extra players you'd like to enter as a last-minute team, please let me know.

[alinktothefuture]

Prelim statistics have been posted here.

[alinktothefuture]

Congratulations to Bishop Guertin for winning the 2015 MIT Fall Academic Tournament! Bishop Guertin defeated Lexington C in the finals 450-320. The top 8 teams are as follows:

1. Bishop Guertin
2. Lexington C
3. Lexington B
4. AMSA A
5. E. O. Smith A
6. Lexington A
7. Hingham A
8. Middlesex A

Bishop Guertin, Lexington C, Lexington B, and AMSA A have qualified for the NAQT HSNCT; all of these teams as well as E. O. Smith A have qualified for the PACE NSC.

Prelim, playoff, and combined statistics have all been posted here. I would especially like to thank all of the team-provided staffers and staffers from outside of our program who came to help make the day run smoothly.

Finally, thanks to all the teams who joined us today! We hope to see you again at one of our events in the future.

[lsds]

Thanks for the well-run tournament!

[UlyssesInvictus]

I had a lot of fun moderating this. It was really nice to see the growth of the local Mass circuit that Stephen fostered!