Quizbowl in the UK

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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Vivek Bhave
Kimahri
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Feb 05, 2013 11:23 pm

Quizbowl in the UK

Post by Vivek Bhave »

Can someone provide an overview of the current quizbowl scene in the UK? Is there still a team at the London School of Economics?
Last edited by Vivek Bhave on Tue Mar 07, 2017 7:35 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Vivek Bhave
Eaglebrook School (Coach) 2021-present
UC Berkeley 2011-2014
UC San Diego 2009-2011
Torrey Pines High School 2005-2009
George Corfield
Lulu
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri Apr 04, 2014 5:59 pm

Re: Quizbowl in the UK

Post by George Corfield »

Hi Vivek. We get excited about Americans crossing the atlantic to come and play quizbowl so your post provoked a flurry of activity on our informal UK quizbowl FB chat, and I was nominated to give an overview, so here goes:

The UK circuit is comparatively small, but very active and well established. We usually play 10-12 tournaments a year, spanning most levels of difficulty. For reference the sets we played/are playing this year: Penn Bowl, EFT, Terrapin, ACF Fall, NAQT Novice, WAO, OOT, ACF Regs, TTIC, CamO, whatever the alternative to MUT is and a briticised SCT for our national championships.

UK quizbowl is dominated by Oxford and Cambridge who usually put forward 2-3 teams for each tournament, but unis like Warwick and Southampton are usually good for at least one team. In order to bulk out the field, tournaments are often played as open events as there is a fairly active crowd of interested quizzers and former players. A typical regular difficulty tournament would usually have 8-10 teams.

I'm not aware of LSE having a current quizbowl society, but there would be nothing to stop one coming into existence. In the past, various London universities have been grouped together and have played as "University of London". Basically if you want to play, there shouldn't be much to stop it happening. Don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions.
George Corfield
University of Oxford 2011-
Vivek Bhave
Kimahri
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Feb 05, 2013 11:23 pm

Re: Quizbowl in the UK

Post by Vivek Bhave »

Thank you!
Vivek Bhave
Eaglebrook School (Coach) 2021-present
UC Berkeley 2011-2014
UC San Diego 2009-2011
Torrey Pines High School 2005-2009
Ben Salter
Lulu
Posts: 26
Joined: Mon Jul 14, 2014 11:34 am

Re: Quizbowl in the UK

Post by Ben Salter »

George Corfield wrote:informal UK quizbowl FB chat
Ah, so this explains the hive mind we have :lol:
Ben Salter
Warwick '17
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