Middle School Nationals Preparatory Tournament (MSNPT)

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21_Cabbage
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Middle School Nationals Preparatory Tournament (MSNPT)

Post by 21_Cabbage »

I'm excited to announce the Middle School Nationals Preparatory Tournament (MSNPT) on Saturday, March 27th, 2021. The tournament will be run by me (Arthur Gayden (Detroit Country Day High School), and Aatreyo Bhattacharyya (Churchill Middle School). It will begin at 10 AM Eastern Time to best accommodate all time zones.

The tournament will be run on a slightly-edited version of the Detroit Country Day Academic Regular Tournament question set, or DART (MSNCT playoffs difficulty). More details about the questions can be found below.

As of now, the field will be limited to 32 teams, but this may change due to staffing availability. Please sign up by March 23rd. Teams will be limited to a maximum of 6 per team. During rounds, up to 4 students will be permitted to play at any given time, and up to 2 students can sub out at halftime. Teams may have fewer than 4 people. Teams dropping out after March 23rd will still be responsible for the entirety of the fee, though exceptions may be granted in extreme situations.

As this is a preparatory tournament for the upcoming Middle School National Championship Tournament, all the players on one team must come from the same school. All teams must exclusively be made up of current middle schoolers or younger. There are no geographical restrictions to this tournament.

Tournament Format: The tournament will have two stages. In the prelim stage, teams will be put into pools of 8 teams, where they will play a 7-game round-robin. The top 4 teams from each pool of 8 will advance onto the playoff stage of the tournament. Playoffs will be in the form of a double-elimination bracket seeded based on prelims performance. As a result, all teams are guaranteed at least 7 rounds.

Game Format: Each game will be played on a packet of 20 tossups and 20 bonuses. Games will be timed, with 20-minute halves. Timing rules are as follows: 4 seconds to answer after being recognized on tossups, 4 seconds to answer after a tossup has finished, and 6 seconds to answer after a bonus has been read.

A Note on Cheating: Given the online nature of quiz bowl this year, cheating has become very tempting for the weak-minded. To prevent any foul play, ALL players must use video and show one hand in the frame at all times. Players are also encouraged to remaining unmuted during tossups, and bonuses as long as there is no significant background noise. The tournament directors reserve the right to remove any player on the grounds of suspicion at any time.

Fees: Schools will pay $75 for their first team, and $70 for any additional team. There is a $20 discount for each moderator/scorekeeper a team brings with them. Payment must be made by Venmo or Paypal, and more details will be sent at a later date. Any teams with specific concerns regarding payment may contact me directly at [email protected].

Moderators: We are looking for moderators and scorekeepers who want to staff this tournament. All staffers not affiliated with attending teams will be paid $30. To register to staff, please fill out this form. Staff is required to complete training that will take approximately an hour and attend a staff meeting.

Registration: Fill out this form to register. Once you receive a confirmation email, you are officially registered.
The Field will be updated here

Subject Distribution Per Packet:
4/4 History (1.5/1.5 US History, 1/1 World History, 1/1 European History, 0.5/0.5 Ancient/Mixed/Other History)
4/4 Science (1/1 Biology, 1/1 Chemistry, 1/1 Physics, 0.75/0.75 Other Sciences, 0.25/0.25 Math)
4/4 Literature (1/1 US Literature, 1/1 British Literature, 1/1 European Literature, 0.5/0.5 Ancient/Mixed/Other Literature, 0.5/0.5 World Literature)
3/3 Fine Arts (1/1 Visual Fine Arts, 1/1 Auditory Fine Arts, 1/1 Other Fine Arts)
2/2 "RMPSS" (0.5/0.5 Religion, 0.5/0.5 Mythology, 0.5/0.5 Philosophy, 0.5/0.5 Social Science)
2/2 The World (1/1 Geography, 1/1 Current Events)
1/1 Popular Culture/Music/Sports
Last edited by 21_Cabbage on Sun Mar 21, 2021 11:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Arthur Gayden
University of Chicago '27
Detroit Country Day '23
romeokar
Wakka
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Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2011 8:28 am

Re: Middle School Nationals Preparatory Tournament (MSNPT)

Post by romeokar »

Is there any update about this? Have there been informational emails that were sent out?
Ken Romeo
Middlesex Middle School
Darien, CT
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21_Cabbage
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Re: Middle School Nationals Preparatory Tournament (MSNPT)

Post by 21_Cabbage »

An informational email will be sent out on Wednesday.
Arthur Gayden
University of Chicago '27
Detroit Country Day '23
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