Illinois Scholastic Bowl

Illinois Scholastic Bowl is the high school quizbowl format used by some tournaments in Illinois. Scholastic Bowl is governed by rules and policies set forth by the Illinois High School Association (IHSA).

History

Little Quizbowl on the Prairie (1960s-1985)

Quizbowl in Illinois can be traced back at least as far back as the 1960s, and was originally more popular in Downstate Illinois than in the Chicago area. One of the first tournaments in the state to gain notability was the Senior Challenge held in Streator, which was open only to high school seniors. Questions were written by locals, and lockout systems were homemade. Local businesses sponsored the tournament, which was organized by the local Rotary Club.

Certainly, there were other tournaments, with each tournament having a unique twist to their format. This became the key thread running through Illinois quizbowl throughout the 60s, 70s, and 80s: there was no universal set of rules.

The Open Era (1986-1991)

By 1985, the popularity of the activity was notable enough for numerous coaches and school administrators to petition the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) for formal recognition as a competitive activity. With recognition came a codification of the rules, and the recognition of a state champion. From 1986 to 1991, all teams competed in one class, and were placed into 16 geographic sectional tournaments. The 16 winners of those tournaments advanced to a single elimination tournament.

IHSA Consensus Years (1992-2007)

During this time, IHSA Scholastic Bowl grew tremendously, with new teams, conferences, and tournaments forming every year. Though there was some disagreement as to whether or not tossups should be pyramidal, there generally was agreement that matches should follow IHSA format and that tournaments should use morning pools with single-elimination afternoons, though occasionally tournaments did experiment with other formats.

The New Schism (2008-)

As some of Illinois' better teams became more exposed to good quizbowl through Hsquizbowl.org and tournaments hosted by the University of Illinois, NAQT, and PACE, they became vocal proponents for change. The changes sought included improved question quality, bonus parts being read one at a time, increases in the number of matches guaranteed to teams entering tournaments, the elimination of single-elimination tournament formats, and the reduction or elimination of computation, grammar, and most miscellaneous topics. While IHSSBCA generally supported these changes, many coaches, including a majority on the IHSA Advisory Committee generally, did not, leading several top teams to put a higher value on national tournaments and invitationals than Illinois' state tournaments (though the teams that did not value the State Tournaments were dominant at them because they learned more by playing tournaments in other formats). During this time, several Illinois invitationals became a mirror of tournaments from out of state, starting with Auburn's mirror of HFT. By 2010, a majority of invitationals in Illinois did not use IHSA Format, with mACF becoming more popular. Some people believed that this schism pitted the Chicago suburbs against downstate, though in reality opinions varied throughout the state.

Notable annual tournaments

A complete list of tournaments in Illinois can be found on the IHSSBCA's site. Notable recurring tournaments include the following:

Earlybird - October - Formerly a housewrite by UIUC and now using questions from HSAPQ, this tournament is usually the first tournament of the season and lately uses the (new as of 2010) PACE format.
Ultima at Loyola Academy - formerly held in October but now moving to January, which used to use the format of the Panasonic Academic Challenge and now uses mACF format
IHSSBCA Kickoff - mid-November - hosted in several locations across the state, this tournament used to mark the "start" of the season, but several tournaments have arisen prior to its usual date. Combined across sites, it has the largest turnout of any tournament except for the IHSA and Masonic series.
Scobol Solo - mid-November - hosted by New Trier, it is a solo contest attracting over 100 top players each year.
The Decemberist - early December - Held at Rock Valley College (except in 2009, when it was hosted at Maine South), this tournament uses mACF format.
HFT mirror - at Auburn
New Trier Varsity - last Saturday before Winter Break - Started in 2005 by Carlo Angiuli and Nick Matchen, this marks the first tournament written by current students. The success of this tournament led to the beginning of Aegis Questions, and since 2007 has used mACF format.
Wildcat - Held at Northwestern, this tournament used timed NAQT format through 2008, and for much of that time was the only NAQT tournament in Illinois. It used to have was over 40 teams coming from as far as Michigan, but attendance has dropped precipitously since.
Masonic tournament - mid-February - many sectionals are held across the state, followed two weeks later by the state finals. This used to be in IHSA format, but now uses a format unique to itself featuring bonuses that are not bonuses.
NAQT State - late February
UIUC Solo - late February - held in conjunction with the NAQT State Tournament starting in 2008
IHSA - early to mid March. Single-elimination regionals are held at 32 sites per class across the state, with the winners advancing to round-robin sectionals at 8 sites per class, the winners of which go on to State.

Many people consider the IHSA State Series to crown the state champion. The major problems with this paradigm include a failure to assure the advancement of top teams (deferring to geographic representation), poor question quality, a poor distribution, and a poor match format. While the first of these is not likely to ever change because of the IHSA constitution, attempts are ongoing to rectify the latter three.

The Masonic tournament, while older than the IHSA Tournament (starting in 1983), has been regarded as a lesser championship due to the smaller pool of teams playing (less than 300 teams, compared to the roughly 500 in the IHSA tournaments). The tournament has also had the same long standing problem with advancement of good teams and poor questions. The use of Aegis Questions in 2008 did a great deal to solve the problem of question quality, but the Masons regressed for the 2010 series to Questions Galore questions and a very strange new format.

Famous/Infamous collegiate players

Notable former players who are famous for something else

Kristin Castillo - Macomb - Miss Illinois, 2001[1], [2], [3]
Hillary Clinton (nee Rodham) - Maine South - US Secretary of State

External Links

IHSSBCA Web Site[4]
IHSA Scholastic Bowl page[5]
IHSA Scholastic Bowl Champions and Tournament Results [6]
For an example of why people make fun of Illinois Scholastic Bowl, try [7]