Greater Pennsylvania Quizbowl Resource
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| Above: Official Logo for the Greater Pennsylvania Quizbowl Resource |
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The Greater Pennsylvania Quizbowl Resource (or GPQB) is a quizbowl blog that covers the quizbowl circuit in Pennsylvania. Founded in July 2014, it was previously known as Greater Philadelphia Quizbowl Resource until its expansion to all of Pennsylvania in June 2015.
Purpose
The current focus of the GPQB blog is coverage and analysis of the high school circuit of Pennsylvania quizbowl. This includes tournament wrap-ups, interviews, advice, and the occasional podcast from the contributors. Complementing its Pennsylvania focus is its content for general high school quizbowl audiences. GPQB has covered the basics of quizbowl, outreach advice, studying strategies, and tournament hosting. The site features a schedule for all Pennsylvania pyramidal events and PSAC, as well as tournaments in the surrounding states.
Question Writing
The members of the site organized and edited the 2016 Pennsylvania Novice Initiative, a novice-level tournament designed to correct the lack of material for novice teams to practice on.
Awards
The staff at GPQB announce three awards each year to outstanding members of the quizbowl community in Pennsylvania. Players cannot win the same award multiple times, and coaches are not eligible to win again until eight years have passed -- the equivalent of two student cycles.
Past Winners
| Season | Player of the Year | JV Player of the Year | Coach of the Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-15 | Ryan Bilger, Emmaus High School | Alex Schmidt, Lehigh Valley Academy | Missy Doll, Manheim Township High School |
| 2015-16 | Alex Schmidt, Lehigh Valley Academy | Sam Scarfone, Great Valley High School | Bern McCauley, Great Valley High School |
| 2016-17 | Sam Scarfone, Great Valley High School | Vijay Anne, Henderson High School | Andrew Gianelli, Camp Hill High School |
| 2017-18 | Vishwa Shanmugam, Downingtown STEM Academy | Connor Mayers, Penn Manor High School | Abbi Smith, Friends Select School |
| 2018-19 | Will Yaeger, Hempfield High School | Albert Zhang, State College High School | Steve Sobieck, Henderson High School |
| 2019-20 | Will Steger, Manheim Township High School | AZ Faiz, Manheim Township High School | Shan Hogan, Carver Engineering & Science |
Poll
The site has, since the 2015-2016 season, ranked the teams in Pennsylvania at the season's beginning, midpoint, and end. The poll is conducted by current and former members of the Pennsylvania quizbowl community. The pollsters rank the top ten teams by their own metrics; a statistical formula is not used. All the ranking committee members are affiliated with Pennsylvania's circuit.
Because there is no NAQT or pyramidal state championship (the only official tournament held is the non-pyramidal Pennsylvania State Academic Competition), the poll has served as a de facto state title for performance on pyramidal questions.
Past Results
| Season | Champion | Second | Third | Fourth | Fifth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-16 | Manheim Township | Delaware Valley | State College | Great Valley | Henderson |
| 2016-17 | Winchester Thurston | Lehigh Valley | Manheim Township | Alagar Homeschool | State College |
| 2017-18 | Downingtown STEM | Lehigh Valley | Allderdice | Manheim Township | Friends Select |
| 2018-19 | Hempfield | Henderson | Allderdice | Friends Select | State College |
| 2019-20 | Manheim Township | Great Valley A | Great Valley B | Penn Manor | Henderson |