THE SUNSHINE CUP I
The inaugural Sunshine Cup is now here!
How it Works
We are proud to announce our official Cup series in the state of Florida: The SUNSHINE CUP! For this series, we are planning on holding four sites across the sunshine state: Panhandle, North, Central, and South, from which the top 36 teams will compete at the State Championship tournament in April 2027.
Location and Dates
We are planning to hold the Sunshine Cup during the weekend of January 30-31, 2027. At this time, we are able to confirm that Sunshine I: North will be held at Vanguard High School in Ocala, FL on January 30th. However, we are still in the process of finalizing the location and dates for the other sites. Please stay tuned for more details!
The location and exact date for the states tournament have also not been finalized yet. The event will most likely take place during April.
For each site, check-ins start at 8:00 AM, and gameplay starts at 9:00 AM and are scheduled until 5:00 PM.
Questions/Format
All the regional sites in January will be using LIQBA’s Novice Set #3, which is of Easy difficulty. The State tournament will use LIQBA State Championship Set #2, a set of Hard difficulty. We will be using the twenty tossups/twenty bonus format, following the rules as delineated in LIQBA’s official rulebook, without the game-clock component.
Teams will be fairly placed into preliminary brackets before being re-seeded for playoffs. Teams will be guaranteed a minimum of 10 games; teams will be expected to play all 10 rounds, even if you are not in contention for the championship.
Teams
There are a maximum of 6 players per team, four of whom may play at once. If you wish to bring more players than that, please register additional teams. There are no exceptions to this rule. Teams may play short, with one player as a minimum. Nobody may switch teams during the tournament, such as from “A” to “B” or otherwise.
The field for each tournament is capped at 24 teams. You will be placed onto a waitlist if you miss the cutoff and will enter the field as teams drop or the field expands (if there is enough interest, we guarantee that the field will expand).
We are happy to allow pseudonymous teams and teams not directly sponsored by their district to register.
Readers and Buzzers
READERS ARE NO LONGER MANDATORY, AND THE NO-READER FEES HAVE BEEN REMOVED.
You are no longer penalized in any way for not bringing a reader. In lieu of this: if you bring a reader, your team will receive lunch vouchers for every player on a single team.
So: If you bring no reader, your team will not get a free lunch.
If you bring, say, one reader and one team, both the reader and every player on that team will receive a free lunch.
If you bring, say, one reader and two teams, the reader and every player on one of the teams will receive a free lunch.
There are similar arrangements for all other combinations. If you don’t know, just ask us.
We are now offering lunch for purchase. See the food section below for details.
Buzzer discounts and paper question sets are still not being offered.
Prizes
Trophies will be awarded to the top 3 teams after each tournament and the very best individual with the highest average Points per Game overall. The eight or so high scorers at each tournament will be awarded small prizes. We may add additional prizes at our discretion.
Fees
The entry fee is $100 per team per tournament.
We can process cash, checks, and purchase orders. We are happy to provide a W9, an NJ BRC, and an invoice on request. Please make out checks to “Long Island Quiz Bowl Alliance”. You can mail checks, POs, and any other paperwork to 16 Gilbert Avenue, Smithtown, NY, 11787.
NEW: You can now pay by credit card on the registration form. However, note that this will incur processing fees. Venmo payments are no longer accepted.
Payment is due the morning of each event.
Registration:
Registration for the tournament will be live soon. Please stay tuned!
Please ensure that you register prior to the day of the tournament! Registration closes one week prior to the event.
Food:
We do not serve breakfast, but we now serve lunch. We will provide, at every LIQBA tournament, a buffet luncheon. You must buy a meal ticket for each person who wants the lunch in advance, regardless of if this is a player, coach, or any kind of parent or spectator. At every location in which it is available, the luncheon is Italian-American cuisine, and will always include a vegetarian option; however, if you require kosher or halal food, are vegan, or are concerned about allergens, you should bring your own lunch. A meal ticket is $10. Options generally include various kinds of sandwiches, side salads, and fruit. We do not usually provide drinks. Lunch generally lasts an hour. Teams should eat breakfast prior to arrival.
As noted in the Readers section above, all readers and those mentioned in that section have their meal tickets comped.
We will send out an order form to all registered teams for meal tickets about 2-3 weeks prior to the event. Teams that sign up less than a week before the event will be required to purchase meal tickets right away if they want them.
Once you purchase a meal ticket, it cannot be cancelled under any circumstance, and is transferrable between people, but not between events. This is due to needing to know the number of people we need to order for well in advance of the event. Even if you drop, you can never cancel a meal ticket.
Stats:
Full and complete team and individual statistics will be posted within 48 hours after the completion of the event.