Long Island Quiz Bowl Alliance
The Long Island Quiz Bowl Alliance (LIQBA) is a corporation founded by Joe Feldman to run High School tournaments on Long Island and in the Northeast United States. Most notably, they have held the Island Cup since the 2019-2020 season, along with various Cup tournaments in New Jersey, Westchester, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, the Northeast Regional Championships, and held a large number of online events in Spring 2020. They plan to expand in the 2023-2024 season and run the Island Cup, Garden Cup, Valley Cup, Charter Cup, Mayflower Cup, Keystone Cup, and Allegheny Cup in various Northeast subregions, as well as pilot tournaments in Michigan and Maryland.
The LIQBA became the American Quizbowl League for the pandemic-addled 2020-21 season, only to be split off again into an independent firm in May 2021; they remain independent to this day.
History
The LIQBA was founded in May 2019 in response to the folding of KPAQT. In October of that year the first Island Cup was held, followed by the second event in February to good reviews.
In response to the Coronavirus pandemic, the LIQBA sponsored and ran six online events: BHSAT Online, SCOP Novice Online, James Blair Bowl Online, the Island Cup May Online, the Scottie online, and the Midsummer Classic.
Due to the success of the online events, in July 2020, the LIQBA was reorganized into the American Quizbowl League. The LIQBA was later spun off once again, hosting the Long Island Season Finale comeback tournament in May 2021 and returning the Island Cup to active play in the 2021-22 season.
The LIQBA branched out into adjacent areas of the New York Tri-State in 2022, hosting the inaugural Garden Cup in New Jersey in May 2022. They then added the Charter Cup in Connecticut and Valley Cup in Westchester; in response to demand in Massachusetts, they added the Mayflower Cup there as well. While it was nearly derailed by a blizzard, it still went on, attracting 37 teams over 2 days.
Per Joe's longtime desire to create a high-level championship that would not involve traveling long distances for Northeast teams, the Northeast Regional Championships was first held in 2023.
The LIQBA is planning another round of expansion in 2023-24, adding events in Pennsylvania, starting cup series (instead of individual tournaments) in Massachusetts and Westchester, and hosting pilot tournaments in Michigan and Maryland; the corporation will, therefore, run 14 total tournaments in 2023-24.
Tournaments
Island Cup (Since 2019): Nassau and Suffolk Counties, New York
Garden Cup (Since 2021): New Jersey
Charter Cup (Since 2022): Connecticut
Valley Cup (Since 2022): Hudson Valley, New York
Mayflower Cup (Since 2022): Massachusetts
Keystone Cup (Planned for 2023): Eastern Pennsylvania
Allegheny Cup (Planned for 2023): Central Pennsylvania
Maryland Pilot Tournament (Calvert Cup) (Planned for 2023): Maryland
Michigan Pilot Tournament (Planned for 2023): Michigan
Associates
Joe Feldman, formerly of Smithtown West, President (Since May 2019)
Nicole Pruitt of Bates College, formerly of Ridgewood, Outreach Coordinator (Since May 2020)
Aalok Bhattacharya of Boston College, formerly of Staples, Question Coordinator (Since June 2023); Connecticut Coordinator (April 2020 to June 2023)
Aum Mundhe of Rutgers, formerly of Ridgewood, Assistant Tournament Director (Since February 2022)
Robert Wang of Livingston, High School Outreach Coordinator (Since May 2022)
Benny Feldman (No relation to Joe) of Hastings High School, Hudson Valley Coordinator (Since June 2022)
Andrew Gao of Belmont, Assistant Tournament Director (Since June 2023)
Joy An of Harvard, formerly of Choate, Assistant Tournament Director (Since June 2023)
Past Associates
Arjun Panickserry, formerly of W. T. Clarke, Assistant Tournament Director (May 2021 to June 2023); Online Tournament Coordinator (March to May 2020)
Em Gunter, Online Stats Coordinator (Resigned May 2020)
A robot, who was fired for being useless (Lasted under 30 minutes in April 2020)