Qualification

QUALIFICATION IS NOW OPEN FOR ANY TEAM IN THE NORTHEAST WHO WOULD LIKE TO ATTEND. The information below is presented for future seasons.

There are many ways to qualify for the Northeast Regional Championships.

First, only teams from the Northeast are eligible to play at the Northeast Regional Championships. The Northeast is defined as, from north to south, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Long Island, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. The rest of these guidelines assume this to be true; if there is a section that says “any team” may qualify in some way, it is referring to any team in the Northeast, as specified above.

The champions of the Michigan Pilot Tournament and Calvert Cup will be invited as exhibition teams separate from these methods; such teams cannot qualify any other way.

The fact that any tournament, other than our own, is listed here does not imply a recommendation or endorsement of any sort. These lists are provided “as-is” for your information only.

#1: Through the Cup Series

The easiest and fastest way to qualify for the Northeast Regional Championships is via the Island, Garden, Charter, Mayflower, Valley, Keystone, or Allegheny cups. Note that only teams from Long Island (defined as Nassau and Suffolk counties in New York), Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts, the Hudson Valley (defined as Westchester, Rockland, Dutchess, Putnam, Orange, Sullivan, and Ulster Counties), Eastern Pennsylvania, and Central Pennsylvania may qualify in this way.

Western Pennsylvania teams may qualify through the Allegheny Cup for this season only.

The top ten teams in the final standings of each cup qualify. This does not mean the top ten teams in the individual tournaments; it means the top ten in the cup standings.

Teams that qualified in some other way will be passed over; that is, if Smithtown High School West qualified at some other tournament during the season, their spot would go to the next team on the list that has not yet qualified.

#2: Through the Cup Tournaments

Another fast way to qualify for the Northeast Regional Championships is by finishing in the top 25% of the field at any individual cup tournament. For this season, that would mean the Island Cup October, February, or April, the Garden Cup, the Valley Cup January or April, the Mayflower Cup October or March, the Keystone Cup, the Allegheny Cup, or the Charter Cup. Any team from the Northeast can qualify in this way.

The 25% is rounded up, so if, for instance, 28 teams played at the Island Cup October, 7 teams would qualify.

#3: Through any tournament with NAQT questions

Any team that finishes in the top 20%, rounded up, of any single-day tournament in the Northeast that uses NAQT questions will qualify for the Northeast Regional Championships.

#4: Through your local league

Highly-finishing teams at various leagues throughout the Northeast will qualify for the Northeast Regional Championships.

New York:

  1. Regional Quiz Bowl: For the Regional Quiz Bowl league on Long Island, the top team from each division and the top 10 teams in the overall prelim standings, as well as the top 8 teams from the final tournament, will qualify.
  2. Masterminds: The top two teams from each individual league or any team with over 2,000 total points over the season qualifies.
  3. WACKO and MACC: The top four teams from each individual MACC or WACKO tournament qualify.
  4. Rockland: The top two teams from the Rockland final tournament will qualify.
  5. OCAL: The winner of OCAL in Orange County will qualify.
  6. Post-Star League: The top two teams from the Post-Star league will qualify.
  7. Twin Tiers Quiz League: The top two teams from the Twin Tiers Quiz League will qualify.

Connecticut:

  1. Shoreline League: The top four teams from the Shoreline League will qualify.

New Jersey:

  1. Colonial Academic Challenge: The top two teams from the Colonial Academic Challenge will qualify.
  2. DuPont Academic League: The top two teams from the DuPont Academic League in Salem County will qualify.
  3. Sussex County Academic Bowl: The top two teams from the Sussex County Academic Bowl will qualify.
  4. Warren-Hunterdon Academic Meet: The top four teams from WHAM will qualify.
  5. Somerset County Academic League: The top four teams from the Somerset County Academic League will qualify.
  6. Allentown Academic Tournament: The top six teams from the Allentown Academic Tournament will qualify.
  7. BioBowl: The top four teams from BioBowl will qualify.

Vermont:

  1. Vermont-NEA Scholars’ Bowl: The top six teams from the state championships will qualify.

New Hampshire:

  1. New Hampshire Quiz Bowl League: The top four teams overall as of April 1 will qualify.

Pennsylvania:

  1. Intermediate Unit Leagues: The top four teams from any league run by or approved by an Intermediate Unit as their official competition will qualify. In addition, any team that qualifies for the Pennsylvania State Academic Competition will qualify. Examples include Delco Hi-Q, Bedford-Blair, Schuylkill, Colonial, and so on.
  2. York-Adams League: The top two teams from the York-Adams league will qualify.

Delaware:

  1. Diocese of Wilmington Academic Bowl: The top two teams from the Diocese of Wilmington Academic Bowl will qualify.

If you don’t see your league listed, contact us with the details of your league and we’ll be happy to add it.

#5: Through your local TV or radio show

The top four teams on television or radio shows throughout the region will qualify for the Northeast Regional Championships.

Maine:

  1. High School Quiz Show: Maine.

New Hampshire:

  1. Granite State Challenge.

Massachusetts:

  1. High School Quiz Show.
  2. As Schools Match Wits.

New York:

  1. Scholarship Challenge.
  2. Whiz Quiz.
  3. Media One High School Bowl.
  4. Upstate Academic Competition.

Pennsylvania:

  1. Scholastic Scrimmage (WLVT).
  2. Scholastic Scrimmage (WVIA).
  3. Hometown Hi-Q (Pittsburgh).
  4. Scholastic Scrimmage (WQLN).
  5. Brainbusters (WGAL).
  6. Academic Showdown (PCTV).

If you don’t see your TV or radio show listed, contact us with the details of your event and we’ll be happy to add it.

#6: Through any one-day tournament with Pyramidal questions

Any one-day tournament in the Northeast that uses pyramidal questions other than those provided by NAQT will qualify the top 15% of the field for the Northeast Regional Championships.

Pyramidal tournaments are those advertised on the High School Quizbowl Database that use question sets produced in the twenty tossups/twenty bonuses style and that use the pyramidal style of clues, where clues are ordered from hardest to easiest.

Contact us to ensure the tournament you plan to attend is a qualifying event or to get a list of qualifying events.

If you qualify in this way, you will receive an email about a week after your tournament.

#7: Through any one-day tournament with non-pyramidal questions

Any one-day tournament in the Northeast that uses non-Pyramidal questions will qualify the top 10% of the field for the Northeast Regional Championships.

Non-pyramidal tournaments are any Quizbowl event that takes place over a single day and does not meet the definitions laid out above. Any tournament that uses questions from Questions Unlimited, Avery Enterprises, Academic Hallmarks, or companies of that nature is automatically a non-pyramidal event. Any tournament in New Jersey that uses the modified Jeopardy! style of questions is non-pyramidal.

We don’t know about most of these events taking place throughout the Northeast, so if you are a part of one of these events, please contact us so the top teams can qualify.

#8: Through a Wildcard bid

If you did not qualify by any other method, you can submit a wildcard bid to play at the Northeast Regional Championships.

If you did very well during the season and just missed qualification, tied for a spot, missed out on a spot because of a statistical tiebreaker, you just feel you’re good enough, or you missed qualification for any other reason, you can submit a wildcard bid.

If you did very well in a Junior Varsity division of a tournament or league, we encourage you to apply in this way.

If you did very well at a single-subject event like History Bowl or Science Bowl, or an event like Academic Decathlon, we encourage you to apply in this way.

Wildcard bids are accepted at our discretion. In order to submit a wildcard bid, send us an email after February 1 with the following:

  1. The name of the school applying for the wildcard
  2. A narrative of your team’s season, why they did not qualify otherwise, and why they deserve to compete in the Northeast Regional Championships
  3. Notable opponents defeated or particularly stand-out moments during your season
  4. Anything else we should consider