Welcome to Greater Pennsylvania QuizBowl!

Welcome to GPQB! If this is your first time here, you might be interested in learning more about “What is Quizbowl?” and “How do I start a Quizbowl team?”

Current quizbowl players and coaches might want to check out our resources for “How to Get Better at Quizbowl.” You might also be interested in our podcasts that we’ve recorded with interviews with top coaches and players, strategies for improvement at various categories, and recaps of the previous season.

Looking for a tournament to play in the Greater Pennsylvania area? Check out our tournament schedule for the upcoming year.

As always, feel free to comment on any post if you have any questions or feedback; we’re happy to help interested students or teachers with starting a new team at their schools. You can also follow us on Twitter at @phillyquizbowl or email us at gpquizbowl@gmail.com.

Tri-State Falcon Fall Tournament Announcement @ Friends Select (Philly) 10/22

Friends Select’s campus in Center City, Philadelphia.

The Tri-State Falcon Fall QuizBowl Tournament will be held at Friends Select School on Saturday, October 22nd, 2016. Here are the full logistical details:

Location:
Friends Select School
1651 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy
Philadelphia, PA 19103
[Note: This location is right next to SEPTA’s suburban station]

Date:
Saturday, October 22, 2016

Time:
Teams should arrive between 8:15 and 8:30 AM for a pre-tournament meeting, with rounds beginning by 9 AM. There will be a short lunch break and the tournament will conclude in the afternoon.

Eligible Teams:
All high schools are eligible to send teams to compete. Each team consist of up to 6 students, with 4 students playing at any time. Teams may consist of fewer than 4 students as well. We will offer both novice and varsity divisions. 

Costs:
$70 for each initial team from a school
$70 for each additional team from a school
-$10 per working lockout buzzer system brought
-$15 per experienced moderator brought

***FOR TEAMS ATTENDING BOTH CARVER AND FSS TOURNAMENTS, YOU WILL RECEIVE AN ADDITIONAL $10 PER TOURNAMENT DEDUCTION***

Questions Used:
NAQT IS-159A     *Note: this is the same set that will be used at Lehigh Valley’s tournament a week later

Format:
The exact format will depend on the number of teams, but will likely consist of round robins within both novice and varsity brackets. We anticipate about 5 rounds in the morning and 3-4 in the afternoon.

To Register:
Click here to fill out this form  

Questions? Contact coach Abbi Smith at “abbis” @ “friends-select.org”

Western Pennsylvania Tournament Announcements Now Up

Two quizbowl tournaments will take place this semester in Western PA, specifically the Pittsburgh area. Schools from Erie to Pittsburgh and beyond with quizbowl, academic competition, academic games, or academic decathlon teams are all welcome to attend, as are schools looking to get started in quizbowl.

Carnegie Mellon’s quizbowl team will be hosting Mellon Bowl XIV on October 29th on NAQT IS set #160. You can register and see more details here.

UPitt’s quizbowl team will be hosting SAGACITY XII on November 12th on NAQT IS-A set #161 (slightly easier than a regular IS set). You can register and see more details here.

GPQB Podcast Episode #17: Pre-Season Rankings and 2016-2017 Season Preview

In the 17th episode of the GPQB podcast, Ben and Chris preview the upcoming season and run through the top 10 teams in the state.

Click here to listen to the whole episode or you can fast-forward below for specific portions.

Western PA Discussion: 0:25
Central PA (broadly defined) Discussion: 4:09
Northeastern PA Discussion: 8:07
Southeastern PA Discussion: 10:39
Top 5 Teams In-Depth Discussion: 14:53

2016-2017 Season Pre-Season Rankings

School is back! We are exhilarated to be beginning a new season of quizbowl in Pennsylvania, which should continue the trend of having more teams, more action, and more close bouts. With many of the state’s best players graduated, the door is wide open for rising teams or new-to-quizbowl schools. As is customary, we will begin the year with our pre-season poll. Six members of our panel participated this year. Without further ado, here are the results:

1) Manheim Township A (55 points, 3 first place votes)

2) State College A (54 points, 2 first place votes)

3) Lehigh Valley Academy (47 points)

4) Great Valley (46 points, 1 first place vote)

5) Alagar Homeschool (38 points)

6) Friends Select (20 points)

7) Camp Hill (18 points)

8) State College B (14 points)

9) Winchester Thurston (12 points)

10) Manheim Township B (11 points)

Also receiving votes were Delaware Valley (7), Downingtown East (5), Lakeland (2), and Wallenpaupack (1).

Commentary about the poll from panelists will be featured in the next edition of the GPQB podcast.

We wish all competitors and coaches the absolute best of luck this season. See you around the circuit!

ANNOUNCEMENT: Carver E & S Novice Tournament, 10/8/16 @ Carver HS (Philadelphia, PA)

Carver High School for Engineering & Science in Philadelphia (via http://www.carverhses.net)

The quizbowl team at the George Washington Carver HS for Engineering and Science will host a novice quizbowl tournament on October 8th, 2016 at Carver E & S’s campus at 1600 W Norris St, Philadelphia, PA. Your team is invited to attend!

Registration will open at 8:15 AM and the tournament will begin as close to 9 AM as possible. All teams will be guaranteed at least 7 rounds of competition, with the top teams potentially playing up to 9. We expect the tournament to conclude for most teams by 3:30 PM. There will be a brief break for lunch.

The schedule of fees is as follows:
$70 per team registered
– $5 per fully functional buzzer system
– $20 per competent, experienced moderator

We will be using the Pennsylvania Novice Set, which is being written by a number of college quizbowl players from Pennyslvania and is targeted to be accessible to a broad range of teams.

Since this is a novice tournament designed for players without a great deal of quizbowl experience, we do have a few eligibility rules:
1. All students in 9th and 10 grade are eligible to compete
2. All students of any grade level who have never played a pyramidal quizbowl tournament before (IU competitions of any kind do not count against this) are eligible
3. Any student who has previously played pyramidal quizbowl but who has not averaged above 20 points-per-game at a tournament is eligible

Please email us if you have any questions about these rules or to request a potential exception.

We strongly encourage schools who have non-novice players to help us out by bringing more experienced players as moderators! Our max capacity is 30 teams, but we will need a lot of outside moderator help.

For any additional questions or to register for this tournament, please email Carver E & S coach Shan Hogan at: smhogan “at” philasd “dot” org.

Thank you and we hope to see you in October!

GPQB Podcast Episode #16: Advanced History Studying

In the 16th episode of the GPQB podcast, Chris talks with Will Alston and Eric Mukherjee about strategies for studying and playing history questions. This is a bit more advanced than some of our previous podcasts, but there are plenty of strategies here that will be quite useful for all players. Note that this is a double-sized episode, so it’s closer to 30 minutes than our usual 15.

Click HERE to listen or download the podcast.

Some of the study resources mentioned in this podcast include:
Quinterest question database
aseemsDB question database
The History of Rome Podcast
Revolutions Podcast
History of England Podcast

GPQB Podcast Episode #15: Interview with Coach Bern McCauley

In the 15th episode of the GPQB podcast, Chris talks with Great Valley High School’s quizbowl coach and 2015-2016 GPQB Coach of the Year, Bern McCauley. During the interview, coach McCauley provides his views on his vision of building up a top quizbowl program and dealing with the various challenges that quizbowl coaches often encounter.

Click here to listen or download.

GPQB Podcast Epsiode 14: End of Season Wrap-Up

In this episode, Ben and Andrew Nadig (former Carnegie Mellon U captain) discuss the end-of-season poll for 2015-2016, and how many teams did down the stretch. Who impressed, and what sorts of surprises and changes happened along the way? We also briefly reflect on the future and what this stellar season means for Pennsylvania as a whole.

Click here to tune in and listen!

2015-2016 End of Season Poll

Ladies and gents, we have capped off a season in which Pennsylvania quizbowl took many steps forward, and it’s time to recognize our top teams. Our panel* voted on who they thought were the best in the state using their choice of approaches, with items such as points scored, power rate, neg rate, W-L record, tournament wins, nationals results, and team cohesion as some of the criteria. Without further ado, here is GPQB’s end of year top 10.

1) Manheim Township A, 70 Points (same rank, unanimous choice for #1)
2) Delaware Valley, 54 Points (+1)
3) State College, 52 Points ( -1)
4) Great Valley, 47 Points  (+1)
5) Henderson, 45 Points (+3)
6) Lehigh Valley Academy, 43 Points (-2)
7) Winchester Thurston, 22 Points (=)
8) PALCS, 19 Points (-2)
T9) Alagar Homeschool 10 Points (+2)
T9) Friends Select, 10 points (previously u/r)

Also receiving votes were Cedar Crest (7 points, -2) and Manheim Township B (3 points, -2)

Commentary and further details will appear in the next edition of the GPQB podcast. Thank you all for a wonderful quizbowl season full of fantastic memories!

-The Staff

*The voters in the poll were: Ryan Bilger, Paul Birch, Chris Chiego, Ben Herman, Andrew Nadig, Victor Prieto, and Steven Silverman.