Re: Quizbowl Circuit Participation and Fundamentals

Ross wrote:

What again we're hoping to avoid is an ACF regional where 3 
Berkeley, 3 Stanford and one So Cal team compete. Were such 
a tournament held in southern california then why not have 
Stanford and Berkeley play somewhere in the bay area on the 
same questions so as to cut out the travel expense altogether?
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As the TD for that disaster, I feel obliged to respond:

First, I had no control over what teams showed up.  If schools in 
Southern California avoided ACF, they had their own reasons.  I 
entered the bid to host ACF Regionals that year because I 
thought more teams in So Cal would show up.  I was wrong.

However, if you look at the demographics of that particular 
tournament, you'd notice that most players were either really 
advanced undergrads or graduate students, something 
abundant at Stanford and Berkeley because of their outstanding 
academic programs.

ACF has, unfortunately, gotten a bad rep in So Cal because of 
the disasters from previous years.  Perhaps, as the TD, I could 
have done more to advertise the event and/or make up for past 
ills, but I think the problem was more with the fact it's an ACF 
Regionals tournament than the fact it's run at UCI.

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But, all excuses aside, I do think it's worth our time to discuss 
how to improve the circuit in California so that problems like that 
ACF Regionals will not occur again.

Let me propose some goals for starters:

1.  We shall attract and retain as many new players in our 
respective programs as possible.  The same could be said 
about attracting new schools to join the circuit.

2.  We shall help new players to develop QB skills and 
knowledge.

3.  We shall encourage more tournament participation.

4.  We shall expand or revamp the award-recognition system so 
that more players feel welcomed at tournaments.

5.  We shall promote the social atmosphere of tournaments.


Any other suggestions?

Willie Chen

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