How Collegiate Quizbowl Works - Revision history

Kevin Wang: /* Other/independent question sets */

2021-10-26T17:55:35Z

Other/independent question sets

Kevin Wang at 17:55, 26 October 2021

2021-10-26T17:55:24Z

Ethan Ashbrook at 04:02, 17 June 2021

2021-06-17T04:02:32Z

Alejandro Lopez-Lago: Fix more dead links

2020-03-29T19:15:35Z

Fix more dead links

Alejandro Lopez-Lago: Remove dead links

2020-03-29T19:02:38Z

Remove dead links

Chris Chiego at 09:38, 29 June 2017

2017-06-29T09:38:15Z

David Reinstein: /* Tournaments */

2013-07-31T23:37:51Z

Tournaments

David Reinstein: /* Funding */

2013-07-23T19:15:03Z

Funding

Matt Jackson: part 3 and done. I'd like to think this is much better now.

2013-07-22T20:47:32Z

part 3 and done. I'd like to think this is much better now.

Show changes

Matt Jackson: part 2.

2013-07-22T16:50:48Z

part 2.

@@ Line 57: / Line 57: @@
 === Other/independent question sets ===
-Many invitational tournaments exist during the year which are not run by either NAQT or ACF. Most of these tournaments are written/edited by one or two college teams that work together to produce questions or solicit questions from playing teams in the [[packet-submission]] model (described above in the ACF section). Almost all independent tournaments imitate ACF's style of question writing and distribution of [[:Category:Subjects|subjects]] within packets, though some may make modifications such as the addition of [[powers]] to tossup questions. (This used to be called "modified ACF," or "[[mACF]].") Independent tournaments may set their own eligibility restrictions, either on a national basis or a host-by-host basis.
+Many invitational tournaments exist during the year which are not run by either NAQT or ACF. Most of these tournaments are written/edited by one or two college teams that work together to produce questions or solicit questions from playing teams in the [[packet-submission]] model (described above in the ACF section). Almost all independent tournaments imitate ACF's style of question writing and distribution of [[subjects]] within packets, though some may make modifications such as the addition of [[powers]] to tossup questions. (This used to be called "modified ACF," or "[[mACF]].") Independent tournaments may set their own eligibility restrictions, either on a national basis or a host-by-host basis.
 Because talented/interested question writers and [[editor]]s cycle in and out of the college quizbowl game with time, the exact schedule of independent events changes somewhat from year to year. Many long-surviving independent tournaments include [[Penn Bowl]], organized by [[Penn]], the [[Minnesota Undergraduate Tournament]] organized by students and alumni of the University of [[Minnesota]], and the [[Terrapin Invitational Tournament]], "organized" by the University of [[Maryland]].
 ==Tournaments==

@@ Line 57: / Line 57: @@
 === Other/independent question sets ===
-Many invitational tournaments exist during the year which are not run by either NAQT or ACF. Most of these tournaments are written/edited by one or two college teams that work together to produce questions or solicit questions from playing teams in the [[packet-submission]] model (described above in the ACF section). Almost all independent tournaments imitate ACF's style of question writing and distribution of [[Category:Subjects|subjects]] within packets, though some may make modifications such as the addition of [[powers]] to tossup questions. (This used to be called "modified ACF," or "[[mACF]].") Independent tournaments may set their own eligibility restrictions, either on a national basis or a host-by-host basis.
+Many invitational tournaments exist during the year which are not run by either NAQT or ACF. Most of these tournaments are written/edited by one or two college teams that work together to produce questions or solicit questions from playing teams in the [[packet-submission]] model (described above in the ACF section). Almost all independent tournaments imitate ACF's style of question writing and distribution of [[:Category:Subjects|subjects]] within packets, though some may make modifications such as the addition of [[powers]] to tossup questions. (This used to be called "modified ACF," or "[[mACF]].") Independent tournaments may set their own eligibility restrictions, either on a national basis or a host-by-host basis.
 Because talented/interested question writers and [[editor]]s cycle in and out of the college quizbowl game with time, the exact schedule of independent events changes somewhat from year to year. Many long-surviving independent tournaments include [[Penn Bowl]], organized by [[Penn]], the [[Minnesota Undergraduate Tournament]] organized by students and alumni of the University of [[Minnesota]], and the [[Terrapin Invitational Tournament]], "organized" by the University of [[Maryland]].

@@ Line 33: / Line 33: @@
 ===[[ACF]]===
-'''ACF''', or the Academic Competition Federation, is a loosely centralized organization that provides three high-quality academic tournaments each year. Games of ACF quizbowl are played on packets of 20 tosssups and 20 bonuses, un[[timed]]. The three sets provided by ACF are:
+'''ACF''', or the Academic Competition Federation, is a loosely centralized organization that provides four high-quality academic tournaments each year. Games of ACF quizbowl are played on packets of 20 tosssups and 20 bonuses, un[[timed]]. The four sets provided by ACF are:
 *[[ACF Fall]], a novice-difficulty tournament, which typically runs on the first or second weekend in November. This tournament is strongly recommended for newer teams.
 *[[ACF Regionals]], a [[regular-difficulty]] tournament, which typically takes place in February.
 *[[ACF Nationals]], is a difficult tournament, which typically takes place in April at only one site for the entire country.  With NAQT's ICT (see below), it is one of the two national championships for college quizbowl teams.

@@ Line 110: / Line 110: @@
 Some tournaments throughout the year will be [[packet-submission]], requiring attendees to write a packet of questions to attend. Discounts to the entry fee are typically given for questions submitted eight weeks and six weeks before the tournament, and additional penalty fees added for questions submitted less than four weeks before the tournament.  New teams may operate on different schedules and are always encouraged to submit a packet regardless of whether one is necessary.
-For more information on writing questions, please see [[Jerry Vinokurov]]'s excellent treatise on [[How to Write Questions]]. It's also essential to consult the official ACF on distributing, writing, and style-formatting your packet; other tournament hosts are likely to have the same standards [http://acf-quizbowl.com/documents/2012-13-packet-submission-guidelines/] [http://acf-quizbowl.com/documents/2013-14-packet-submission-guidelines/].
+For more information on writing questions, please see [[Jerry Vinokurov]]'s excellent treatise on [[How to Write Questions]]. It's also essential to consult the official ACF on distributing, writing, and style-formatting your packet; other tournament hosts are likely to have the same standards [https://acf-quizbowl.com/packet-submission-guidelines/].
 If one school is sending multiple teams of different people to the same tournament (e.g. the University of Chicago sends a "Chicago A" team of Seth and Selene, and a "Chicago B" team of Michael and David), it is '''essential''' that those separate teams share ''no information'' with each other about the contents of their submitted packets (neither Seth nor Selene may say anything to Michael or David - or any other competing team - about their packet, or vice versa). Obtaining information about another team's packet and failing to report the mistake constitutes [[cheating]].
@@ Line 122: / Line 122: @@
 The ideal round of quizbowl takes about 25 minutes on the [[clock]] (factoring in pauses, halftime, etc. to a 20-minute game) and 25 to 30 minutes for an untimed game, depending on the skill level of teams involved. Given this ideal length and a lunch break of about an hour, it is entirely possible for a well-run tournament to finish ten rounds by 4 PM; however, travel delays, time spent walking to new rooms between games, possible slow moderators, and other miscellaneous issues such as [[protest]]s should lead teams planning travel to assume that tournaments will end much later - usually between 6 and 7 PM for the average regional event.
-See [http://acf-quizbowl.com/documents/474-2/ this page on the ACF website] for short descriptions of suggested schedules for use at tournaments of varying sizes.
+See [https://acf-quizbowl.com/formats/ this page on the ACF website] for short descriptions of suggested schedules for use at tournaments of varying sizes.
 ==External Links==

@@ Line 133: / Line 133: @@
 ===Packet Archives===
 *[http://collegiate.quizbowlpackets.com Collegiate Packet Archive]
 *[http://quizbowl.stanford.edu/archive Stanford Packet Archive] (highly out of date)
 ===Communication===

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 ==Introduction==
-This article is designed as an introduction to [[quizbowl]] as it is played on the collegiate level.  If you are completely new to the game, you should look at the article on [[quizbowl]] to familiarize yourself with the game before returning to this guide.
+This article is designed as an introduction to [[quizbowl]] as it is played on the collegiate level.  If you are completely new to the game, you should look at the article on [[quizbowl]] to familiarize yourself with the game before returning to this guide. Note that people currently involved in quizbowl are usually more than happy to discuss the process of starting a quizbowl team and connect you to other quizbowl players in your region, so feel free to ask questions in the [http://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewforum.php?f=45 quizbowl forum for new collegiate teams].
 ''This guide may not define all of the terms it uses'';  please either click the hyperlink to the article on that term, or use the '''[[:Category:Quizbowl basics|Quizbowl basics]]''' and [[:Category:Quizbowl lingo|Quizbowl lingo]] categories as a glossary if need arises.
 ==A Few Basics==
@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 ===[[Quizbowl]]===
-Collegiate quizbowl involves two teams of up to four players competing on questions in '''[[tossup/bonus format]]'''. All college tournaments use [[tossup]]s with multiple clues in descending order of difficulty, so teams that know more about the answer can buzz in first (i.e. the tossups are [[pyramidal]]). Links to several videos of [[2013 ACF Nationals]] are available [http://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=14419 here], which may give you an idea of what quizbowl (at a ''very'' high level) looks like before you read the rest of this article.
+Collegiate quizbowl involves two teams of up to four players competing on questions in '''[[tossup/bonus format]]'''. All college tournaments use [[tossup]]s with multiple clues in descending order of difficulty, so teams that know more about the answer can buzz in first (i.e. the tossups are [[pyramidal]]). Links to several videos of [[2013 ACF Nationals]] are available [http://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=14419 here], which may give you an idea of what quizbowl (at a ''very'' high level--these are extremely hard questions) looks like before you read the rest of this article.
 ===[[The circuit|The Circuit]]===
@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 ===[[Team|The Clubs]]===
 If you want to play quizbowl, you're most likely going to have to join a '''club''' (or '''team''') at your college or university.  A quizbowl club is responsible for organizing practices, running tournaments, and coordinating attendance at tournaments, as well as managing the funds, at the school in question.
-See the (soon-to-be-created) article on [[How to start a collegiate quizbowl club]].
+See NAQT's [https://www.naqt.com/HowTo/start-a-college-team.html guide to starting a college quizbowl club] or the (soon-to-be-created) article on [[How to start a collegiate quizbowl club]].
 ===Communication===
-Almost all quizbowl communication is currently done via the Internet.  The primary place for national discussion of quizbowl is on the '''[http://hsquizbowl.org/forums/ forums]'''. Most tournaments take registrations by email. In addition, players from around the country frequent the [[quizbowl IRC channel]].  Most clubs and some areas of the circuit also create their own e-mail mailing lists for sending messages about upcoming tournaments and the like.
+Almost all quizbowl communication is currently done via the Internet.  The primary place for national discussion of quizbowl is on the '''[http://hsquizbowl.org/forums/ forums]''', which is also the site for almost all tournament announcements. Registering for tournaments usually is as simple as sending an email. In addition, players from around the country frequent the [[quizbowl IRC channel]].  Most clubs and some areas of the circuit also create their own e-mail mailing lists for sending messages about upcoming tournaments and the like.
-Your best source of information will be the [[hsquizbowl.org forums]], in particular the Collegiate Announcements and Results and Collegiate Discussion sub-forums. (There is also a section for New Collegiate Teams specifically to get advice about their areas.) You should try to make sure that someone in your club is checking the forums on at least a weekly basis, so that your club is up-to-date on the latest happenings on the circuit.  '''If you have a question about any aspect of collegiate quizbowl after reading this guide, you are encouraged to register for the forums and post your question in the Collegiate Discussion section''', but please read the forum rules before posting.
+Your best source of information on the [[hsquizbowl.org forums]] will be the Collegiate Announcements and Results and Collegiate Discussion sub-forums. (There is also a section for New Collegiate Teams specifically to get advice about their areas.) You should try to make sure that someone in your club is checking the forums on at least a weekly basis, so that your club is up-to-date on the latest happenings on the circuit.
 ==Question Sets==
-The questions used in collegiate quizbowl may come from [[ACF]], from [[NAQT]], or be written independently.
+The questions used in collegiate quizbowl may come from [[ACF]], from [[NAQT]], or be written independently. All of them are [[pyramidal]]-style questions, but they do vary in terms of their difficulty and distribution.
 ===[[ACF]]===
 '''ACF''', or the Academic Competition Federation, is a loosely centralized organization that provides three high-quality academic tournaments each year. Games of ACF quizbowl are played on packets of 20 tosssups and 20 bonuses, un[[timed]]. The three sets provided by ACF are:
-*[[ACF Fall]], a novice-difficulty tournament, which typically runs on the first or second weekend in November.
+*[[ACF Fall]], a novice-difficulty tournament, which typically runs on the first or second weekend in November. This tournament is strongly recommended for newer teams.
 *[[ACF Regionals]], a [[regular-difficulty]] tournament, which typically takes place in February.
 *[[ACF Nationals]], is a difficult tournament, which typically takes place in April at only one site for the entire country.  With NAQT's ICT (see below), it is one of the two national championships for college quizbowl teams.
@@ Line 40: / Line 42: @@
 ====[[Collegiate Novice]]====
-Sponsored by [[ACF]] and founded by [[Andrew Hart]], who has edited the first four incarnations, Collegiate Novice is meant to be many players' first exposure to collegiate quizbowl. Thus, strict eligibility requirements keep the tournament restricted to truly novice players, and difficulty and length are kept strictly under control. Many new writers are encouraged to get experience by writing for Collegiate Novice. Collegiate Novice sites are set up across the country each year in September and early October, so new players can attend their first tournament at a nearby school.
+There are sometimes special novice-only tournaments designed for new teams. Consult the forums to see if those are happening this year as well as [https://www.naqt.com/schedule.jsp?coll=yes NAQT's collegiate schedule].
 ===[[NAQT]]===
@@ Line 48: / Line 50: @@
 *[[ICT|Intercollegiate Championship Tournament]] (ICT) is a national-difficulty tournament, and typically takes place in late March or early April. Teams must qualify for the ICT by performing well at their region's Sectional; SCT performances are converted into a number called the [[D-value]] which determines the invited teams.  ICT and ACF Nationals (see above) are the two national championships.
-Each of NAQT's college tournaments features Division I, in which any university students from the same school may play on the team, and a restricted Division II, which uses easier questions and restricts eligibility to newer or less-experienced players.
+Each of NAQT's college tournaments features Division I, in which any university students from the same school may play on the team, and a restricted Division II, which uses easier questions and restricts eligibility to newer or less-experienced players. Division II SCT is also highly recommended for newer teams.
-Notable quirks of the NAQT format include a higher emphasis on [[current events]], [[geography]], and popular culture. NAQT's questions are typically shorter than ACF's.
+Notable quirks of the NAQT format include a higher emphasis on [[current events]], [[geography]], and popular culture. NAQT's questions are typically shorter than ACF's and include [[power]]s.
 === Other/independent question sets ===
@@ Line 79: / Line 81: @@
 ===Eligibility===
-It is important to determine whether teams and players are eligible for a given tournament before they attend. Most tournaments require all teams to be representing only one school; this includes all [[ACF]] and [[NAQT]] events as well as any event that specifically advertises itself as "[[closed]]". The overwhelming majority of teams playing at any given college tournament are teams from a single school.
+It is important to determine whether teams and players are eligible for a given tournament before they attend. Most tournaments require all teams to be representing only one school (i.e. you can't mix players from different schools to play on one team); this includes all [[ACF]] and [[NAQT]] events as well as any event that specifically advertises itself as "[[closed]]". The overwhelming majority of teams playing at any given college tournament are teams from a single school.
 Occasionally some tournaments, including most non-Nationals tournaments that are above [[regular difficulty]] and events in regions such as the Pacific Northwest with few active teams, are "[[open]] tournaments", allowing non-students and mixed-school teams to participate in any configuration.
@@ Line 91: / Line 93: @@
 Because tournaments cost money, paying for them is an important aspect of college quizbowl life.
-*Many teams can get club funding through their school's student organizations office or similar funding opportunities.
+*Many teams can get club funding through their school's student organizations office or similar funding opportunities. Check with your own student activities organization and ask around for various potential funds.
-*Host your own tournament - either a college tournament like the ones your team attends - or a high school tournament, reserving rooms in which to host the event and charging entrants a fee which you can then use to pay for other tournaments and travel costs throughout the year
+*Host your own tournament - either a college tournament like the ones your team attends - or a high school tournament, reserving rooms in which to host the event and charging entrants a fee which you can then use to pay for other tournaments and travel costs throughout the year. This is a great way to fund a team, but does require some preparation to work well.
 *If necessary, pay some or all of the costs out of pocket.
 *Many college teams get a team bank account which they can keep their funds in and hand down as team [[Captain|captains]], treasurers, etc. graduate.
@@ Line 98: / Line 100: @@
 ===Physical Travel - Getting To (and From) Tournaments===
-The most important thing any collegiate quizbowl player can learn for the game is ''how to drive''. Quizbowl tournaments are held at many campuses throughout the year, and the most efficient way to get to them is by car. Bringing a car to campus, or getting familiar with a rental service such as Avis [www.avis.com] or Zipcar [www.zipcar.com], is critical. Occasionally, campuses will have their own vehicles for rent; [[Dartmouth]] can notably obtain a large van for off-campus travel. Road trips may be long; for drives over four or five hours, it may be advisable to stay over in a hotel near the tournament rather than make a single-day trip.
+The most important thing any collegiate quizbowl player can learn for the game is ''how to drive''. Quizbowl tournaments are held at many campuses throughout the year, and the most efficient way to get to them is by car. Bringing a car to campus, or getting familiar with a rental service such as Avis [www.avis.com] or Zipcar [www.zipcar.com], is critical. Occasionally, campuses will have their own vehicles for rent; [[Dartmouth]] can notably obtain a large van for off-campus travel. Road trips may be long; for drives over four or five hours, it may be advisable to stay over in a hotel near the tournament rather than make a single-day trip. This is, however, a great opportunity for team bonding and exciting [http://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=17279 travel stories].
 Many clubs with a campus reasonably close to others with also take note of public transportation options such as bus, ferry, or train, and sometimes use public transportation options that might help you get to where you need to go. When using public transportation, it's always important to watch the time tables carefully to find a cost-effective travel plan which leaves lots of wiggle room in the event of delays or tournaments that run past their intended end time. [www.megabus.com Megabus], [www.boltbus.com Bolt Bus], and other low-cost bus services are an increasingly-popular, if somewhat scrappy, service for traveling quizbowl teams if they're going to and from major urban centers. A car is still often necessary to get to more remote campuses or campuses outside a major city.
-Some teams are far enough from the location of nationals that it makes sense to buy airplane tickets and fly to the tournament.
+Many teams are far enough from the location of national championships that it makes sense to buy airplane tickets and fly to those tournaments.
 ===Writing Packets===

@@ Line 60: / Line 60: @@
 ==Tournaments==
-Quizbowl questions are written for use at [[tournaments]] throughout the year, at which an individual host (usually a school quizbowl club using university building space) invites all the other teams in the area to come play a large number of games of quizbowl across the morning, afternoon, and early evening. Tournaments will charge an entry fee for each attending team (usually between $80 and $120 for events in the US), and usually offer discounts to teams that bring along necessaries such as a [[buzzer]] or a [[scorekeeper]]. Each school may bring multiple separate teams to a single tournament, which are usually labeled as the "A-Team," "B-Team," "C-Team," etc. in descending order of predicted skill. Most good tournaments attempt to offer attending teams nine to twelve games against a variety of area schools, using a set consisting of fourteen to eighteen separate packets of questions.
+Quizbowl questions are written for use at [[:Category:Tournaments|tournaments]] throughout the year, at which an individual host (usually a school quizbowl club using university building space) invites all the other teams in the area to come play a large number of games of quizbowl across the morning, afternoon, and early evening. Tournaments will charge an entry fee for each attending team (usually between $80 and $120 for events in the US), and usually offer discounts to teams that bring along necessaries such as a [[buzzer]] or a [[scorekeeper]]. Each school may bring multiple separate teams to a single tournament, which are usually labeled as the "A-Team," "B-Team," "C-Team," etc. in descending order of predicted skill. Most good tournaments attempt to offer attending teams nine to twelve games against a variety of area schools, using a set consisting of fourteen to eighteen separate packets of questions.
 ===During the School Year===

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{Intro}}
-'''How Collegiate Quizbowl Works''': A Guide for New Players
+'''How Collegiate Quizbowl Works''': A Guide for New Players and Teams
 ==Introduction==
-This guide is designed as an introduction to [[quizbowl]] as it is played on the collegiate level.  If you are completely new to the game, you should look at the article on [[quizbowl]] to familiarize yourself with the game before returning to this guide.
+This article is designed as an introduction to [[quizbowl]] as it is played on the collegiate level.  If you are completely new to the game, you should look at the article on [[quizbowl]] to familiarize yourself with the game before returning to this guide.
-'''This guide will not define several of the terms it uses.'''  Please either click the hyperlink to the article on that term, or use the '''[[:Category:Quizbowl basics|Quizbowl basics]]''' and [[:Category:Quizbowl lingo|Quizbowl lingo]] categories as a glossary.
+''This guide may not define all of the terms it uses'';  please either click the hyperlink to the article on that term, or use the '''[[:Category:Quizbowl basics|Quizbowl basics]]''' and [[:Category:Quizbowl lingo|Quizbowl lingo]] categories as a glossary if need arises.
 ==A Few Basics==
@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 If you want to play quizbowl, you're most likely going to have to join a '''club'''.  A quizbowl club is responsible for organizing practices, running tournaments, and coordinating attendance at tournaments, as well as several administrative responsibilities.
-See the (soon-to-be-created) article [[How to start a collegiate quizbowl club]].
+See the (soon-to-be-created) article on [[How to start a collegiate quizbowl club]].
 ===Communication===
 Almost all quizbowl communication is currently done via the Internet.  The primary place for national discussion of quizbowl is on the '''[http://hsquizbowl.org/forums/ forums]'''. Most tournaments take registrations by email. In addition, players from around the country frequent the [[quizbowl IRC channel]].  Most clubs and some areas of the circuit also create their own e-mail mailing lists for sending messages about upcoming tournaments and the like.
-Your best source of information will be the [[hsquizbowl.org forums]], in particular the Collegiate Announcements and Results and Collegiate Discussion sub-forums.  You should try to make sure that someone in your club is checking these areas on at least a weekly basis, so that your club is up-to-date on the latest happenings on the circuit.  '''If you have a question about any aspect of collegiate quizbowl after reading this guide, you are encouraged to register for the forums and post your question in the Collegiate Discussion section''', but please read the forum rules before posting.
+Your best source of information will be the [[hsquizbowl.org forums]], in particular the Collegiate Announcements and Results and Collegiate Discussion sub-forums. (There is also a section for New Collegiate Teams specifically to get advice about their areas.) You should try to make sure that someone in your club is checking the forums on at least a weekly basis, so that your club is up-to-date on the latest happenings on the circuit.  '''If you have a question about any aspect of collegiate quizbowl after reading this guide, you are encouraged to register for the forums and post your question in the Collegiate Discussion section''', but please read the forum rules before posting.
 ==The Question Sets==
-Events in collegiate quizbowl may be run by [[ACF]], by [[NAQT]], or independently.
+The questions used in collegiate quizbowl may come from [[ACF]], from [[NAQT]], or be written independently.
 ===[[ACF]]===
@@ Line 59: / Line 59: @@
 ==The Tournaments==
 ===During the School Year===
@@ Line 66: / Line 68: @@
 ===Summer===
-Many people love quizbowl so much that they even want to play during the summer! From the time schools let out in mid-May through August, each summer usually features a few informally-organized quizbowl events that players can attend. Because school teams are usually disbanded for the year and might not be able to reunite for geographical reasons, summer tournaments are basically always [[open]] (any player from any school, and people from no school at all, may unite with any other player on a team with no eligibility restrictions).
+Many people love quizbowl so much that they even want to play during the summer! From the time schools let out in mid-May through August, each summer usually features a few informally-organized quizbowl events that players can attend. Because school teams are usually disbanded for the year and might not be able to reunite for geographical reasons, summer tournaments are basically always [[open]] (any player from any school, and people from no school at all, may unite with any other player on a team with no eligibility restrictions). Recurring summer events of recent vintage have included [[VCU Open]].
 ====[[Chicago Open]]====
@@ Line 85: / Line 87: @@
 ===Funding===
 ===Physical Travel - Getting To (and From) Tournaments===
@@ Line 104: / Line 109: @@
 ==Practicing==
-Most clubs spend between three and six hours a week at [[practice]], practicing quizbowl by dividing club members into arbitrary teams and playing packets from old tournament sets. Currently, there are thousands and thousands of packets from old question sets available online for free (though NAQT sets are still only legally available by direct purchase). See below for packet repositories.
+Most clubs spend between three and six hours a week at [[practice]], dividing club members into arbitrary teams and playing packets from old tournament sets. Regularly-scheduled practices, using academic questions like the ones at upcoming tournaments, are a vital ingredient for the continued survival of any college quizbowl team. Currently, there are thousands and thousands of packets from old question sets available online for free (though NAQT sets are still only legally available by direct purchase). See below for packet repositories.
 ==External Links==