Arkansas Governor's Quiz Bowl Association
The Arkansas Governor's Quiz Bowl Association is an independent organization that promotes quizbowl within the state of Arkansas. Matches are in a unique Four-quarter format and finals are broadcast on the Arkansas Educational Television Network (AETN), Arkansas's PBS station.
History
The program began in 1984-1985, according to its official website, allegedly due to the support of then-governor Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary Clinton.
Historically the questions used have come from bad quizbowl question sources such as Academic Hallmarks, Patrick's Press, Questions Galore, and especially Chip Beall, among others.
The activity is governed like a high school sport. The group sponsors a Fall Camp for both Senior High and Jr. High school students and helps coordinate tournaments in the state throughout the year.
The Quiz Bowl Alliance of Arkansas was a short-lived representative of "good quizbowl" within the state from 2007 to 2011, centered mostly around Harding University.
In 2023, the AGQBA had no bids from question providers for its season; the board reached out to Bryce Avery who, having retired, forwarded the email to Joe Feldman; the LIQBA put in a winning bid, and has been the primary source of AGQBA questions ever since, though a clerical error resulted in the first-year contract not being renewed; the LIQBA now writes the vast majority of AGQBA material outside the High School Varsity division, which is written by local coaches.
The AGQBA covers virtually every school in Arkansas, and the state has one of the highest percentages of schools with teams in the United States.
State-Specific Features
Use of In-Print Reference Material for Appeals Arkansas' state quiz bowl association was formerly the target of much criticism and ridicule due to their policy of only allowing non-electronic, paper materials (such as encyclopedias, atlases, almanacs, and other physical media) to be used in the adjudication of protests (referred to as challenges in Arkansas lingo). This rule was eliminated in 2020.
Recognition Unlike most formats traditionally identified as 'good quizbowl,' Arkansas' governing rules require that players be recognized by a moderator before giving an answer to a tossup question. Players who answer before being awarded recognition ("blurting") are usually warned at the regional level, but are often ruled incorrect at state tournaments, regardless of the actual correctness of their answer.
Official Violation Forms
All tournaments are given forms for explaining ejections of coaches and for reporting violations of any procedures during the tournament, including being late to the tournament, to the state agency.