Illinois 2020-21

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jzlau2
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Illinois 2020-21

Post by jzlau2 »

It’s almost the start of the school year in Illinois, as well as the start of a new quizbowl season that will be so different in so many ways, from the loss of many top players to the current situation of the coronavirus pandemic. Does anyone have any predictions or thoughts on the new title contenders and teams to watch in Illinois, as well as the status of the season, which we know will be online for most of the fall semester?
Jonathan Lau
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Re: Illinois 2020-21

Post by TheAngryBavarian »

In no particular order...

Buffalo Grove
IMSA
Barrington
Stevenson
Uni Lab
Fremd
Alton
Hinsdale Central
Zach Roseman
Collinsville (IL) '20
Eastern Illinois University '24
"If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants."-Isaac Newton
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Re: Illinois 2020-21

Post by jzlau2 »

Here are my thoughts on the possible NAQT state contenders this season.

Stevenson: Despite the loss of Govind Prabhakar, who was arguably one of the top three best history players in the entire country for basically his entire high school career, Stevenson still seems to be the team to beat in Illinois. Arjun Nageswaran is very underrated in history due to playing alongside Govind for three years. He also has very strong generalist ability across the humanities, as seen by his third-place finish at the 2019 Scobol Solo and his stellar performance at HFT, and will likely be the strongest generalist in the state next year, as he was ranked 5th on the Illinois player poll and all the players higher than him have graduated. He is backed up by very strong specialists such as David Lee (science) and Daniel Ding (literature). I don't know who their fourth will be, but due to their large Quizbowl program and a continuous supply of strong players from their feeder schools, they have many talented players to choose from.

Buffalo Grove: Justin Wytmar is very good at history and the humanities, and he is an underrated generalist. He is joined by Rohan Ganeshan, arguably the best middle school player in the nation during the 2020 season, rivaled only by Arin Parsa. I haven't ever played either of them, but they had a very good performance on LOGIC online (where they were in a chimera with East Chapel Hill) in a field with strong teams such as GDS and Wayzata+Shardul, putting up 9 powers a game.

Barrington: Despite losing Abraham and Roxanne to graduation, Barrington will continue to be one of the top teams in the state due to their powerhouse middle school feeder program, which has fueled their success for many years. Senior Liam Starnes is one of the best history players in Illinois, apparently even leading his team to beat Stevenson at a NHBB game. With a new supply of players such as Charles Young, Rohan Kher, and Kaushik Gollamundi, who were some of the best middle school players in the country last year, Barrington will most likely be a formidable team for many years to come.

Fremd: Fremd was one of the top teams in the state last year, placing 6th at the 2020 NAQT State Championship. Their entire roster returns for the 2020 season. Danny Kim is one of the top humanities generalists in the state and has good support from science specialist Shreya Seetharam and history/geography specialist Bryan Wan. They nearly defeated Uni A at NAQT state, although Ethan Ashbrook was not present during that game. Given how much they have played together, it is safe to say that Fremd will have a stronger performance this year than during the 2020 season.

University Lab: This season, the A team loses 3/4 of its members due to graduation. I personally have not been able to study that much lately because of summer classes and college applications. I was ranked 6th on the Illinois player poll last year, but how much I have improved/regressed since then is uncertain because I haven't played a tournament since February. I'm not that great of a generalist but I hope to improve somewhat in the categories that I am not very good at. Last year, Uni's B team had more negs than powers and only 11.5 PPB on SCT, but they have improved tremendously since then. Junior Lawrence Zhao is likely the best chemistry player in the state, and can also reliably power across the science distribution. He also has great depth in fine arts, leading him to be the first-place sophomore in the 2020 player poll. Sophomore Arjun Kala is a rapidly improving literature player who spends a lot of time studying, and I would argue that he is about the level of 2018 Ethan Ashbrook by now. During the morning rounds of Penn Bowl, he apparently got one power a game, which is very impressive for a freshman. Sophomore Shoorsen Gandhi has improved tremendously over the summer and may be one of the best FA players in the state this year, while sophomore Janaki Kapadia can make deep buzzes in history and RMPSS. We would probably need a little while to get our team dynamic sorted out because I have never played with any of the other players listed above, and Lawrence and Arjun have a more aggressive playstyle that may conflict with my more conservative buzzing strategy.
Last edited by jzlau2 on Wed Aug 12, 2020 11:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Illinois 2020-21

Post by TheAngryBavarian »

I'll give my thoughts on South of Champaign, since that is the area I know best.

Alton: This will unequivocally be the best team in Downstate Illinois besides Uni Lab. Their team consists of 4 very good specialists and between them they take up most of the distro. Kieran Favazza for Science (especially Physics) and Philosophy, Thomas Gehrig in History, Ethan Plate in Lit and FA, and Billy Yinger in RM. I expect them to go undefeated against local competition, and would like to see them go to more tournaments (virtual or on-site) this season

Macomb: Stan Melkumian is one of the best science players in the state, and is also a very good generalist as well. He will get some support from History specialist (I think) Henry Jones. I don't know who the 3rd and 4th options will be for them, and I don't think Stan and Henry alone will be able to compete with the best of the best. They should still be the best team in West-Central Illinois, however.

Carbondale: Lose their top 2 scorers in John Paul Taylor and Charles Metz, and will probably take a step back compared to the past few years. They have solid players in Lit/FA specialist Giifti Benti and History player Eli Tsung, as well as a large group of underclassmen, but I don't think any of them are elite level talents at this point in time. I would still expect them to be in the top half of most tournaments they go to, but I doubt that they will be able to contend with the top teams in Downstate Illinois

Springfield: This team is a bit of an enigma to me. They lose Aidan Fein to graduation, as well as Jared Dong to transfer, but they do still have one of the better juniors in the state in Jack Casey, as well as a few incoming freshmen in Aryan Pathak and Srihari Gurugubelli who should be able to contribute early.

Granite City: Lose their leading scorer in Aaron Dawes, but still bring back some solid pieces in Isaiah and Jadon Wing, Drake Crider and Lily Relleke. I would expect them to contend for an IHSA Regional title, but I don't think they'll be able to catch Alton in Sectionals.

O'Fallon: Return their leading scorer in Drake O'Leary, as well as a handful of other people. Not quite sure where they'll end up, but they should be locally competitive.

Collinsville: Lose their whole starting lineup, have a few pieces coming back, also are getting a new coach this year, so this should be kind of a transition year


Class A is always kind of up in the air. Southwestern should be decent with Corbin Tutterow entering his sophomore year. Williamsville lose Nathan Clack and I'm not sure who they have coming back. New Berlin are always solid, and Gibault have had solid teams the past few years as well.
Zach Roseman
Collinsville (IL) '20
Eastern Illinois University '24
"If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants."-Isaac Newton
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Re: Illinois 2020-21

Post by rwb5678 »

I am going to try and throw my hat in the ring here because I believe that there are some teams here that may have been overlooked/neglected as IHSA and/or NAQT (maybe even Masonic) state contenders

Naperville North- I have played this team multiple times within the last year, and I have seen Judson Lam play, and he is incredibly good. I dont necessarily know his specialty off the top of my head (I think it may be science but I am not sure) but if he can get support from some of his teammates (such as Geoffrey), Naperville North can contend for an IHSA sectional title, and could potentially give IMSA a run for its money. Plus this past February at NAQT State, Judson himself was in the top 10 in scoring, scoring over 65PPG according to Neg 5 (which can be inconsistent at stats).

Auburn- Replacing 2/4 of their starting lineup at NAQT State is not the easiest thing to do, however with Justin Abel holding down the history front, and Junior Ashley T. improving in the literature front, they can replace some of the canon left behind when Ethan Strombeck graduated prior to last season. They did qualify 2 teams for NAQT state last year, and their B team did have 4 different players score over 20PPG at NAQT state (however some opf them did only play just over 5 games out of 10). If Sophomore Alex Crowell, Junior Luis Angeles, and Sophomore Cody T. can fill in the gaps when it comes to Fine Arts/RMPSS/Science, then this team can also give a jolt to some people

Latin- Lets keep in mind that this team does still have Tejas, who is a good generalist, and did perform well at Solobowl this past year (albeit Solobowl questions are not the best measure of a persons performance and ability to scale up to harder questions), and Tejas did score close to 35PPG at NAQT State last year, getting help from graduating players Rose Branson and Will Cravitz (at least I think will was a senior). Also at Loyola Ultima last year, Tejas did put up 52.5 PPG, however if he can get support from his teammates, then Latin is yet another team that could put a scare into a contenders plans. (Side note: Auburn A did beat Latin A with Tejas and Rose last year at Ultima, which just gives more credit to Auburn).

Other teams that I'll mention here (who went to NAQT State/that I've seen in person) but I think will have a transition year include:

Lincoln-Way East- A team that would have gone to sectionals for IHSA last year (thanks COVID), they lose good players Brad Rudy and Matthew Ferracuti, among others to graduation. They will continue their high level of play but will they be able to compete with top teams in region?

Chicago Christian- The loss of All-state player Ben Fry will leave a gap for this team that will be difficult to recover from.

H-F- Lose 2 good players in Eric P. and Janellie R., can they continue their high level of play?

Also does anyone know where Jarod Dong of Springfield transferred to? I also witnessed him play last year at Masonic State (ableit I was on the bench at the time) alongside now Vandy student Aiden and I was impressed with his play.
Last edited by rwb5678 on Fri Aug 14, 2020 11:24 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Robert Bianucci
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Re: Illinois 2020-21

Post by jzlau2 »

I believe Jared Dong transferred to IMSA, which already has a solid team that I believe is still fairly young but will definitely improve over the season. I don't recall if Andy Tang is still playing at the moment but he was quite good in freshman year, putting up 40 PPG alongside Tim Cho while playing for Uni prior to transferring to IMSA. I think he also had a very solid performance at a frosh soph tournament last year. Whether or not they can beat Naperville North for the sectional title is uncertain given that I have never seen either of the teams play with their current rosters, so if someone has more experience playing with them, feel free to say your own thoughts below.

Going back to Naperville North, they basically have a lockdown on science from what I have heard. Judson and Geoffrey were already very good at science the last time I played against Naperville North (I think it was at the 2019 PACE) but they have definitely improved since then and Judson can undoubtably generalize well as seen by his NAQT State performance.

Regarding Latin, a shorthanded Uni A team (consisting of myself and Sasha) played against their B team at Earlybird and we almost lost, albeit due to some lost buzzer races. If they didn't have a negstorm towards the end of the game, they may had given us our first loss of the day. I believe that two of the four members of that team have not yet graduated, so they will likely be able to provide solid support to Tejas next year.
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Re: Illinois 2020-21

Post by rwb5678 »

jzlau2 wrote: Fri Aug 14, 2020 11:28 pm I believe Jared Dong transferred to IMSA, which already has a solid team that I believe is still fairly young but will definitely improve over the season. I don't recall if Andy Tang is still playing at the moment but he was quite good in freshman year, putting up 40 PPG alongside Tim Cho while playing for Uni prior to transferring to IMSA. I think he also had a very solid performance at a frosh soph tournament last year. Whether or not they can beat Naperville North for the sectional title is uncertain given that I have never seen either of the teams play with their current rosters, so if someone has more experience playing with them, feel free to say your own thoughts below.

Going back to Naperville North, they basically have a lockdown on science from what I have heard. Judson and Geoffrey were already very good at science the last time I played against Naperville North (I think it was at the 2019 PACE) but they have definitely improved since then and Judson can undoubtably generalize well as seen by his NAQT State performance.

Regarding Latin, a shorthanded Uni A team (consisting of myself and Sasha) played against their B team at Earlybird and we almost lost, albeit due to some lost buzzer races. If they didn't have a negstorm towards the end of the game, they may had given us our first loss of the day. I believe that two of the four members of that team have not yet graduated, so they will likely be able to provide solid support to Tejas next year.
IMSA will of course still be a force to be reckoned with then espcially with the addition of Jared Dong (if true that he went to IMSA, and of course if he still decides to play, which he should because he is a good player). Thank you for the clarification because I have only seen these teams in action only a few times (like a combined 5 maybe) and I dont know everyones grade level/specialties off hand
Last edited by rwb5678 on Sat Aug 15, 2020 10:09 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Illinois 2020-21

Post by jisood0704 »

These are my thoughts on Central Illinois Teams.

University Lab: Though University Lab loses Ethan Ashbrook and Dylan Bowman, they will stay as a dominant force in the region. They retain Jonathan Lau, one of the strongest players in Illinois. Arjun Kala and Lawrence Zhao will probably retain most of Ethan and Dylan's knowledge which would keep the team afloat. Great additions like Janaki Kapadia will strengthen the team. Their B team will also be a strong force, with players like Shreyas Singh and Maxwell He.

Macomb: Macomb retains most of their A team which did pretty well last season. Stan Melkumian is one of the strongest science players in Illinois ,and support from Henry Jones would strengthen the team more compared to last season. It would be interesting to see if they are competitive with Uni. I believe that Macomb with their hard work could eventually reach the top 10 teams in Illinois.

Springfield: Despite the losses of Aiden Fein and Jared Dong, Springfield will stay afloat with Jack Casey who will most likely retain Aiden's coverage. Jack is probably one of the strongest players in the region and maybe as the state as a whole. The team will be backed up by Srihari Gurugubelli, Aliyah Hashmi and Arnav Nagrecha which will definitely bring huge support for the team.

Williamsville: Williamsville loses Nathan Clack, a very strong literature based-generalist who made a huge bulk of the points acquired by the team. While Williamsville won't be the exact same force as it was, Luke Ball, Aidan Glasgow and Dylan Hembrough will still be a team to reckon with. Dylan has a great generalist ability and would be interesting to see if he can be strong as Nathan.

Bloomington: With the arrival of Soren Gjesfjeld, Bloomington will rise in rank from its lackluster performance last season. Soren's generalism will strengthen Bloomington even more and if he continues to attend the school, he may achieve the performance the school performed many seasons ago.

Centennial: Centennial's A team loses half their players. I believe that our team can recover quickly from it and gradually get stronger. Yusuf Jassim has improved much more in Geography and would be good to see him get competitive with the strongest geography players in the state. Jion Park is currently improving in science and may knockout more local teams easily in those areas. I currently have strengthen more in literature and have improved in social science. I believe that my current events coverage is pretty strong. Our fourth player Nick Maurer is currently improving his history coverage which will be effective against Glenwood and Paris.

Glenwood: With the lost of Sarah Reuben a literature/fine-arts based player, Glenwood takes a heavy loss. The team though retains its history coverage through Nick Barry and Trey Moulton. With the support of Benny Yang, the team may be able to retain its current position and be more competitive with Springfield and Williamsville.

Paris: Paris takes a huge hit by the loss of generalist Tommy Allanson, but Ty Jones will most likely retain his coverage. Ty's performance at Mattoon Frosh-Soph was very astounding, by upsetting Uni. If Ty continues to improve as a player, Paris may have a shot at reaching higher than previous seasons.

Charleston: Lahiru Periyannan, a history-based generalist will most likely retain the coverages of departing Jake Crews and Ethan Hadley. He will most likely be one of the strongest players in Central Illinois and will be interesting how far he goes.

Southwestern: Southwestern loses Sheleby Oertel and Rachel Watson which may seem as a huge devastation for the team. Ashton Seniker and Corbin Tutterow will probably recover the former's coverage and will strengthen Southwestern, which may perform better than last season.

Mahomet-Seymour: Mahomet loses Seth Honingford, a crucial player in the team. If Helen Ryding and Aidan Trevillian can strengthen more, Mahomet may be able to retain their current position. I believe Mahomet will repeat their previous season results.

Mattoon: With a decent record last season, the team will have a better chance at being a contender for the Central Illinois region due to losses of other teams. Ephraim Annis a generalist with the aid of Ben Hinton and Josiah Donaldson will mostly likely have better shot at their local tournaments and Kickoff.

Quincy: Quincy will either do slightly worse or better this season. The loss of Sam Scheuermann isn't too devastating, where Christian Alexandre will most likely retain the coverage. Christian though has a long hill to go over.

Dunlap: With the loss of Ken Johnson, Dunlap now faces a huge challenge and it will be difficult to recover most of Ken's knowledge.
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Re: Illinois 2020-21

Post by jzlau2 »

The Illinois Preseason Poll for the 2020-21 season is here! The poll is already open and will close at 12:00 AM on Monday, September 7th. Please fill out your ballot and provide justifications at the link below:
https://forms.gle/CACAgdwrYsW794rE6
Jonathan Lau
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Re: Illinois 2020-21

Post by jzlau2 »

Thank you to the eleven people who submitted a ballot for the preseason poll! Each team received a certain amount of points depending on their placement (1st place received 10 points, 2nd place received 9 points, and so on). To achieve more accurate results, the highest and lowest rankings for each team were dropped from the total points. The results are posted below:

1. Stevenson A: 87 points
Ranked in 100% of ballots, Highest: 1, Lowest: 2, Average Ranking of 1.27
2. Buffalo Grove: 76 points
Ranked in 100% of ballots, Highest: 1, Lowest: Unranked, Average Ranking of 2.40
3. University Lab A: 69 points
Ranked in 100% of ballots, Highest: 1, Lowest: 5th, Average Ranking of 3.27
4. Barrington: 67 points
Ranked in 100% of ballots, Highest: 2, Lowest: 5th, Average Ranking of 3.54
5. William Fremd: 60 points
Ranked in 100% of ballots, Highest: 2nd, Lowest: 8th, Average Ranking of 4.54
6. Chicago Latin: 25 points
Ranked in 81% of ballots, Highest: 7th, Lowest: Unranked, Average Ranking of 7.78
7. Naperville North: 24 points
Ranked in 91% of ballots, Highest: 6th, Lowest: Unranked, Average Ranking of 8.10
8. Macomb 22 points
Ranked in 81% of ballots, Highest: 6th, Lowest: Unranked, Average Ranking of 8.00
9. Stevenson B: 21 points
Ranked in 54% of ballots, Highest: 6th, Lowest: Unranked, Average Ranking of 6.67
10. Alton 16 points
Ranked in 54% of ballots, Highest: 6th, Lowest: Unranked, Average Ranking of 7.7

Also Receiving Votes: IMSA (15), Rockford Auburn (2), Hinsdale Central (1), Chicago Christian (0), Jones College Prep (0), University Lab B (0)

Ballots and justifications can be found here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... 1211139279
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Re: Illinois 2020-21

Post by TheAngryBavarian »

I will also say this for Class A...look for DuQuoin to be very good. Guy Indorante may be the best Class A player in the state next year (ahead of Tommy Guyett and others), as he put up something in the neighbor of 125 PPG last year (granted against fairly weak competition). He has put up very good performances on NAQT Buzzword over the summer, beating the likes of Karsten Rynearson.
Zach Roseman
Collinsville (IL) '20
Eastern Illinois University '24
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Re: Illinois 2020-21

Post by Irreligion in Bangladesh »

Hello! The IHSSBCA is running Novice and Kickoff online, and we're looking for moderators for the events. The events are tossup-only and run on pairs of Saturday mornings - five rounds of tossups on each date.

If you would like to moderate Novice on October 17th and/or October 24th, please fill out this Google form.

If you would like to moderate Kickoff on November 14th and/or November 21st, please fill out this Google form.

The Google forms have more information. If you have any further questions, you can ask here, you can PM me here, or you can email me at [email protected].

Thanks, and stay safe!
Brad Fischer
Head Editor, IHSA State Series
IHSSBCA Chair

Winnebago HS ('06)
Northern Illinois University ('10)
Assistant Coach, IMSA (2010-12)
Coach, Keith Country Day School (2012-16)
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Re: Illinois 2020-21

Post by the return of AHAN »

IHSA Guidelines for Scholastic Bowl (2020-2021)
IHSA 2020-21 SCHOLASTIC BOWL GUIDELINES
This document is intended to provide guidance for schools conducting practices and hosting meets
during the 2020-21 IHSA Scholastic Bowl season. The guidelines explained in this document are
intended to decrease potential exposure to respiratory droplets and potential for illness through safe
practices such as social distancing, proper hygiene, and appropriate protective equipment. This is not an
exhaustive list, and school officials may take additional measures based on requirements set forth by
their school district and/or local health officials. Please understand that even with this guidance, there
is still risk of transmitting illness at events such as scholastic bowl practices and competitions.
Additionally, with the changing nature of the circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, these
guidelines may change.
General Requirements and Considerations:
• Social Distancing:
o Social distancing between individuals of at least 6 feet must be maintained at all times.
Handshakes, fist bumps, hugging, etc. are not permissible.
• Small Events:
o Small events (i.e. head to head competition between two teams) are most effective in
maintaining fewer competitors, school personnel, officials, and spectators. Small events
make it easier to establish appropriate social distance among team participants, school
personnel, moderators and spectators. Small events must adhere to the event capacity
guidelines outlined in IHSA Return to Play Phase 4 (no more than 50 people TOTAL at an
indoor event).
• Larger Events:
o If schools have scheduled large competitions such as tournaments, then again, hosts
must ensure that ALL event attendees are held to the indoor event capacity guidelines
at any given time.
• Competition Schedule:
o Schools are limited to scheduling in person regular season competition with other
schools that are in their conference or their EMS Region.
• Transportation:
o For transportation to and from extracurricular events, schools may adhere to the same
guidance provided by ISBE regarding transporting students to and from school.
Requirements and Considerations for Competition Hosts
• Face Coverings:
o Face covering must be worn by all participants, school personnel, coaches,
moderators/competition volunteers, and spectators at all times during scholastic bowl
competitions.
• Competition Set-up:
o Ensure that the team tables and buzzer systems are set up in a way that allows 6 feet (or
maximum amount of distance that the buzzer system allow for) between each team’s
participants. All others in attendance in the competition room must practice social
distancing.
o Ensure that the moderator is placed in a location that provides at least 6 feet of distance
from all those in attendance in the competition room.
o Ensure that score keepers are set up in a location that provides at least 6 feet of
distance from all those in attendance in the competition room.
o Ensure that spectators are provided enough space to maintain social distancing of 6
feet. If there are too many spectators or a competition room does not permit
appropriate social distancing among spectators, then spectators shall not be allowed
entry into the competition room.
o Each competition room must be equipped with hand sanitizer and disinfecting
spray/wipes. Competition rooms must be disinfected between each competition.
o Do not provide pencils/pens, scratch paper, etc. Outside of the buzzer/lockout system,
competitors must supply their own equipment.
o The handheld buttons for the buzzer/lockout system must be disinfected between
users.
• Competition Entries:
o Limit the number of competitors to the maximum number of participants to represent a
team in a scholastic bowl match (4-5 participants) plus as minimal a number of
substitutes as possible.
• Team Headquarters at Competitions:
o Hosts should establish team headquarter areas that allow for participants to socially
distance from their teammates as well as other teams. Remember there cannot be
more than 50 people in any one location.
• Coaches Packet Pick-up:
o Transmit as much information as possible electronically prior to the competition.
o For any information that cannot be submitted electronically, organize a method for the
packet pick up that keeps coaches socially distanced (i.e. time slots for small numbers of
coaches to pick up packets, marks on the ground that are 6 feet apart for coaches lines
formed at packet pick-up, etc.)
• Pre-competition coaches’ meetings:
o Consider using methods to keep coaches socially distanced during coaches’ meetings.
▪ Electronic or virtual meetings are encouraged when possible.
▪ Multiple smaller meetings with a smaller number of attendees at a time is also a
way to allow for social distancing.
• Gatherings
o Avoid competition protocols that cause coaches, participants, and spectators to
congregate closely together (results boards, opening/awards ceremonies, etc.).
▪ Consider using an online platform for results.
▪ Consider using an online platform for award recognitions.
• Multi-room Compeitions:
o Stagger start times of larger competitions that utilize multiple rooms. This will keep
people from crowding in corridors or common areas in groups of larger than 50 at any
one time.
• Competition Volunteers:
o In addition to volunteers assisting with the competition itself, have volunteers assist
with policing common areas and corridors to ensure that there is no overcrowding or
congregating in these areas.
o Volunteers should be assigned to the doors of the competition rooms to keep each
room at or below the 50 person capacity or social distancing capacity.
• Virtual Competitions:
o During the regular season, virtual competitions and formats may be agreed upon by
those teams who desire to compete in this manner.
o Any form of an IHSA state series will be conducted as in person events.
• Sanitation Items:
o Have sanitation materials (disinfecting wipes, sprays, hand sanitizer, etc.) in prime
locations for meet personnel to clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces and
competition equipment.
Requirements and Considerations for Coaches:
• Communicate practice and all competition guidelines in a clear manner to student participants
and their parents.
• Keep accurate records of those athletes and staff who attend each practice in case contact
tracing is needed.
• Track your student participant’s symptoms prior to each practice and competition. The chart
may be found in the resources section of this document.
• Always have a plan to maintain social distancing amongst your team and coaching staff at all
times.
• Always require use of facial coverings.
• It is recommended to always have sanitation materials available (i.e. hand sanitizer, disinfecting
wipes, etc.) for the team and coaching staff.
• Communicate with your local school administrators to understand protocols for lines of
communication and responses to a student participant or coach contracting COVID-19 or having
direct exposure to someone with the virus.
Requirements and Consideration for Moderators:
• Bring personal hand sanitizer and wash your hands frequently.
• Do not share equipment.
• Follow social distancing guidelines
o Required communication with coaches, participants, meet personnel, spectators, or
other moderators must be done at the appropriate social distance.
• Refrain from shaking hands.
• Wear a face covering at all times.
• Please be understanding of annunciation issues as a result of competitors wearing masks. If
unsure, ask them to slowly repeat an answer.
Requirements and Considerations for Student Participants:
• Student participants should be responsible for their own supplies such as water bottles, face
coverings, pens/pencils, scratch paper, etc..
• Hand washing and the use of hand sanitizer should be frequent at all contests and practices.
• Athletes should tell coaches immediately when they are not feeling well.
• Face coverings are required at all times.
Requirements and Considerations for Parents:
• Make sure your child and immediate household members are free from illness before
participating in practice and competition (if there is any doubt, stay home).
• Provide personal items for your child and clearly label them.
• Help make sure that your child is washing/cleaning clothing and personal items after each use.
• Know facility/venue limitations on capacity/attendance prior to attending an event. Always
maintain social distance and wear a face covering while in attendance at an event.
Eating and drinking:
• Ensure 6 foot distance whenever athletes are eating or drinking.
• Replace face coverings immediately after eating or drinking.
Questions:
o Questions may be addressed to IHSA Cross Country Administrator, Kraig Garber
([email protected]).
Resources:
IDPH COVID-19 Regions Map -
https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/tr ... 4853-8622-
b3b9c6d41781
Symptom Tracking Document:
https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/re ... 4e9c-b6b1-
8579ed788df9
NFHS Guidance for Opening Up High School Athletics and Activities:
https://www.nfhs.org/media/3812287/2020 ... -final.pdf
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)
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Dominator
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Re: Illinois 2020-21

Post by Dominator »

Not to be a negative Nelly or anything, but aren't these requirements going to be pretty difficult to meet? Thinking back to the classrooms I taught in, I'm not sure it was mathematically possible to have a moderator and 2 teams of 5 each with a coach in one room while keeping 6 feet apart*. And that's before we start considering the limitations of buzzer cord length. And it also makes it very hard for teams to carry alternates.

* But now I'm curious and I wish I had the room dimensions to work it out.
Dr. Noah Prince

Normal Community High School (2002)
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2004, 2007, 2008)

Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy - Scholastic Bowl coach (2009-2014), assistant coach (2014-2015), well wisher (2015-2016)
guy in San Diego (2016-present)
President of Qblitz (2018-present)

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the return of AHAN
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Re: Illinois 2020-21

Post by the return of AHAN »

Dominator wrote: Fri Oct 23, 2020 2:23 pm Not to be a negative Nelly or anything, but aren't these requirements going to be pretty difficult to meet? Thinking back to the classrooms I taught in, I'm not sure it was mathematically possible to have a moderator and 2 teams of 5 each with a coach in one room while keeping 6 feet apart*. And that's before we start considering the limitations of buzzer cord length. And it also makes it very hard for teams to carry alternates.

* But now I'm curious and I wish I had the room dimensions to work it out.
No, Dr. Prince, you are dead on target. The buzzer system problem of tethering players together at a distance of <6 feet can be mitigated with apps and ipad or cell phone based buzzing. But that doesn't solve the 6 feet of spacing between contestants, coaches, and moderators, short of staging matches in the cafeteria or library, or bar schools with tiny classrooms from hosting, never mind the need to bring... no subs? At IHSA regionals, I was able to send in a mop-up squad at halftime of each game to close things out (they'd STILL widen the lead, but not as aggressively). This year? If regionals happen?
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)
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nesland300
Kimahri
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Re: Illinois 2020-21

Post by nesland300 »

I coach at a small school with fairly small classrooms, so the distancing is an issue for us, especially if our conference ends up stubbornly sticking with the whole-conference meets we've done for years instead of switching to 2 team meets. Cafeterias are a potential solution for us, and gyms also come into play if basketball doesn't happen (which seems far from unlikely at this point).
Has there been any thought on conferring on bonuses, or in general any communication that you wouldn't necessarily want your opponent to be able to hear? And does anyone have any experience or thoughts on playing with moderators and players mic'd up? That may be something my school looks into if we end up playing in large, echo-y spaces, distanced and with masks on.

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Ehtna
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Re: Illinois 2020-21

Post by Ehtna »

I can't really see personal mics being useful in this situation. I'll admit it has been a while since I've been in a high school setting, but in my experience using microphones or amplifiers in a cafeteria or gym/multi-purpose room would just cause even more echo, making the issue worse. And if you were to have clothing mics or some other similar kind of mic, that would just be more stuff to clean in between rounds.

In terms of bonus conferral, I'd also be interested to see if anybody had any ideas on this. While it would be nice for teams to be able to silently confer on bonuses, I'm not really sure how that could happen. In my experience playing bouncebacks, we would almost always end up conferring out loud because it's already pretty hard to talk as a team when two players are on opposite ends of a table. Online tournament spaces like Discord and Zoom also don't have this ability for people to silently confer, but I haven't heard of any issues because of that as of yet. So while it would be nice to organize silent conferring, I don't really know if the time spent figuring out how to make it happen would justify the payoff.
Ethan Ashbrook [he/him]
Uni Lab 2020
Minnesota 2024
nesland300
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Re: Illinois 2020-21

Post by nesland300 »

Ehtna wrote: Sat Oct 24, 2020 3:37 pm I can't really see personal mics being useful in this situation. I'll admit it has been a while since I've been in a high school setting, but in my experience using microphones or amplifiers in a cafeteria or gym/multi-purpose room would just cause even more echo, making the issue worse. And if you were to have clothing mics or some other similar kind of mic, that would just be more stuff to clean in between rounds.
I had some of the same concerns. But after listening to kids mumbling into masks the past couple months, I just can't shake the feeling that moderators being able to hear answers is going to be a challenge this year and I'm a bit stumped as to what a solution might be.

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the return of AHAN
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Re: Illinois 2020-21

Post by the return of AHAN »

Socially distancing players in a live setting, in a format where players would need to confer quietly to avoid potential bonus answers being given away, is going to require some creative thinking. Coaches in my conference have discussed trying to run our conference matches via Zoom, with the idea of putting teams in breakout rooms for 10 seconds for each bonus part being floated to permit conferencing on each bonus part. Given how long matches with bonuses that DON'T bounce back last in an online format, I'm guessing every toss-up/bonus cycle would last 2.5 to 3 minutes. That will REALLY drag.
Maybe there's a quick/easy way for players to text while in a live match? A sort of whiteboard app where everyone is writing on the some doc?
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)
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Re: Illinois 2020-21

Post by Stained Diviner »

Zoom can be a whiteboard app that allows students to write on the same doc, but there are all sorts of question security issues with making sure students don't have other windows open, subs and coaches can't write on the whiteboard, and teams don't have access to other teams' whiteboards (especially during Regionals when there are 500 teams playing simultaneously). If the IHSA wants to have its tournament, they should eliminate bonus bouncebacks, and they should consider going 4-on-4. Doing anything in person in Illinois right now is not a good idea, and while the numbers will go up and down between now and March, there is not going to be a widely available vaccine or cure by then, especially for people under 18.

I'll add that it is going to be extremely difficult for the IHSA to find hosts for Regionals and Sectionals.
David Reinstein
Head Writer and Editor for Scobol Solo, Masonics, and IESA; TD for Scobol Solo and Reinstein Varsity; IHSSBCA Board Member; IHSSBCA Chair (2004-2014); PACE President (2016-2018)
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the return of AHAN
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Re: Illinois 2020-21

Post by the return of AHAN »

Mr. Garber seems to have no appetite for rewriting the gameplay rules, presumably without input from the Advisory Committee. This REALLY doesn't bode well for an IESA State Series, given they seem to be taking their cues from IHSA, yet IESA format still literally requires papers that can be passed between the players, the powers that be having resisted the IHSA's reforms when they occurred.
Mr. Endsley has always maintained the members of IESA are in charge of the association and when they want to change things, THAT is when things get changed. I feel it's highly unlikely a live State Finals occurs in 2021, and maybe 25% likely any IESA-sanctioned play occurs, with just regionals, and using special rules that eliminate paper-passing. What that rule would be is anyone's guess, but I'd be stunned if it involved moving away from reading all four bonus parts at once.
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)
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TheAngryBavarian
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Re: Illinois 2020-21

Post by TheAngryBavarian »

A belated congratulations to Jonathan Lau of University Lab on winning Solo.
Zach Roseman
Collinsville (IL) '20
Eastern Illinois University '24
"If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants."-Isaac Newton
TheAngryBavarian
Lulu
Posts: 52
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Re: Illinois 2020-21

Post by TheAngryBavarian »

Hey everyone. I have decided to put together a Mid-Season Poll. Please give your Top 10 teams, along with a reasonably well thought-out reasoning for your rankings.

The Poll will close on WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30TH at 11:59 PM. Any joke/spam ballots will not be counted towards the final results.

https://forms.gle/U7BeF9u65Z2MuQHEA
Zach Roseman
Collinsville (IL) '20
Eastern Illinois University '24
"If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants."-Isaac Newton
Subotai the Valiant, Final Dog of War
Wakka
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Re: Illinois 2020-21

Post by Subotai the Valiant, Final Dog of War »

Just an announcement that LONE STAR will be having its Midwest online mirror on 1/23/2021! Forums post/signup form here: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=24726
Daniel, Hunter College High School '19, Yale '23
TheAngryBavarian
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Re: Illinois 2020-21

Post by TheAngryBavarian »

MID-SEASON POLL RESULTS
1. University Lab A (Urbana) 125 HIGHEST: 1st LOWEST: 2nd
2. Adlai E. Stevenson A (Lincolnshire) 114 HIGHEST: 1st LOWEST: 4th
3. Barrington A 113 HIGHEST: 1st LOWEST: 3rd
4. Buffalo Grove A 92 HIGHEST: 3rd LOWEST: 4th
5. William Fremd A (Palatine) 60 HIGHEST: 5th LOWEST: 7th
T6. IMSA A (Aurora) 56 HIGHEST: 5th LOWEST: 9th
T6. Auburn A (Rockford) 56 HIGHEST: 5th LOWEST: 9th
8. Carl Sandburg A (Orland Park) 46 HIGHEST: 5th LOWEST: Unranked
9. Naperville North A 15 HIGHEST: 8th LOWEST: Unranked
10. Barrington B 8 HIGHEST: 8th LOWEST: Unranked
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: Hinsdale Central A 7, Latin A (Chicago) 5, Macomb A 5, Adlai E. Stevenson B (Lincolnshire) 4

10 Points were given for a 1st place vote, 9 for 2nd, on down to 1 for 10th
Zach Roseman
Collinsville (IL) '20
Eastern Illinois University '24
"If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants."-Isaac Newton
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Re: Illinois 2020-21

Post by MLaudermith »

Since no one has posted on it yet, let me congratulate the teams who won IHSA sectionals on Saturday. I'm very glad you were able to compete despite present difficulties.

Class A:
Williamsville
Peru St. Bede
Albion Edwards County
Champaign St. Thomas More
Keith Country Day
DuQuoin
Piasa Southwestern
Timothy Christian

Class AA:
Alton
Buffalo Grove
Herscher
Hinsdale Central
Springfield
Naperville North
Sandburg
Rockford Auburn

I'm sorry that the official Scholastic Bowl season ended without State Finals. It would have been great to see all these teams in Bloomington. I don't think IHSA ever published what the finals pools would have been (please correct me if I'm wrong), but I would be curious to hear any speculation about how the results would have shaken out with this group of teams.

Not to detract from any of the above winners, but I also wish the state series could have been conducted in a way to allow more teams to participate. Obviously, a significant number of teams could/would not compete at regionals. I believe I saw only one regional listed with the typical complement of teams. Here is where I am interested in the opinions of players and coaches: Would you have welcomed an online IHSA state series, or would concerns over cheating have tainted the legitimacy of such a tournament?

Lastly, I'd like to hear reactions from players/coaches on the question set. I was one of the writers, contributing Science to both the regional and sectional rounds, along with History, Religion, and Visual Fine Arts to the sectional rounds.
Mike Laudermith, Fenton High School
IHSSBCA Member-at-Large

"Where can you belt back a fifth of scotch on the Firth of Forth?"
--geography tossup from the pioneering days of Illinois Scholastic Bowl
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