We will run a High School Division on NAQT IS-233 and a Middle School Division on NAQT MS-53. Special thanks to NAQT for providing us the MS set for free as part of their free questions offer—this will be the first major Massachusetts middle school tournament since 2019!
Registration & Fees
Teams should register by March 26th @ 3:00 PM ET using this form. Staffers may register here. All staffers will receive free lunch and compensation (in the form of community service hours, a staffer discount for a team, or a $25 payment).
Base fee: $90/team or $70/new team (has not played pyramidal quizbowl since 9/1/2022)
Buzzer discount: -$5/complete working system
Travel discount: -$10/100 miles one-way, as determined by Google Maps
Staff discount: -$25/staffer
There is a minimum fee of $0 per school.
Teams who cancel after March 26th @ 3:00 PM ET must pay the full fee, barring extenuating circumstances. Teams are expected to pay within a month of the tournament via Venmo, Zelle, cash, or check. Payment info will be provided in invoices sent in the registration confirmation email.
The form will ask for a pizza order ESTIMATE. Actual pizza orders will be taken through a separate form sent out in a pre-tournament logistics email.
Rules
Rosters are capped at 6 players per team, but only 4 players may play at once. We will use NAQT gameplay rules with some modifications (e.g. untimed rounds). Teams must be composed of players from the same school (i.e. no "chimeras" or open teams) and from the class of 2025 or younger.
Format
We will start with a combined field cap of 36 teams, to be raised with sufficient interest and staff. We are expecting to need lots of staff!
Check-in will be from 8:20 AM to 8:50 AM. The tournament will start around 9:00 AM and end around 6:00 PM. Teams will be guaranteed at least 8 games. We will have rounds of 20 tossups and 20 three-part-bonuses. 15-point powers and negative-5-point interrupt penalties (“negs”) are in play. There is no computational math. We will have live stats (up-to-the-game).
This tournament will be a qualifier for the NAQT HSNCT, meaning the top 15% of teams in the High School Division (rounded up) will qualify for high school quizbowl nationals! Similarly, this tournament will be a qualifier for the NAQT MSNCT, meaning the top 15% of teams in the Middle School Division (rounded up) will qualify for middle school quizbowl nationals. Finally, this tournament is a pending PACE qualifier, meaning the top 20% of teams will likely qualify for the National Scholastic Championship in June.
Prizes
The winner of the tournament in each division will receive a trophy. Top scorers will receive a panda sticker and/or a book prize.
Conduct
Anyone involved with the tournament, including but not limited to: coaches, parents, players, staff, tournament directors, and spectators must adhere to the PACE Code of Conduct and the NAQT Honor Code. Misconduct should be reported to this form and/or sent to [email protected].
Contact
Please direct questions to [email protected]. We hope to see your team in Belmont at the end of March for our flagship tournament!
