If you have a question about the National History Bowl for which you don’t find an answer here or elsewhere on the website, please let us know. If you’re interested in having a question answered, other people will be too, so this list of FAQs will grow.
- Will coaches/parents/accompanying adults have to read and scorekeep?
Yes! Schools are required to bring at least one coach/parent/other adult in order to read and keep score or pay a $50 penalty fee. Schools bringing three or four teams must bring two readers/scorekeepers; schools bringing five or more teams must bring three readers/scorekeepers. Penalty fees are assessed by school, but vary by number of teams; i.e. a school with 3 teams and no reader pays $100 in penalty fees. Please do not make us have to enforce this rule! Instructions for moderators and a game-day tutorial will help ensure that readers and scorekeepers are aware of the rules. At the National Championships, all games will be read by NHB officials. - How much will it cost to participate in the National History Bowl?
For all sites, it will cost $75 to register a team for the regional or state History Bowls. The cost of the National Championships for the Bowl for 2012 will be $450. Host schools will receive a $50 discount per team and teams can claim up to two buzzer system discounts of $15 each as well, if they bring a functioning system to Nationals. Up to 6 students can compete for one team at a State Bowl, but only 4 will play at any time. Unlimited substitutions can be made, but only between quarters. - When and where will the State Bowls and the National Finals be held?
All State Bowls are planned to be held on Saturdays, though we reserve the right to hold tournaments on other days if that appears more viable or convenient. Bowls are an all day event, and will begin by 9am and should end no later than 5pm, though most teams will be done by 3:30. Bowls will be scheduled to avoid as many conflicts as possible, including SAT and ACT dates, other tournaments, weather and holidays. Bowls canceled due to inclement weather will be made up at a later date if at all possible. The National Championships will be held on the weekend of April 27 – April 29, 2012 in and near Washington, DC. The Bowl will be held on Saturday and the Bee on Sunday. Preliminary games will be played in two groups of 5 consecutive matches for a total of 10 total preliminary round matches, in addition to the playoffs. The number of teams that will make the playoffs in Washington will be contingent on the number of teams who come, but it will almost certainly be 32 in the Varsity division and 16 in the Junior Varsity. - Are there discounts available?
Yes. For each functioning buzzer system a school brings (limit 3), a $5 discount will be applied. Also, the host school for a State Bowl will be able to register up to 6 teams free of charge. Finally, note that hosts (if they qualify), receive a discount of $50 per team for entry into the National Championships. - What about the National History Bee? Can someone compete in both the Bee and the Bowl?
Yes. The primary difference is that the Bee is an individual competition whereas the Bowl is a team competition. The regional and state History Bees are held on the same date and site as the regional and state History Bowls, but at different times so students can compete in both. Likewise, students qualifying for the National Championships of the Bee will also be able to play in all rounds at the National Championships of the Bowl if their teams have qualified. For more information, see www.historybee.com - Are there alternative ways to qualify for the National Championships?
Teams can qualify for Nationals in one of three ways:
A. Varsity teams who finish with a record of 3-2 or better in the prelims of any regional or state History Bee automatically qualify for Nationals.
B. Junior Varsity teams can qualify either by going 3-2 or better in their prelim matches, or by finishing in the top half of the JV teams in the draw, using inclusive counting. So if there are 3 JV teams, and the second ranked JV team goes 2–3, it still qualifies, but if the third ranked JV team goes 2-3, it does not.
C. While it is a rare occurrence, sometimes a team can go 2-3 and win a playoff game; either in JV or Varsity. If they win a playoff game, they qualify for Nationals no matter what else they did. - Can a school bring more than one team to a Regional or State History Bowl?
Yes! Schools can register an unlimited number of teams at each State History Bowl, although each school must bring one adult who can read and scorekeep for every two teams that participates, or fraction thereof. - Will coaches/parents/accompanying adults be able to stay with their teams throughout the day?
Yes, but only if an additional adult accompanies the team who can read and/or scorekeep. - Can a team compete in more than one State History Bowl throughout the year?
Yes! Teams are encouraged to play our A set, B set, and C set tournaments over the course of the year. Each set is an entirely different set of questions, so please come and play multiple tournaments if you can! Also, please note that teams are NOT limited to competing at the State or Regional History Bowl for the state or region in which they live or attend school; there are no geographic restrictions on where teams compete. - What’s the difference between A, B, and C set?
A set is slightly harder with slightly longer questions than B (A set is comparable to our National Championships) and the same can be said about B set being slightly harder with slightly longer questions than C. - Can a player play for two different teams during the year?
Yes, but only if they transfer schools, and then they cannot play at the Regional or State Bowl for their new school if they have already played that set. They CANNOT go back and play for their old school. All players must be enrolled at the school they play for. Note that participating schools do not have to “officially” sanction their teams, however, thus still allowing teams to compete where the school the kids are enrolled at opposes participation for whatever reason. Also, all students cannot play for more than one team (e.g. transferring from a B team to an A team after the prelims) during any one individual Regional or State Bowl, but they can transfer for the National Championships, but they can transfer for Nationals. - Will there be prizes for the winning teams? If so, what?
There will be prizes at both the State and National levels. Trophies, book prizes, and scholarships will be awarded- the exact amounts of scholarships will vary due to local sponsors at the Regional and State Bowls. The total prizes at Nationals will be posted in early April 2012. - Will there be “power tossups” in the NHB? Audio and visual questions?
For those unfamiliar with the term, “power tossups” refer to questions being worth more if answered early in the question. This rewards deeper knowledge as well as being willing to venture an early logical guess. There are power tossups for the 2011-2012 school year in the fourth quarter ONLY. If you get one of these tossups right early, you can earn 30 points. A little bit later, you earn 20 points, and if you answer at the end of the question, you earn 10 points.
Audio and visual questions will be used exclusively in the playoff rounds at Nationals.