Texas Quiz Bowl Alliance

Logistical information regarding parking and our registration location have been posted to the Winter Rodeo page. Thank you to the Rice Quiz Bowl team for hosting this event.

Due to complications with our tournament setup for our Winter Rodeo, the Team Texas introductory meeting originally scheduled for January 13th has been postponed.

Kealing Middle School (Austin) took the top two spots in the recent TQBA Junior Rodeo. The Kealing teams defeated teams from host St. John’s Middle (Houston) and Beck Junior High (Katy) in the semifinals. Stats are posted. The next TQBA middle school event, the Maverick Challenge, will be on February 11th and the 3rd Annual Texas Middle School Championship will be held on March 10th.

Happy New Year! Our first quiz bowl event of the year, Junior Rodeo, will be this coming Saturday January 7th at St. John’s in Houston. This event is open to both Junior Varsity Groups (9th and 10th graders) and Middle School teams.

Thus far 17 middle school and 7 junior varsity squads have already signed up to participate. Junior Varsity teams will earn points for their schools towards qualifying for the 13th annual Texas Quiz Bowl Championship.

Junior Rodeo details are available here.

Texas Quiz Bowl wishes you and yours a Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas! 

Registration for the first two Texas Quiz Bowl events of the new year is currently open. The first event (Junior Rodeo) will be for Middle School and Junior Varsity teams on January 7th at St. John’s School. The second event (Winter Rodeo) is for Varsity teams and is planned for January 14th at Rice University. Each of these events will guarantee each participating team at least 6 rounds of quiz bowl. The varsity and junior varsity events will allow teams to earn points towards qualification towards our 13th annual Texas Quiz Bowl Championship Tournament. Current points standards are available here. The Lone Star State’s top 14 varsity schools will qualify to participate in this most prestigious Texas Quiz Bowl event that is scheduled for May 5th in College Station.

Texas Quiz Bowl will host its third annual summer quiz bowl camp from Sunday July 29, 2012 to Saturday August 4, 2012. The camp will once again be held at the Tradition dorm in College Station, Texas. In 2011 36 students participated in the camp and we expect a group of 64 in 2012. A recap of our 2011 camp can be found here and pictures can be found here.

Our 2012 camp is open to all Texas students who will be entering grades 7 through 12 for the 2012-2013 school year. 64 spots are available (32 high school, 32 middle school). Students will participate in activities from 8:30 a.m. each morning to 8:30 p.m. each night. These activities will include category-specific classroom instruction, tournament match play in which students will hone their teamwork on bonuses, directed practice in which counselors will work with students on toss-up skills, and discussions on quiz bowl theory and strategy. Camp will offer 10 different courses for high school students to choose from and 2 specifically for middle school students. Each course will include 5 days of instruction complete with study materials and a brief homework assignment.

The fee for the 2012 camp is $475.  There is a $50 early bird discount available if you submit your fee before June 1, 2012. There is a super early bird discount of $100 if you submit your fee before March 1, 2012. There is an ultra early bird discount of $150 if you submit your fee before January 1, 2012. You may register via email to Chris Romero at romeroc -at- gmail.com. Please email all fees and a health form to:

Texas Quiz Bowl Camp
c/o Chris Romero
366o Richmond Ave. #271
Houston, TX 77046

Texas Quiz Bowl is pleased to invite these 40 students to participate in the 2012 Team Texas selection process. These students were selected based on performances in Texas Quiz Bowl events this fall. In 2011 Team Texas won the All-Star National Championship Tournament. In 2012 the team will be selected through a series of assessments in the spring. Players not on the invitation list may still earn the right to tryout for the team through play at our spring events on January 14th, March 3rd, and April 14th. The 2012 Texas All-Star team will be announced at the All-State Awards Ceremony to be held at the 13th Annual Texas Quiz Bowl Championship.

Invited students are:

Seniors (6): Shair Ahmed (St. Stephen’s), Alex Cai (Seven Lakes), Daniel Chapman(Seven Lakes), Joseph Langas (John Jay), Ian Hunley (Cistercian), Elizabeth Russell (Antonian)

Juniors (8): Andrew Clarkston (George Ranch), Merrick Espinoza (Harmony), Vimal Konduri (Cistercian), Thomas Kuncewicz (Debakey), James Rowan (St. Mark’s), Sam Steakly (Awty), Mitchell Weldon (Cistercian)

Sophomores (10): George Davies (St. John’s), Carlo DeGuzman (Seven Lakes), Ben Jones (LASA), Claire Jones  (St. John’s), David Losson (Cistercian), Luke Munson (St. Mark’s), Ridge Liu (Bellaire), Andi Qi (Seven Lakes), Arnav Sastry (LASA), Nate Weiser (LASA)

Freshmen (8): Alex Denko (LASA), Erin Dindoruk (Village), Ari Druke (Episcopal), Max Huang (Taylor), Deven Lahouti (St. John’s), Andrew Ni (Cinco), Cameron Vahlkamp (Cinco), Jasmine Xu (Taylor)

Middle School (8): Chapman Caddell (St. John’s), Ishaan Chatterjee (T.H. Rogers), Eric Gao (St. John’s), Josef Lawrence (Village), Cooper Lueck (Presbyterian), Ethan Russo (Kealing), Jessica Tharaud (Beck), Corin Wagen (Kealing)

Seven Texas Schools are ranked in the December 5th edition of the High School Quiz Bowl Top 100. Seven Lakes (Katy) is the highest seated of the group at #6. LASA (Austin) comes in at #10 and makes Texas one of only two states with two in the top 10. Cistercian (Irving), Kealing (Austin), and St. Mark’s (Dallas) come in at #24, #26, and #29 respectively while Bellaire (#77) and St. John’s (#82) round out the Texas seven.

Last summer six Texas students won the National All-Star Academic Tournament Championship. This spring Texas Quiz Bowl will choose the six students who will represent the Lone Star State in 2012 and defend the title. Students who wish to be considered for the 2012 team should be available on the following dates:

• January 13th at 7 p.m. for NASAT team introductory meeting (Houston)
• January 14th for Winter Rodeo (Houston)
• February 18th for Texas Invitational (Houston)
• February 19th for Texas Invitational (Houston)
• March 14th-16th for Spring Break Mini Camp (Houston)
• March 17th for MUT Mirror (Houston)
• April 14th for Bexar Bowl (San Antonio)
• May 5th for the Texas Quiz Bowl Championship Tournament (TBA)

Progress Assessments will begin at 7 a.m. on February 17th, March 17th, and April 13th. The 2012 All-State team will be announced during the All-State Awards Ceremony at the 13th Annual Texas Quiz Bowl Championship Tournament. Questions about the team selection process should be addressed to Head Coach Chris Romero (romeroc-at-gmail.com). Tryout invitations to TQBA students are forthcoming.