The Carnegie Cup @ Geneva College, Beaver Falls, PA (3/2/24)

[nick.]

I am pleased to announce the first-ever Carnegie Cup Tournament, in-person, in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania (around 30 miles outside Youngstown)! All pertinent information is below.

Location and Dates

The Carnegie Cup will be hosted at Geneva College, 3200 College Ave, Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, just off the Pennsylvania Turnpike and only around 20 miles from the East Liverpool area and around 30 miles from Youngstown. Beaver Falls is also around 90 minutes from the Cleveland Metro Area and around 90 Minutes from Ashtabula. We chose this location since it’s easily accessible for both Northeast Ohio teams and teams in Western PA, providing a fun opportunity for those teams to compete against each other.

The tournament will take place on March 2nd, 2024. It will run from 9 AM to 5 PM. Registration will begin at 8:15.

Questions/Format

The Carnegie Cup will use NAQT set IS-229A. This is being used by the GWAC Conference Leagues and the Central Buckeye Conference Leagues, so if your teams are participating in these leagues, you will not be able to participate in our tournament.

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 is hard-capped at 48 teams for this tournament, with an initial cap of 36, which will be expanded depending on room and staff availability. You will be placed onto a waitlist if you miss the cutoff and will enter the field as teams drop.

We are happy to allow pseudonymous teams and teams not directly sponsored by their district to register. However, we do have certain requirements for these teams, so please contact us via phone or email prior to registration and we will be happy to work with you.

It is not mandatory for a coach, parent, or adult to attend with their team; our team provides adequate supervision for all.

Readers, Buzzers, and Question Sets

Each school is required to bring one reader for every two teams attending a tournament. Schools that cannot bring readers will be charged a $50 fee per team. Keep in mind this does not have to be a coach! It can be a player who would rather read, an extra player, a parent, an alumnus, someone’s friend, sibling, or third cousin twice removed, or anyone else that can read and scorekeep.

Buzzer discounts and paper copies of question sets are no longer being offered. Teams can access question sets at NAQT.com after the tournament.

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 book prizes.


Fees

The fee structure is as follows:

$85 per team per tournament
$50 additional per team per tournament if no readers are brought
$0 additional if 1 reader is brought
-$25 for each additional reader

We can process cash, checks, and purchase orders. We are happy to provide a W9 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 P.O. Box 205, Nesconset, NY, 11767.

Payment is due the morning of each event.

Registration

In order to register, fill out this form. Once you receive a confirmation from us, you are officially registered.

Please ensure that you register prior to the day of the tournament! Registration for each event closes one week prior to each event.

Field:

Field updates will be posted on our website here.

Food

We do not serve breakfast or lunch and teams should either bring food or prepare to go out and obtain it. We will provide a map of local restaurants in Beaver Falls during the morning meeting of the tournament. Lunch generally lasts an hour. Teams should eat breakfast prior to arrival.

Stats

Full and complete team and individual statistics will be posted within 48 hours after the completion of each event.

Please let us know if you have any further questions! You can ask in this thread or email nick@liqba.com or joe@liqba.com

[tomoore]

Interesting idea. Of all the border states, PA is the one that (ironically) has probably the lowest level of interstate interaction with Ohio (vice-versa) in a quizbowl activity sense.

[nick.]

Interesting idea. Of all the border states, PA is the one that (ironically) has probably the lowest level of interstate interaction with Ohio (vice-versa) in a quizbowl activity sense.

Especially given how built up all the leagues are in Mahoning, Columbiana, and Ashtabula, I've always found it quite odd. Beaver Falls is only 10 miles from the Ohio border so it felt logical to post this tournament here, but I feel like the UPitt and CMU Tournaments would also be prime interaction opportunities for Northeast Ohio teams (and the Salem and East Palestine tournaments for Western Pennsylvania teams vice versa).

[tomoore]

Interesting idea. Of all the border states, PA is the one that (ironically) has probably the lowest level of interstate interaction with Ohio (vice-versa) in a quizbowl activity sense.

Especially given how built up all the leagues are in Mahoning, Columbiana, and Ashtabula, I've always found it quite odd. Beaver Falls is only 10 miles from the Ohio border so it felt logical to post this tournament here, but I feel like the UPitt and CMU Tournaments would also be prime interaction opportunities for Northeast Ohio teams (and the Salem and East Palestine tournaments for Western Pennsylvania teams vice versa).

Pitt was one of the earliest facilitators of NAQT not just west of the Appalachians, but also in proximity to Ohio. Dwight Kidder did great work there for so long. In my eyes, the Cathedral of Learning and the Pitt campus in general is one of the best places one can play a tournament at. Over time, that connection really started to wane and from what I recall it was a largely due to IS-set conflicts with tournaments in the burgeoning Ohio circuit. My best guess is it’ll be a while before we see the return of Ohio schools to either of the two universities (to be clear I think it just stems from practicality issues and the fact the Western PA circuit wasn’t all that fortified, and therefore never really interlinked with that of the Columbus/Cleveland circuits once there were more tournaments in Ohio springing up.)

I think, to the point of those areas you mention on the Ohio side of the border (those three counties): there is a somewhat interesting dynamic at play. It’s a little bit of a difficult area to engineer a statewide, or multiple areas of the state, convergence for a consistent Saturday circuit. Some nuances and complications that are probably too difficult to overcome, at least in the immediate future. But, as you mention, there are teams. Greg Bossick has done tremendous work in that part of the state in helping create and sustain leagues. I think this event can be a useful boon toward meeting the competitive interests of those teams, not just for proximity purposes but also the theory that there’s parity within the field as it relates to school demographics.

What broader OH-PA circuit interactions look like down the line, its potential for expansion, is kind of unknown. This tournament at least is a step in the right direction for those schools in the 60-90 minute radius. That’s what matters.