2009 High School State Championship Host Requirements

State championships must be held between February 1, 2009, and May 15, 2009. Interested hosts should e-mail hosting@naqt.com by May 31, 2008, to indicate their desire to host. NAQT prefers state tournament dates that fall between March 7, 2009, and April 25, 2009, but realizes that earlier (or later) events may be better suited to local schedules. Interested hosts should indicate the reasons why they believe that the date that they have selected is optimal for their region.

State championships must be run according to NAQT rules with one exception: They may be untimed. Hosts who fear that they might be short on clocks may contact NAQT in order to rent some.

In the case of collegiate hosts, the application must be made by two team members (or one coach/advisor) who plan on remaining with the host institution throughout the 2008-2009 competition year and who intend to take an active role in the planning and execution of the event. At least one of the hosting applicants must be planning to or willing to serve as the tournament director of the event. In the case of high school hosts, the application must be made by a single coach or faculty member who intends to take an active role in the planning and execution of the event.

NAQT must be provided with mailing addresses, e-mail addresses, and phone numbers for the applicant(s) as well as general contact information for their club and its advisor.

The format used for the tournament must guarantee teams at least six games. Fifteen packets will be provided by NAQT. It is suggested, but not required, that formats follow NAQT's policies on allowed tie-breakers and elimination.

Hosts may offer separate competitions for different divisions based on school size or other criteria.

Hosts are responsible for purchasing and awarding trophies and other prizes for the event. The precise nature of the awards to be given is left up to the host.

State Championships and Qualifiers are intended to be a major way in which teams qualify for the High School National Championship Tournament (HSNCT).

State Championships and Qualifiers are restricted to teams from a single state unless prior arrangements have been made with NAQT.

The tournament is expected to be billed as the "NAQT Texas Championship" (for example), except in states where an existing (government-run) state championship objects to its use; here the event should be billed as the "NAQT Texas Qualifier."

Statistics must be reported to NAQT in accordance with its official results reporting guidelines.

NAQT provides questions for its high school championships at no cost to the host team. The host is expected to distribute one copy of the questions to each participating school at no additional charge.

Hosts may set an appropriate entry fee taking into account their costs of copying, room rental, food, and other expenses. The base fee is expected to lie between $50.00 and $100.00 per team.

Hosts must make a preliminary announcement including contact information and approximate schedule by December 12, 2008, on the relevant online quizbowl forums and by e-mail to likely attendees. It is hoped that hosts will make a postal announcement to likely attendees as well; NAQT will make its mailing list available for such publicity.

Hosts must make a full announcement including contact information, schedule, format, suggesting housing, tournament location, fees, included meals, special events, and any other relevant information by January 9, 2009, on the relevant online quizbowl forums and to interested schools and likely attendees.

Hosts are expected to make appropriate updates on online forums, to NAQT, and to registered teams as to the current and estimated size of the field and the situation with respect to having sufficient staff, buzzer systems, and visible clocks.

NAQT considers an average of 20 tossups read per round with no game having fewer than 18 tossups read to be "satisfactory," assuming that these numbers aren't obtained by sacrificing quality of gameplay. If State Championships are run untimed, they should use 20-question games (10-question halves).

Finally, State Championship staff are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner while planning and administering NAQT tournaments. This includes, but is not limited to, sending prompt and informative responses to interested and registered teams, attempting to accommodate reasonable requirements of individual teams, dressing appropriately, and refraining from offensive or abusive behavior while interacting with teams.

NAQT State Championships may be chosen as qualifying events by other organizations running national championship tournaments, but if the other organization wishes to brand the tournament in any fashion or get involved in any way that publicizes itself, NAQT will need to review and approve such participation by January 1, 2009.

Please send any questions about these requirements to NAQT at naqt@naqt.com. To express interest in hosting, e-mail NAQT at hosting@naqt.com.