Welcome Letter to Virtual Quiz Bowl Coaches

Dear Coaches,

We are excited to welcome you and your teams to the NCASA Virtual Quiz Bowl League! Please carefully review the information below regarding the league, which follows the guidance provided by NAQT for online tournaments.

1. Dates & Times

A required virtual meeting will be held at 7 pm, Wednesday, October 8 for all coaches and assistant coaches.

Matches begin the week of October 13 and run through November 14. They will be held after school at a time mutually agreed upon by both coaches.

Each team will compete over a five-week season and face one opponent each week.

You will play two back-to-back matches against that opponent on the same day.

Each match will consist of 20 toss-ups with bonuses.

This format ensures that each team plays a total of five opponents and ten matches during the season.

In divisions with 4 teams (6 is perfect number for round robin), the first match-up between two opponents will be an exhibition, and the second match-up will count toward standings.

In divisions with 5 teams, each team will receive a BYE one of the five weeks, which will not count toward standings.

2. Schedule and Standings

The full schedule of rounds will be published in a Google Sheet, and all coaches will be given access.

Teams will be placed into divisions based on skill and experience level, and a weekly schedule will be made to help avoid conflicts (Mon-MS A, Tues-MSB, Wed-HSB, Thur-HSA).

Coaches will need to communicate if they need changes to the schedule.

Each league's standings will be published live on the NCASA website for all your fans to follow.

Digital certificates will be awarded to the top teams in each division.

3. Rules & Question Sets

Matches will follow the Official NAQT Rules (NAQT Online Rules 20/20 [2020]), with modifications for online play.

High School: NAQT IS-239A

Middle School: NAQT MS-55

Coaches should ensure students are familiar with the rules before the first match.

4. Eligibility & Registration

Open to NCASA member schools only. Please ensure your school is registered and is processing its payment and that is complete by the start date of the tournament.

Each school may register a maximum of two teams and this tournament is free for NCASA member schools.

Coach Registration Instructions for NAQT:

Many coaches are always registered. The following coaches still need to: WhiteMa@surry.k12.nc.us, youellshea@gmail.com (listed as secondary, so needs to be changed with us OR them),mary.hudgins@davie.k12.nc.us, mvbhadania@gmail.com, orrs@gcsnc.com, graham.hallquist@gmail.com, carpenterj@surry.k12.nc.us.

Visit www.naqt.com.

Create a coach account using the same email address you used for the NCASA Virtual Quiz Bowl League.

Complete your school and team information.

If you need to make a correction after registering, notify us immediately.

⚠️ Important: Assistant coaches or chaperones cannot log into the NAQT system because question sets are tied directly to the coach’s email address.

5. Tournament Administration

Organized by the North Carolina Association for Scholastic Activities (NCASA).

Tournament Director: Scott Plaster (📧 execdirect@ncscholastic.org).

6. Chaperone Requirements

Each team must have a responsible adult chaperone present during all matches.

7. Online Tournament Specifics

All matches will be conducted online.

Coaches are responsible for creating their own virtual meeting (Zoom, Google Meet, etc.) and posting the meeting link in the Standings Spreadsheet.

Headphones are highly recommended for audio quality.

Screen sharing is required during all matches.

There are no major deviations from the NAQT Online Tournament Guide.

Reader and Scorekeeper must be in separate rooms from the students.

Each student needs their own Zoom/Meet camera.

All matches must be played within the scheduled week (regardless of weather or other circumstances).

8. Avoiding Question Set Conflicts

Please ensure your teams are not registered for another tournament using IS-239A (high school) or MS-55 (middle school).

Online tournaments make it easier to double-register for the same set by mistake, so please track your competitions carefully.

9. From NAQT: We strongly recommend that each reader / scorekeeper review the moderator tutorial page and walk through the tutorial tournament linked therein to get accustomed to how questions will appear for them. Send your staff the following links so they can read the appropriate section of the NAQT online tournament guide. (Staff both moderating and scorekeeping should review both pages.)

Guide for moderators

Guide for scorekeepers

We look forward to an exciting season of competitive, fun, and educational matches! Thank you for your dedication to your students and to scholastic competition.

Please let me know if you have any questions in the meantime and we will see you at the Coaches meeting on October 8 (the meeting invite has been sent).