I only played D1 at sectionals because several
cancellations in the week before the tournament caused us to
compact from an originally planned three teams (D1 + 2
D2) to two. Had all members of Pitt QB been able to
go, I would have played D2, several of the people who
did end up playing D2 (and doing so quite well) would
have played D1, and we still would have qualified one
team in each division. As of the Wednesday before
sectionals, I was scheduled to play D2. The
division-switching was a last minute stopgap created to deal with an
unexpected situation.
Situations such as this are, I
would guess, the reason that NAQT allows for same-year
switches. Also, keep in mind that NAQT attempts to bring
new teams into the circuit; a team at its first NAQT
tournament which qualifies for ICT should not be penalized
for not knowing exactly which players are the
strongest on the format.
In conclusion: Don't assume
that other teams' internal decisions are designed to
bend the rules, or that your own team has a divine
right to succeed, and that there must have been foul
play afoot if it did not. If you wanted to go to ICT,
you should have played better at sectionals.
--M.W.