National Championships
About
The American Quizbowl League is proud to announce the newest National Quizbowl Championship: the Online National Championship Tournament! The event will, tentatively, take place on Discord on Saturday and Sunday, June 26 and 27, 2021.
The tournament will be directed by Aalok Bhattacharya, the AQBL Tournament Coordinator.
We are currently seeking staffers of all types to assist at the ONCT. If you are interested or have questions about staffing, please fill out this form with basic information and we will be in touch shortly!
Questions and Format
The ONCT uses the Southeast-Midwest Housewrite, with Nationals-difficulty questions throughout, the hardest questions we use for any of our events.
We're not certain of the exact format yet, but every participating team is guaranteed 16 or 17 rounds of play over two days. Each game consists of 20 tossups and 20 three-part bonuses.
How to Qualify
The top 15% of teams at our novice events and the top 25% of teams at our harder events will qualify for the ONCT.
Finally, you can apply for wildcard or standby status starting in February 2021.
Costs and Fees
The flat fee for each team is $250, due either at the time of registration or, if paying by check or purchase order, two weeks prior to the event. $75 late fees will be assessed to any team registering less than two weeks prior to the event. An additional $100 late fee will be assessed to any team whose payment is not recieved two weeks prior to the event. A 3% surcharge will be assessed to Credit Card and PayPal payments.
Discounts are available for schools with a demonstrated need; contact us for details.
Rules
The ONCT will use the American Quizbowl League's Ruleset B in addition to the standard eligibility guidelines. Since our regional events all use Ruleset A, there are some differences between the two, and teams should familiarize themselves with Ruleset B if they will be competing at the ONCT.
Most notably, all players must have a webcam on at all times, wihtout exception. The Scorekeeper must be able to see the player's hands at all times. See the rules for more details.
Note that we were set to require USB buzzers to be used at the ONCT. This is no longer a requirement; after additional testing, we found this was not necessary. Players can still optionally use one if they would like
Correctness guidelines are also far more strict in Ruleset B.
In short, Ruleset A makes the events much more casual, but Ruleset B is more appropriate for high-stakes tournaments like the ONCT.
Subject Distribution
The distribution of the set will approximately be: 4 literature tossups and bonuses per packet 4 history tossups and bonuses per packet 4 science tossups and bonuses per packet 3.5 tossups and bonuses per packet of the categories Religion, Mythology, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences (RMPSS) per packet 3 fine arts tossups and bonuses per packet 1.5 geography, current events, and trash (pop culture) tossups and bonuses per packet A more detailed distribution can be found here
Registration
Registration will open on February 1, 2021. Qualified teams will be informed at that time, and a link will be on this page.
Qualified Teams
| Team | Team | Team | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Team | Team | Team |
| Phillips Exeter Academy | Lambert High School | The Hotchkiss School | Choate Rosemary Hall |
| East Brunswick High School | "WAMS" | "Westminster Abbey" | Hastings High School |
| Howard Middle School | Vista del Lago High School | Talented and Gifted Magnet School | Detroit Country Day School (2) |
| Raleigh Charter High School | Detroit Catholic Central High School (2) | The Kinkaid School (2) | Russellville High School |
| "Monticello" (2) | Columbia River High School | Barrington High School (2) | Boulder High School |
| Biotechnology High School (2) | Charter School of Wilmington | Solon High School (2) | Troy High School (MI) |
| Chattahoochee High School | White Station High School (2) | Middlesex Middle School | West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North |
| Winston Churchill High School | Marlboro High School | University School of Nashville | Mira Loma High School |
| Lowell High School | East Chapel Hill High School | Baker High School | Hoover High School |
| St. Mark's School of Texas | Ward Melville High School | Ladue Horton Watkins High School | DeWitt High School |
| Stanton College Preparatory School | Troy High School (CA) | Viewpoint School | Los Altos High School |
| Harvard-Westlake School | Longfellow Middle School | Winston Churchill Middle School | Montgomery High School |
| James S. Rickards High School | West Essex High School | Northern Highlands Regional High School | Wissahickon High School |
| River Hill High School (2) | Pingry School | Woodrow Wilson High School | Kellenberg Memorial High School |
| Bronx High School of Science | Greenhill School | Mount Lebanon High School | Arlington High School |
| Stuyvesant High School | DuPont Manual High School | Johns Creek High School | North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics |
| Community School of Naples | Great Valley High School | La Jolla High School | Toledo School for the Arts |
| Copley High School | Westview High School (OR) |
Current Field
Registration is open! Registered teams will appear here.
Hoover High School
La Jolla High School
North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics
"Scalene Triangle"
St. Mark's School of Texas
Talented and Gifted Magnet School
Toledo School for the Arts
Troy High School (MI)
University of Toronto Schools
Ward Melville High School
West Essex High School
Westview High School (CA)
Winston Churchill High School