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Competitions in Northern Missouri

Discussion of quizbowl topics not related to specific tournaments
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nhscody
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Jun 20, 2012 12:09 am

Competitions in Northern Missouri

Post by nhscody »

Hey, my name is Cody and I'm from Central Academy in Des Moines, Iowa. I'm really interested in attending some tournaments in Missouri next year, since Iowa had a total of three good QB tournaments this year and I don't think next year is looking great, either.

First, to attend a novice tournament, what are the requirements? My team went to its first competition ever this year and we don't even have a coach, but our team will have three seniors and a junior (me) next year, so it really is a novice team, but I'm not sure if it is considered one.

The next question is what tournaments are close? My high school is in central Iowa, so distance is a big factor. Is there a calendar somewhere?

One last thing: We may or may not even have a coach for our team. If we end up without one, will this be a problem?

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Mickey0R0urke
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Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2011 12:42 am
Location: Pacific, MO

Re: Competitions in Northern Missouri

Post by Mickey0R0urke »

As someone who is stationed in Northern Missouri, I would certainly welcome you guys to any tournament in Missouri you would want to attend. Generally, Northwestern Missouri has the Savannah tournament, which was run on an A-set last year and attracted mainly NW teams, along with 1 Nebraska team and some Iowa teams.

Northeastern Missouri is going to have some events this year. Kirksville High School is going to be hosting on January 12 using an A-set (and if you PM me your e-mail, I will include you in my outreach e-mail). Truman State (my college club) will also be hosting on March 16, and we would love for you guys to attend if you want to.

If you want to play a novice tournament, you will have to go to probably Central MO or someplace like that, since the northeast doesn't really play until January and I have absolutely no idea about the Northwest.

Generally, MSHSAA does require the paperwork for an out of state team to attend a tournament about a month in advance (I'm not sure where that is located, can someone who has had to fill that form out post a link to it?)

I do think you should be fine as long as you have a chaperone with you, too (it's possible I'm wrong, someone should feel free to correct me if I am).

Also, if you want some more things to play, depending on how far you want to travel, there are things in the Columbia area all the time. Your best bet is to check the MOQBA calendar (http://www.moqba.org/calendar/), which will get updated much later in the summer, when tournaments have announced their dates.

Also, if you have any more questions, feel free to post. We'd love to help you guys get more experience playing good quizbowl.
Last edited by Mickey0R0urke on Wed Jun 20, 2012 1:27 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Charlie Dees
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Joined: Wed Jul 26, 2006 12:00 am
Location: Columbia, MO

Re: Competitions in Northern Missouri

Post by Charlie Dees »

Very cool to hear this! Yeah, unfortunately right now Iowa is not looking so hot for quizbowl, although there is actually one other player from a high school in southern Iowa on the boards, and they are looking into hosting something in the near future.

As for northern MO, the closest stuff to you is probably a few tournaments in Kirksville, at Kirksville HS and Truman State, which I think will be happening from January to March. There was also a tournament in Savannah that used NAQT questions, which would be probably an extra half hour drive. All of these tournaments should be at a very accessible difficulty for new teams like yours, because they are catering to areas that in general aren't too strong, so there would surely be no problem with your team entering unless they use explicity rules banning people based on their grades. If you are already willing to travel overnight, I might also suggest taking a trip to a Mizzou tournament once - it's 90 minutes further down US-63 from Kirksville. The fields at MU historically have much much MUCH stronger teams than any of the other options I mentioned, so it would be a really good opportunity to see some higher level competition, especially if you find some younger teammates to bring along and are interested in building a team that might be going to nationals in the next couple years.

As for your coaching situation, I honestly have no idea what MSHSAA would say, because Iowa has different rules and it wouldn't make sense for them to impose their rules on your state. I would strongly recommend finding a coach if you can though, because coaches can really help make sure there is strong institutional continuity, and can do things like learn how to direct tournaments and establish annual events to raise your team money and spread the gospel of good quizbowl in your own area.

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Mickey0R0urke
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Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2011 12:42 am
Location: Pacific, MO

Re: Competitions in Northern Missouri

Post by Mickey0R0urke »

I would be perfectly fine if you guys have a chaperone if you attend Kirksville High School's tournament (I'm directing the tournament), and please feel free to send me an e-mail if you want to talk more or have any questions about the two tournaments i mentioned-my e-mail is jacob.orourke.7@gmail.com.

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