About Quiz Bowl

The Arkansas Governor's Quiz Bowl Association is an organization working for a competition that works under the umbrella of the Arkansas Activities Association (AAA). This means that academic competitions are regulated in much the same way as athletic events. This includes: school classification, eligibility, sanctioning of events and certification. Information about AAA can be found in the AAA Official Handbook. If you don't have one ask your principal, athletic director or contact AAA.

Private schools are classified by AAA based upon Average Daily Membership (ADM). Special program schools, such as magnet schools, may be placed in a classification higher than indicated solely by school size. Quiz Bowl competitors must meet AAA guidelines for eligibility. As of this posting, 9th graders must have a GPA of 1.8, 10th-12th graders must have a 2.0 GPA. Players may be on probation. Check with principals and athletic coaches if you have questions. 9th graders may compete in junior or senior high competitions, but cannot play in a junior high match after competing at the senior high level. Invitational tournaments are included in this restriction, but practice matches are not. This rule will be enforced by AGQBA.

Coaches have the responsibility to ensure that all players meet the AAA guidelines. A roster of eligible team members must be certified by the school principal players who are eligible early in the year. This list does not mean you will use all of them. Retain a copy. Enclose a copy with all tournament applications. Take an up-to-date certificate to all competitions. Be sure to have an accurate list when you attend the AGQBA regional tournament.

Here are some common strategies for selecting team members:

• Take all eligible volunteers and train them
• Promote team members from junior high or elementary
• Recruit the top members of the junior and senior classes
• Have a class period for all interested students to work on Quiz Bowl
• Conduct tryouts (this can be as simple as a trial game during lunch or after school or as elaborate as a series of practice tournaments)
• Give written tests to establish which players have the most knowledge, then play with buzzers to determine who is fastest.
• Have lots of practices and record which players answer the most questions and in what areas. Excellent forms for keeping track of a player's response behavior have been developed for use.
• Take a bunch of people to early tournaments and practice matches to see who does the best, then make the best 5 your state team. Use the scoring system described above to determine the best.