Qualifying for the HSNCT
Automatic Qualification
There are four ways in which a school may qualify for the NAQT High School National Championship Tournament (HSNCT):
Finishing in the top 15% of the field at a high school varsity tournament using NAQT questions. A list of upcoming events is available on the NAQT website. This computation "rounds up," so a tournament with 15 teams results in three (2.25 rounded up) invitations. This includes traditional one-day tournaments, quiz bowl leagues, televised tournaments, and all other events that use questions provided by NAQT whether or not they use NAQT's official format and rules. In general, every team tied for a spot in the top 15% receives an invitation, though NAQT reserves the right to break ties reported by the host at its own discretion (and so award fewer berths). NAQT also reserves the right to declare individual tournaments as "non-qualifiers" if they have eligibility policies designed to exclude teams or players on the basis of ability.
Finishing as the highest-placed team at an NAQT State Championship or NAQT State Qualifier that had not qualified for the HSNCT prior to the state tournament. Therefore every NAQT State Championship/Qualifier will always qualify at least one new team for the HSNCT (unless every team in attendance had already qualified). Of course, the top 15% of the field at a State Championship (or State Qualifier) will qualify normally.
Being the top team from a small (public) school (by NAQT's definition) at any high school varsity event using NAQT questions, so long as the team also finishes at least tied for the median position in the overall standings. In other words, the top team from a small public school will receive an invitation if it also finishes in the top half of the overall field (or tied for it).
Winning any class or division of an official state championship with rules and questions similar to those of NAQT.
If a tournament divides its field into varsity and junior varsity divisions (or similar divisions based on skill) that don't compete against each other, then only teams from the varsity division may qualify for the HSNCT, but the number that qualify will be equal to 15% of the total field from both divisions. If there are 10 varsity and 10 junior-varsity teams, then a total of 3 teams will qualify ((10 + 10) x 15% = 3), but they will all come from the varsity division. Winners of junior varsity divisions are encouraged to apply for wildcards.
If a tournament divides its field into divisions based on school size that don't compete against each other, then each division will be considered a separate tournament for the sake of qualification. If 10 "class A" schools and 16 "class B" schools attend, then two (10 x (15%) = 1.5, rounds to 2) "class A" schools and three (16 x (15%) = 2.4, rounds to 3) "class B" schools will qualify for the HSNCT.
In order to qualify multiple teams from the same school for the HSNCT, they must attend the same tournament and qualify independently. Teams that qualify at different tournaments--even if composed of entirely different students--do not provide their school with more than one berth at the HSNCT. Wildcard consideration will be given to additional teams from the same school that have demonstrated a high quality of play throughout the year.
Please note that the NAQT High School National Championship has a limited field size. It is likely that the entire field will fill, perhaps as early as April, and that some teams that wish to attend may not be able to. Teams are encouraged to register as soon as they know that they have earned a berth (and have secured funding). A limited number of tournaments (mostly State Championships) may have national championship berths reserved for their winners.
NAQT reserves the right to designate additional tournaments as qualifiers for the HSNCT as it sees fit. Please note that this is a very rare occurrence and has only been done once in the last five years.
Wildcard Qualification
Beginning February 1 of each year, NAQT accepts "wildcard" applications from schools that did not qualify under the above criteria but whose teams have demonstrated a high quality of play in academic competition throughout the year. Particular consideration will be given to schools that, for geographical regions, had difficulty attending NAQT tournaments. NAQT will begin contacting wildcard teams whose applications have been accepted after February 1.
NAQT reserves the right to accept wildcard applications at any time after they have been submitted; that is, NAQT may accept particularly strong applications immediately but may postpone making a decisions on others until further tournaments have completed or it has a better idea how many HSNCT spots will be taken by automatic qualifiers. Teams may inquire as to the status of their request at any time. NAQT understands that wildcard teams need to know whether or not they can attend the tournament as soon as possible and will make every effort to contact teams as soon as a final decision has been made about their request.
Since NAQT's 192-team field filled in 2009, it is very likely that wildcard berths will be harder to get at the 2010 tournament. Schools interested in participating in the event, should make every possible effort to qualify at an NAQT event (or their non-NAQT state championship) rather than relying on strong performance at non-NAQT events to generate a wildcard.
Schools should contact NAQT to seek wildcard berths by e-mail at hsnct@naqt.com or by phone at 1.888.411.6278.
Due to MSHSAA rules, teams from Missouri are ineligible to receive wildcard berths.
Miscellaneous
Tournament directors may allow teams composed of students from different schools to compete (and possibly even win) their events, but such mixed teams are ineligible to receive HSNCT bids and will not be counted to determine the size of the event's field.
Standby Bids
Teams located near the tournament site may be interested in attending on a standby basis.