Team at UA-Huntsville Next Year

This forum is for anyone seeking advice on starting a collegiate team, branching out into new types of tournaments, or other "how-to" aspects of collegiate quizbowl.
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49-Mile Scenic Drive
Rikku
Posts: 293
Joined: Tue Sep 18, 2007 12:56 am
Location: Brindlee Mountain, Alabama

Team at UA-Huntsville Next Year

Post by 49-Mile Scenic Drive »

So after talking with some players, some whom I've played with and against, it appears that there will be sufficient interest enough to form a team at UA-Huntsville next year. Our exact involvement and whether we will host tournaments is unknown at this point, but I plan for us to be fairly active assuming the funds are there. All of the involved parties come from established programs that have had well-run tournaments in the past which will hopefully translate over into the college tournament realm. We may not do much (hosting-wise) in the fall but I'd love to host something in the spring. Stay tuned for more details!
Mark Morris
University of Alabama-Huntsville '13
Auburn Pharmacy '19
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The Ununtiable Twine
Auron
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Re: Team at UA-Huntsville Next Year

Post by The Ununtiable Twine »

49-Mile Scenic Drive wrote:Our exact involvement and whether we will host tournaments is unknown at this point, but I plan for us to be fairly active assuming the funds are there.
It's not a good idea to assume the funds are going to be there from the get-go no matter which university you attend, so you should make sure you get all the necessary paperwork for starting an organization in by whatever deadlines you have to meet. Also you must remember that most university administrations care about funding the bowling team before they care about giving the quizbowl team money, so coordinating high school tournaments is pretty much a must in this case, so you have to find a nice volunteer base in order to do so. In addition, if and when you are going to conduct a high school tournament, make sure you pick a date that doesn't conflict with the usual Alabama quizbowl schedule, etc. Hopefully UA-Huntsville will fund you somewhat but don't count on it happening. For example, ULL did not really fund us two of the last three years I was there, most of our funding came from hosting large high school tournaments. You need to exist before they fund you, remember Joey and company pretty much paid out-of-pocket (and still might be) the first year of Auburn's existence. It might be a good idea to ask for money from your SGA, as well.
All of the involved parties come from established programs that have had well-run tournaments in the past which will hopefully translate over into the college tournament realm. We may not do much (hosting-wise) in the fall but I'd love to host something in the spring. Stay tuned for more details!
That paperwork is important, Mark.

Also, make sure you have a strong base of dedicated players that want to keep the program running past this 2012-2013 year, otherwise you will have done a lot of hard work only to see the program diminish. While you want the program to succeed (as do all of us) also remember that you'll only be at UA-Huntsville for another year so while you are key in getting the program off to a good start, you won't be there forever and so it'll only survive with dedication from others. I know what the lack of dedication from other members will do for your club from first-hand experience, and that isn't fun.
Jake Sundberg
Louisiana, Alabama
retired
bradleykirksey
Wakka
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Re: Team at UA-Huntsville Next Year

Post by bradleykirksey »

I'll basically second everything Jake said. We got VERY lucky finding a shining beacon in the ocean of loud burocracy here at UCF, but we've still probably paid half of everything out of pocket because we missed some paperwork deadline somewhere.

All 4 year schools are vastly different than community colleges (comeing from the president of UCF quiz bowl and a former GCCC player.) The paperwork is different, and if you don't do it, they'll be glad to revoke any funding they might have offered.

So high school tournaments are very important since they'll probably pay for your ACF regionals, Sectionals, and hopefully ICT.

Best of luck.
Bradley Kirksey
Mayor of quiz bowl at the University of Central Florida (2010-2015)
The club at Reformed Theology Seminary Orlando (2017 - 2021)
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