Nick Conder
| Nick Conder | |
| Noted subjects | History, current events, trash |
| Current college | Louisville (2015-Present) |
| Past colleges | Western Kentucky (2009-2015) |
| High school | Grayson County (2005-2009) |
| Middle school | Grayson County (2002-2005) |
| Stats | HDWhite • NAQT |
Nick Conder is PhD student and quizbowl player at Louisville.
High School
Conder played for Grayson County (KY) from 2005-2009. Prior to 2008, his team only played local bad quizbowl events. During his senior year at Grayson County, the team began attending pyramidal events, and made their first ever appearances at the Kentucky Governor's Cup State Tournament and HSNCT.
College
When Conder graduated high school, he began researching how to start a collegiate quizbowl team. Conder was a founder of the quizbowl team at Western Kentucky in 2009 and appeared on the WKU A team from 2009-2015. Conder served as President of the WKU club from 2009-2013, and treasurer of the club from 2013-2015. Conder directed a large number of quizbowl tournaments while at WKU, and established the Hilltopper Invitational in 2010. During his first three seasons at WKU, Conder was the leading scorer for WKU, but the team was relatively unsuccessful. The enrollment of other talented quizbowl players allowed WKU to improve from 2012 onwards, as Conder settled into a supporting role for ACF events. Conder's aptitude with current events and American history questions made him valuable for NAQT events, and he led WKU to a 24th place finish at 2014 ICT and a 23rd place finish at 2015 ICT. Conder received a BA in History from WKU in 2013, and a Master's in Public Administration in 2015.
After completing his MPA, Conder was accepted into the Urban & Public Affairs PhD program at the University of Louisville. Conder has relaxed into a supporting role on a successful Louisville team led by Kurtis Droge and Ramapriya Rangaraju. He directed the 2016 NAQT Kentucky State Championship at Louisville, and currently serves as Vice President of the UofL Quizbowl Team.
Coaching
While still in high school, Conder began helping coach Grayson County's JV team in 2009. Conder served as an assistant coach at Grayson County from 2009-2013, as his alma mater managed several top-five finishes in Kentucky events and three more national tournament appearances. In 2013, Conder helped a group of Gatton Academy students form a quizbowl team and volunteered to coach them. Taking advantage of Gatton students' unique status as dual-enrolled high school and WKU students, Conder encouraged Gatton players to practice with the WKU team and occasionally play college tournaments. The Gatton quizbowl team had a string of success in 2014 and 2015 that included finishing tied for 34th at both the 2014 HSNCT and 2015 HSNCT. Conder encouraged the students to lead themselves as much as possible, in the hopes that the program would continue to exist after his departure, which has thus far happened.
Other Activities
Conder helped found the Kentucky Quizbowl Alliance in 2014. His activities with KQBA have included communication with the quizbowl community, directing the 2014 and 2015 Kentucky NAQT State Championships, and operating the Goldenrod Cup. Question writing is not a major focus for Conder, but he has written small numbers of questions for a few high school and collegiate novice tournaments. From 2011-2015, Conder provided some minor assistance (directing regional tournaments, staffing events, and question writing) to the National History Bee and Bowl. He is the administrator of two quizbowl related Facebook groups (Southeastern Collegiate Quizbowl and Ohio Valley Quizbowl) that facilitate regional communication and coordination between players, coaches, and staffers.