Substitution

A substitution is the replacement of one player on a team by another player.

Roster size

Especially at the high school level, bringing teams of more than four players is common. They may rotate participating from game to game or substitute during the game according to various strategic approaches.

The most common high school approach is to have four "starters" and to substitute in less experienced players at halftime to let those players gain experience if the game appears to be a blowout in one direction or the other.

Most college tournaments and most independently run high school tournaments, even those using NAQT questions, tend to place a limit of six players per team. There is no formal restriction on total roster size in events using the unmodified NAQT rules, or in most state-level high school formats. In VHSL and IHSA it is not uncommon to see teams with 8 or more players on the roster, up to and including VHSL teams who bring 12+ players to every tournament and substitute their entire four-person lineup before both the second and third periods. In Illinois the term "subapalooza" is used for coaches who seem devoted to making substitutions beyond any strategic rationale, especially when done at invitational tournaments where B teams could be entered and using subs is not necessary to maximize student participation.

Substitution opportunities

In tournaments using ACF rules and their derivatives, substitution is generally allowed only at halftime and before any tiebreaker overtime period.

When using the NAQT rules as written, substitutions may be made at halftime, before overtime, or when either team has called a timeout.

Substitution strategies

In formats such as VHSL Scholastic Bowl where certain subjects are clustered in certain parts of the match, using a specialist may be advantageous. Since Scholastic Bowl concentrates math calculation questions in the second period "directed round," teams sometimes sub in a math calculation specialist for that period.

Some coaches track the topics that come up through the round in formats with known distributions, especially the PACE NSC, and substitute based on predictions of what will come up in the second half. This strategy can both be more useful at NAQT (when on-demand substitution at a timeout is possible) and more difficult to implement (due to various differences in the way NAQT handles subject distribution).