Difference between revisions of "Quizbowl in Canada"

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(Updated lede to more accurately reflect current state of quizbowl in Canada.)
(The collegiate section was well out of date. I collapsed the mostly archaic ACF/NAQT distinction into an expanded "history" section that now includes the 2010s and gives a more accurate summary of the state of quizbowl in Canada.)
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==University==
 
==University==
  
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While some Canadian universities have "trivia clubs" that only play Trivial Pursuit or watch [[Jeopardy!]], most clubs play quizbowl.  Notably, there is no Reach for the Top available in post-secondary education (unless you are a college in Quebec exploiting rule #1 of SchoolReach).
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University clubs exclusively play tossup/bonus quizbowl, as Reach for the Top does not exist at the post-secondary level. Reach veterans make up the majority of most Canadian quizbowl clubs, with some Americans studying in Canada also playing actively.  
  
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===ACF===
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===History===
  
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Based on its history, [[Queen's]] was the sole Canadian team to participate in [[ACF]] events through most of the 1990s. Though the 2000s, there has usually been at least one ACF event every year in British Columbia. In eastern Canada, ACF Fall was hosted by [[Brock]] in 2005 and by [[McMaster]] in 2008.
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Collegiate quizbowl appeared in Canada in the late 1990s and early 2000s in schools such as [[Queen's]] and [[Simon Fraser]]. [[NAQT]] initially provided the questions for most academic events, with some additional amount of "Canadian content."<ref>http://www.caql.org/results.html</ref> In the 90s, Queen's was the sole Canadian team to participate in [[ACF]] events. Due to a relatively small amount of teams and a stronger sense of Canadian quizbowl as separate from American events, it was common practice at this time for clubs across the entire country to attend the same Regionals and SCT sites. From 2000-2010 Canadian quizbowl was at its most expansive geographically—with a presence in Vancouver and, later, Alberta. However, the absolute number of academic events remained fairly low.  
  
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As of 2013, both Fall and Regionals are run in an Ontario site, attracting between 6 and 12 teams.
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By 2010, universities like [[Toronto]], [[Ottawa]], [[Waterloo]], [[McGill]] and [[Western]] formed a fairly established Ontario/Quebec circuit. This circuit continued to consolidate and grow across the decade thanks to the effort of organizers like [[Joe Su]]. At the same time, quizbowl in British Columbia and Alberta went practically extinct, leaving the Eastern circuit as the de facto "Canadian circuit." The once-common view that quizbowl in Canada is more frivolous and insular than in American circuits largely disappeared by the end of the decade.
  
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===NAQT===
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Canadian quizbowl in the 2020s has remained centered around Southern Ontario, with Toronto remaining the most common host. Since the mid-2010s, Toronto and McGill have formed largest and most consistently competitive clubs. Efforts to retain the Ottawan clubs have been mixed. In 2019, the [[University of British Columbia]] revived Canadian quizbowl's west coast presence, once again necessitating a distinction between the "Canadian circuit" and the Ontario/Quebec circuit. A countrywide circuit formed to some extent as online play in the Covid era resulted in multiple years of pan-Canadian competition.
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Of the major U.S.-based formats, [[NAQT]] has been the most successful in Canada.  The earliest results on CAQL's website list tournament questions sources as "NAQT + Canadian content" [http://www.caql.org/results.html].  SCTs have been held in Canada every year since 2000 (except 2002).
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The highest ICT finishes by Canadian Teams are 5th in Division I by 2010 Toronto, and 2nd in Division II by 2008 Western. Below is a table of Canadian ICT finishes:
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NAQT has been previously accused of making concessions to Canadians (such as adding high levels of Canadian content in questions or giving 2 ICT invites to the Vancouver SCT) to boost their Canadian market.
 
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Annually, the Canadian contingent to ICT consists of multiple players who had successful Reach for the Top careers.
 
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The highest ICT finishes by Canadian Teams are 5th in Division I by 2010 Toronto, and 2nd in Division II by 2008 Western.  
 
  
 
{| class="wikitable"
 
{| class="wikitable"
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|}
 
|}
  
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===Mirrors of Housewrites===
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===Circuit Play===
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Ontario hosts mirrors of independently produced sets fairly regularly, with 2-3 a semester. These span the full difficulty spectrum from easy events such as [[Delta Burke]], ACF Novice, or [[MUT]] to hard events such as [[Minnesota Open|Minnesota]] or [[VCU Open]]. These tournaments attract anywhere between 4 and 12 teams. Usually to save teams having to travel, tournaments are held in pairs on Saturday and Sunday either at the same school or schools in the same area.
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Canada hosts a full complement of NAQT and ACF events each year and regularly sends multiple teams to both ICT and ACF Nationals. Additionally, it is common for Ontario clubs to host multiple housewrites per semester and a separate NAQT novice for both Greater Toronto and Ottawa/Quebec. To save travel time, tournaments are often held in pairs on Saturday and Sunday either at the same school or schools in the same area. Though Canada's most idiosyncratic tournament, [[VETO]], died out in the mid-2010s, the Eastern circuit retains a distinctive attention to pop culture events. These are usually hosted as Sunday tournaments or as part of summer "side event weekends." The Hybrid Tournament is the only annual event now written solely by Canadians.
  
 
===Hybrid Tournament (March)===
 
===Hybrid Tournament (March)===
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The [[Ottawa Hybrid Tournament]] is organized by members of [[Ottawa]] with help from the community.  It began in 2005 by [[Ben Smith]] as a quick cash grab for funds to travel to an ICT, but has steadily gone down in price and up in quality.  It is sometimes mirrored by sites across Canada and the USA. Its 16-team field at the Ottawa site in 2007 was the largest at a Canadian independent event until Ontario Bowl also had 16 the following season. Like with VETO, the quality of the Ottawa Hybrid Tournament has gone up as more and more players are exposed to good questions elsewhere. Unlike VETO, there is usually a group of people who help edit the tournament.
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Hybrid, formerly known as the [[Ottawa Hybrid Tournament]], is an annual half-academic, half-pop culture tournament written by Canadians. It was once organized by members of [[Ottawa]] under the editorship of [[Ben Smith]]. The quality of the tournament has generally increased over time as the Eastern circuit has gained a more experienced cadre of writers and editors. Like VETO, Hybrid is generally pack submission. Unlike VETO, the tournament is centrally edited.
  
 
==Former Events==
 
==Former Events==
 
===VETO (Open Summer Tournament)===
 
===VETO (Open Summer Tournament)===
 
:''See: [[VETO]]''
 
:''See: [[VETO]]''
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Organized by [[Peter McCorquodale]], '''the Vancouver Estival Trivia Open''' (or '''VETO Escapes to Toronto, Ontario''') was held annually in Vancouver (and often at a Toronto mirror) from 1999 until 2017. In 2002, it converted to a "[[guerrilla]]" format in which there is no central editing. In recent years, VETO has been ridiculed by American teams for either a) teams who don't ask for advice and write bad questions, or b) teams who do ask for advice, then ignore it. VETO was head edited by ACF members in 2009 and turned into a fall+/regionals- level tournament. This led to widespread backlash to the question writers for the length of questions and subject distribution, but also pushed a lot of the younger generation to support good quizbowl. VETO continues into the 2010s as a low-key guerrilla tournament that is improving in Ontario as question writing skills improve due to ACF and other tournaments requiring writing.  
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Organized by [[Peter McCorquodale]], '''the Vancouver Estival Trivia Open''' (or '''VETO Escapes to Toronto, Ontario''') was held annually in Vancouver (and often at a Toronto mirror) from 1999 until 2017. In 2002, it converted to a "[[guerrilla]]" format in which there is no central editing. VETO was once a common target of ridicule from American quizbowl clubs for its idiosyncratic distribution and retrograde quality. In 2009, ACF members edited VETO as a DI SCT-level academic tournament as an attempt to expand ACF-style writing practices to Canada. Backlash and counter-backlash ensued online as many Canadian quizbowlers felt the tournament had become less unique and "fun." Some credit the experiment with helping introduce younger Canadians to academic quizbowl. VETO continued into the 2010s as a guerrilla tournament, improving as the circuit grew in question-writing experience. The last VETO was held in 2017.  
  
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===Provincial Bowl (October)===
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===Provincial Bowl===
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Organized by [[Brock Stephenson]]. It began in 2002 as BC Bowl, and since 2003 has included a more popular mirror, Ontario Bowl. In 2005, McGill hosted a third mirror, Quebec Bowl. The BC Bowl site has waned in significance in recent years, especially after Stephenson moved to Ontario for a work placement.  Ontario Bowl, meanwhile, has grown in attendance each year.  Ontario Bowl is often held at a first-time host site (McMaster, Ottawa, Brock/McGill, Carleton, Toronto).  
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Once organized by [[Brock Stephenson]], various Provincial Bowls took place in October. It began in 2002 as BC Bowl, and since 2003 has included a more popular mirror, Ontario Bowl. In 2005, McGill hosted a third mirror, Quebec Bowl, which was never repeated. BC Bowl ceased in the late 2000s, followed shortly by Ontario Bowl.  
  
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===TRASH/trash===
 
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During the lifespan of [[TRASH]], there would usually be a site in either BC or southwestern Ontario (or both) with moderate attendance. There has not been much in the way of independent trash, although the OHT is half pop culture and there has often been a trash singles event after Provincial Bowl.
 
  
 
===College Bowl===
 
===College Bowl===

Revision as of 14:02, 22 February 2022

Variants of quizbowl in Canada have been around since the 1960s. Quizbowl understood as a tossup/bonus format entered Canada in the late 1990s, where it has since consolidated into a university circuit centered around Southern Ontario. High school quiz competitions almost exclusively use Reach for the Top. Though Ottawa and Toronto-based secondary institutions like Lisgar, UTS, and Woburn have both hosted and attended tossup/bonus quizbowl tournaments—including HSNCT and PACE NSC—growth at the high school level remains uneven. During the COVID-19 Pandemic, high school quizbowl has almost entirely ceased to operate in Canada.

High School

High school quizbowl supposedly first appeared with the CBC radio show I.Q. in the early 1960s. The format was loosely based on the American radio version of College Bowl. The show was canceled in 1964 and Reach took root soon after.

Regional

A quizbowl tournament catered to high school students came in 2005 as an NAQT event hosted by Ottawa. It has continued each year since, but with low attendance, only peaking at 14 in 2010. Attempts in the mid 00s to run similar events in Vancouver, Toronto, New Brunswick, and Sudbury have all failed due to low interest. The Ottawa Quizbowl Tournament has become an annual event. Later in the decade, Toronto and Kingston also have had universities run high school events, but with lower success.

Lisgar in Ottawa has hosted two to three a year from 2009 to the present. Other sites who have hosted have included Bell in Ottawa and Ridley College in St. Catherines.

From 2010 onward excluding provincials, there are around 4-5 tournaments of varying difficulty (NAQT, housewrites recognized by PACE) each year in Ottawa, and a novice tournament in Southern Ontario.

Provincials

A provincial-level tournament is held in Ontario annually.

Nationals

Year Teams at HSNCT Teams at PACE
2006 Lisgar
2007 Lisgar
2009 Lisgar
2010 Lisgar A, B
2011 Lisgar Lisgar A, B
2012 Woburn
2013 Harry Ainlay Lisgar
2014 Lisgar
2015 Lisgar A, B, Colonel By Waterloo CI
2016 White Oaks
2017 Lisgar A, B

Since Reach for the Top nationals is usually the same weekend as an American National, it is a financial and time burden on the team to attend an American National. Canadian teams that have cancelled an HSNCT registration due to a direct conflict with HSNCT have included Lisgar from Ottawa in 2008 and Assumption Catholic High School from Burlington, Ontario in 2010. Webber from Calgary cancelled their HSNCT registration in 2014, although it was not held on the same weekend as Reach Nationals.

Other

Some high school teams or individual high school players on open teams have played in events catered to universities, such as VETO, Ottawa Hybrid Tournament, as well as mirrors of ACF tournaments or independent housewrite events.

University

University clubs exclusively play tossup/bonus quizbowl, as Reach for the Top does not exist at the post-secondary level. Reach veterans make up the majority of most Canadian quizbowl clubs, with some Americans studying in Canada also playing actively.

History

Collegiate quizbowl appeared in Canada in the late 1990s and early 2000s in schools such as Queen's and Simon Fraser. NAQT initially provided the questions for most academic events, with some additional amount of "Canadian content."[1] In the 90s, Queen's was the sole Canadian team to participate in ACF events. Due to a relatively small amount of teams and a stronger sense of Canadian quizbowl as separate from American events, it was common practice at this time for clubs across the entire country to attend the same Regionals and SCT sites. From 2000-2010 Canadian quizbowl was at its most expansive geographically—with a presence in Vancouver and, later, Alberta. However, the absolute number of academic events remained fairly low.

By 2010, universities like Toronto, Ottawa, Waterloo, McGill and Western formed a fairly established Ontario/Quebec circuit. This circuit continued to consolidate and grow across the decade thanks to the effort of organizers like Joe Su. At the same time, quizbowl in British Columbia and Alberta went practically extinct, leaving the Eastern circuit as the de facto "Canadian circuit." The once-common view that quizbowl in Canada is more frivolous and insular than in American circuits largely disappeared by the end of the decade.

Canadian quizbowl in the 2020s has remained centered around Southern Ontario, with Toronto remaining the most common host. Since the mid-2010s, Toronto and McGill have formed largest and most consistently competitive clubs. Efforts to retain the Ottawan clubs have been mixed. In 2019, the University of British Columbia revived Canadian quizbowl's west coast presence, once again necessitating a distinction between the "Canadian circuit" and the Ontario/Quebec circuit. A countrywide circuit formed to some extent as online play in the Covid era resulted in multiple years of pan-Canadian competition.


The highest ICT finishes by Canadian Teams are 5th in Division I by 2010 Toronto, and 2nd in Division II by 2008 Western. Below is a table of Canadian ICT finishes:

Year Teams at ICT DI Teams at ICT DII
2010 Toronto Ottawa
2011 Toronto, Western (UG), Ottawa Guelph
2012 Toronto, Guelph (UG) Toronto, Ottawa
2013 Ottawa, McMaster Toronto
2014 Ottawa McGill, Carleton, McMaster
2015 Ottawa, McGill, Carleton (UG), Waterloo (UG) McGill, Carleton
2016 McGill, Toronto McGill

Circuit Play

Canada hosts a full complement of NAQT and ACF events each year and regularly sends multiple teams to both ICT and ACF Nationals. Additionally, it is common for Ontario clubs to host multiple housewrites per semester and a separate NAQT novice for both Greater Toronto and Ottawa/Quebec. To save travel time, tournaments are often held in pairs on Saturday and Sunday either at the same school or schools in the same area. Though Canada's most idiosyncratic tournament, VETO, died out in the mid-2010s, the Eastern circuit retains a distinctive attention to pop culture events. These are usually hosted as Sunday tournaments or as part of summer "side event weekends." The Hybrid Tournament is the only annual event now written solely by Canadians.

Hybrid Tournament (March)

Hybrid, formerly known as the Ottawa Hybrid Tournament, is an annual half-academic, half-pop culture tournament written by Canadians. It was once organized by members of Ottawa under the editorship of Ben Smith. The quality of the tournament has generally increased over time as the Eastern circuit has gained a more experienced cadre of writers and editors. Like VETO, Hybrid is generally pack submission. Unlike VETO, the tournament is centrally edited.

Former Events

VETO (Open Summer Tournament)

See: VETO

Organized by Peter McCorquodale, the Vancouver Estival Trivia Open (or VETO Escapes to Toronto, Ontario) was held annually in Vancouver (and often at a Toronto mirror) from 1999 until 2017. In 2002, it converted to a "guerrilla" format in which there is no central editing. VETO was once a common target of ridicule from American quizbowl clubs for its idiosyncratic distribution and retrograde quality. In 2009, ACF members edited VETO as a DI SCT-level academic tournament as an attempt to expand ACF-style writing practices to Canada. Backlash and counter-backlash ensued online as many Canadian quizbowlers felt the tournament had become less unique and "fun." Some credit the experiment with helping introduce younger Canadians to academic quizbowl. VETO continued into the 2010s as a guerrilla tournament, improving as the circuit grew in question-writing experience. The last VETO was held in 2017.

Provincial Bowl

Once organized by Brock Stephenson, various Provincial Bowls took place in October. It began in 2002 as BC Bowl, and since 2003 has included a more popular mirror, Ontario Bowl. In 2005, McGill hosted a third mirror, Quebec Bowl, which was never repeated. BC Bowl ceased in the late 2000s, followed shortly by Ontario Bowl.


College Bowl

Queen's and Simon Fraser were regular participants in earlier years of College Bowl. According to the CBI website, there have been teams from the Universities of Saskatchewan and Toronto (before the modern team).

University teams

A list of Canadian universities that have sent teams to tournaments at some point. + refers to active teams.

Alumni

Canadians who have seen success in the mainstream American Circuit

Future

  • The existence of a board of writers to modify each high school set to be played in Canada to replace about half the American content and simplify the rest of the American content. This may also apply to introductory collegiate tournaments but not any collegiate NAQT or ACF tournaments.
  • ↑ http://www.caql.org/results.html
    • Retrieved from "https://www.qbwiki.com/w/index.php?title=Quizbowl_in_Canada&oldid=55225"