Tennessee Academic Coaches Association
The Tennessee Academic Coaches Association or TACA is the semi-official coaches' association coordinating quizbowl in Tennessee.
In previous years, TACA's website served as a center for competitions across the state, with active competitions from West TN to the Tri-Cities area in the far Northeast and several regional liaisons. Now, TACA's membership mostly consists of Nashville area schools, with a few from East TN, and its function as a tournament clearinghouse has been largely subsumed by the quizbowl forums and NAQT's website. [1]
TACA still sanctions the use of bad quizbowl practices like worksheets and single-elimination playoffs at its events, though it does appear to favor pyramidal questions.
In recent years, TACA has accumulated a very negative reputation, mainly regarding events surrounding the TACA State Championship. One notable event was the replacement of Eric Mukherjee as a moderator over the course of the 2020 State Championship, of which a reason was never given. This was especially frustrating due to the overall very poor moderator quality TACA State Championships usually endure, with many considering Dr. Eric the only competent moderator in the building that day. In 2021, TACA completely refused to host an online state championship, further compounding the dissatisfaction with the organization.