Online Tournament Guide
Announcement
This page of NAQT’s online tournament guide details topics specific to online competition that should be part of a tournament announcement (via email, web pages, and anywhere else information about the tournament is shared).
Like all tournament announcements, you should include…
- Dates/times
- Rules
- Eligibility policy
- Fee structure
- Question set(s) that will be used
- The school or organization, and the specific person, running the tournament
- Requirements for chaperones
- Whether invitations are required
- Whether coaches or chaperones are also required to act as staff
- Registration limits (e.g., no more than two teams per school)
- Contact information and instructions on how to register
However, announcements for online tournaments should also mention…
- The fact that it is online
- Whether registration is restricted in other ways, e.g., to “local” teams (by some measure)
- Whether this online tournament guide is being followed (if it is, provide a link to it)
- Major deviations from this guide, such as using a different videoconferencing platforms, the use of gameplay rules other than the Official NAQT Rules with the rule changes for online play, or requirements for particular videoconferencing equipment
- The time zone for times mentioned in the announcement. Online tournaments with geographically limited fields may be able to skip this, but those spanning time zones should take care to explicitly label each time with its zone.
- The fact that online tournaments make it easier to accidentally register for multiple tournaments using the same question set, so coaches should be especially vigilant in tracking the sets to be used for all of their competitions to make sure there is no overlap
Subsequent communications to interested teams should also include…
- What experience with online tournaments, if any, team-provided staff will be expected to have
- What training for online tournaments, if any, team-provided staff will be expected to undergo
- A more detailed description of deviations from this guide (if any)
- Whether there is an opening meeting that all players and coaches should attend
- The channels by which information and last-minute changes and will be distributed during the tournament. For instance, a tournament may require a member of each team to check a certain webpage or require that coaches watch their email to be ready to forward information to their players.
- How players and coaches can contact the tournament director during the tournament (preferably both an email address and a phone number)