How To Run Your Team's Logistics

There's lots of guides out there for quizbowl-specific tasks such as writing questions, improving as a team, etc. There is also a growing body of writing on "starting a team" generally and "running a tournament." There seems to be far fewer information helping people who may be just a few months out of high school deal with general real-world tasks as they impact quizbowl, so this page will serve as a repository for such information.

Reserving rooms for practices & tournaments

High school: Often, if your team has a faculty adviser or coach who is a teacher at your school, your team will use their room for practices. If not, you can reserve a meeting room or ask another teacher if his/her room can be used. Public libraries and other community spaces are another option as they are usually free with reservation. On a larger scale, please ask your administration and district if you're hosting a tournament using school classrooms, and ask teachers if it's OK to use their rooms, because they will often have conditions to meet about cleanliness and arrangement so they can hold classes the day after the tournament. The process for booking rooms (sending the request form) to be used in a campus tournament usually begin at least a month before, so that the school board can approve it and get back to you.

Collegiate: Booking practice rooms for daily/weekly use is done through the Reservation Coordinator and the host for that specific building, and there will be paperwork. However, once the practice rooms are booked, they are yours for the year. For tournaments: if you've registered as an official campus organization, get someone in the leadership (President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer) to officially reserve rooms through the "Reservation Coordinator" or a similarly-titled person many months before the tournament. Then, check regularly to see if you actually have those rooms on the online scheduling sites hosted by most universities. Often, another group can take some rooms you booked between when you booked them and the day of the tournament, which makes regular communications with the coordinator imperative. If you are not registered as an official group, contact the Reservation Coordinator and see what options you have. You may have to pay some/more than usual, but it's still worth it to begin the process more than a month beforehand. There may be additional paperwork since your club may be treated as an "off-campus group".

Managing your team's money

High school: Most high school clubs are not official and do not have their own bank accounts. However, if you need to fundraise through the school or host a fundraiser on campus, working with your student government is immensely helpful. Aside from that, getting permission from parents, students, and administrators is important in managing an annual budget. In teacher- or sponsor-run groups, please give the sponsor a schedule as far in advance as possible. That way they can get approved by the district usually a month ahead of time (just like booking rooms for tournaments) and you can avoid late fees and determine who exactly will attend in advance. Often, you attend more tournaments in high school than in college, and make less money. If you have the support of your parents and the club adviser, everything is a lot easier. One important investment is a buzzer system, which is quite expensive initially but saves hundreds of dollars down the road. If your coach is a good reader, that can book many discounts at both regular-season and national tournaments.

Collegiate: If you have an account with your Student Activities Office as a registered undergraduate/graduate organization, work with the administrative assistant assigned to your club (and many others). They have almost all the paperwork for transport, checks for funding, and approval. Other than that, coordinate everything with your administrative assistant- use the Collegiate Schedule on the forums to predict which season tournaments your group will go to and base fees on that to get reimbursement from the club account, which might otherwise be inaccessible. If you're on your own, keep a bank account as outlined in this thread.

Transportation

High school: Having parents or advisers drive is quite useful, as both of those groups have experienced safe drivers who will get you places on time. If not, taking Megabus and Greyhound as a team (probably with a chaperone) is a nice bonding experience and is well worth the moderate-to-low cost, especially for long trips that would be too expensive by plane. Student players should not drive themselves or their teams to tournaments, as this is unsafe and grounds for disqualification by a Tournament Director. Flights should be booked well in advance of a tournament (a month or so).

Collegiate: If someone has a car or truck, great! Carpooling is very common. If not, renting a car from your college or university may be the best option. This thread mentions a few ways to overcome lacking a car if you have a driver. Like in high school, Megabus and Greyhound can work wonders for open tournaments that are far away or for when your driver is missing. Flights should be booked well in advance of a tournament (a month or so). It's alright if you're experienced enough to drive your team to attend a tournament, as most undergrads are fully licensed.

Lodging

High school: Hotel rooms for boys and girls will usually do the trick for overnight tournaments- booking hotel rooms in advance of a tournament will save you hundreds. Staying with your college friends (especially if you're a soloist) can save you the hassle and the money and is another way of bonding (just avoid illegal and dangerous things). Don't stay in someone's apartment unless you know and trust that person, and even then, be wary.

Collegiate: Hotel rooms, apartments, and college dorms are common for faraway tournaments. Just tell people things in advance, make sure to return favors, and be a good sport if you're on another college's campus.

Coordination

High school:

Collegiate:

Avoiding awkward situations on your team

High school: Separate rooms for boys and girls, no exceptions. Bring a parent to guide you and make sure you're on the schedule, etc. Infighting should be kept to a minimum by having team members write 10 tossups a day.