Beta Club Quizbowl
The Beta Club is an honor/service organization for American primary and secondary school students, which is primarily active in the greater Southeast, though it has state chapters as far north as Illinois and as far west as Texas. It is roughly analogous to the more universal National Honor Society. Since approximately 1995, the Beta Club has sponsored high school and "junior division" quizbowl championships at its annual national conventions. Prior to the rise of good quizbowl, some prominent teams such as Dorman and Brookwood often made sure that all of their players were Beta Club members and made a concerted effort to win this tournament, especially if they had become disenchanted with the NAC and wanted a less ethically fraught opportunity to play terrible questions. Ever since the availability of superior alternatives, this has become less common, though nationally prominent quizbowl team Dunbar still participates, as do many other active quizbowl teams from Kentucky.
The questions are currently written by Bryce Avery. There is no apparent central repository of information on who won the tournament prior to 2009, who the previous question supplier was, or even exactly when the event started; results from 2009 on (in the form of a list of the top 4-5 teams only) are maintained at the Beta website.
The junior division includes both middle school students and 9th graders (including from districts where high school begins at 9th grade), so teams entirely representing the 9th grade of a high school sometimes compete alongside middle school teams.
The 2014 Beta convention, including the quizbowl tournament, is scheduled for the week of June 21-28 in Richmond, Virginia.
Known info (high school):
| Year | Champion | Second | Third | Fourth | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Dorman | Dunbar | Arab | Nettleton | Orlando, FL |
| 2010 | Dunbar | Morrilton | Arab | Highland Tech | Louisville, KY |
| 2011 | Dunbar | DeBakey | Ezell-Harding | St. Thomas More | Nashville, TN |
| 2012 | Dunbar | Watson Chapel | Arab | New Kent | Greensboro, NC |
| 2013 | Dunbar | Ezell-Harding | Northshore | Chisum | Mobile, AL |
| 2014 | Dunbar | Twin Rivers | Watson Chapel | Plainview | Richmond, VA |
Known info (middle school):
| Year | Champion | Second | Third | Fourth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Destin | Muhlenberg North | Arab (presumed 9th grade team from high school) | Arab Junior High |
| 2010 | Meyzeek | Wren | Glasgow | Muhlenberg North |
| 2011 | Meyzeek | River Trail | Arab Junior High | North Oldham |
| 2012 | Nandua | Glasgow | Sacred Heart | Royal Spring |
| 2013 | River Trail | Paul Breaux | Lee | Nash Central |
| 2014 | River Trail | North Buncombe | Central Magnet | Sterling |