Long Island Quiz Bowl Alliance
The Long Island Quiz Bowl Alliance (LIQBA) is a corporation founded by Joe Feldman, originally to run High School tournaments on Long Island, but later expanded to running tournaments in the Northeast and Midwestern United States, as well as opening a large question-writing division that purchased both Avery Enterprises and Questions Unlimited. They have held the Island Cup since the 2019-2020 season, run the Garden Cup in New Jersey as their marquee event and the largest tournament in the Northeast, directed various Cup tournaments in Westchester, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, created the Northeast Regional Championships for one season, and held a large number of online events in Spring 2020. They plan to expand to host a total of 16 tournaments in the Northeast and 9 in the Midwest in the 2024-25 season, for a total of 25 tournaments throughout the United States.
The LIQBA also runs single-subject test events for players at their tournaments. Their writing division, originally organized to sell questions to clients in the Northeast, underwent rapid expansion and continues to grow through acquisitions.
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, as there would have been no further events in Suffolk County, New York. In October of that year the first Island Cup October Tournament was held with 10 teams, 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. 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 comically 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; however, it suffered from lack of interest in the succeeding year and was permanently cancelled going forward.
The LIQBA underwent further expansion in 2024, primarily through three tournaments in Pennsylvania: the Keystone, Allegheny, and Carnegie cups. The first Keystone Cup ended extremely late and was the first failed LIQBA tournament in its history; however, the Allegheny and Carnegie Cups ran well. The Carnegie Cup also succeeded in spite of a large amount of external factors, including a massive, hours-long building fire across the street, a SWAT raid nearby with an accompanying shelter-in-place order, and a car accident in front of the tournament building. A new tournament was also held in Michigan, and additional tournaments were provided in Massachusetts and (soon) the Hudson Valley. The Garden Cup III became the largest tournament in LIQBA history with 64 teams; 72 were scheduled before a last-second change of venue was pulled off due to the scheduled host canceling the granted permits two weeks before the event.
In January 2024, the LIQBA along with the IAC formed the Tri-State Quiz Bowl Alliance. It quickly became inactive.
The LIQBA plans to add a new Midwest division in the 2024-25 season, hosting new tournaments in Wisconsin, Nebraska, Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas, as well as an existing tournament in Michigan. They also plan to host 4 new Garden Cup qualifiers in New Jersey.
Inspired after an internal reading of an extremely poor-quality packet and realizing that it was what thousands of teams across the country solely experienced as Quizbowl, the LIQBA started writing questions in nontraditional formats in the 2023-24 season, and quickly eliminated all Chipbowl in the Lower Hudson Valley. The LIQBA undertook a massive expansion of its writing department for the 2024-25 season, and is bidding for projects and contracts nationwide.
In 2024, the LIQBA acquired both Avery Enterprises' high school division and all of Questions Unlimited.
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): Lower Hudson Valley, New York
Mayflower Cup (Since 2022): Massachusetts
Keystone Cup (Since 2024): Eastern Pennsylvania
Allegheny Cup (Since 2024): Central Pennsylvania
Carnegie Cup (Since 2024): Western Pennsylvania
Mitten Cup (Since 2024): Lower Peninsula Michigan
Cup Champions
First to Third places are noted; DNR stands for "Did Not Rank", meaning that the team either finished below third place or did not play.
Island Cup
| Team | I (2020) | II (2021) | III (2022) | IV (2023) | V (2024) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kellenberg A | 1st | 2nd | DNR | 1st | 2nd |
| North Babylon A | 2nd | 3rd | 1st | DNR | DNR |
| Great Neck South A | 3rd | DNR | 3rd | DNR | DNR |
| Ward Melville A | DNR | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | 1st |
| Locust Valley A | DNR | DNR | DNR | 3rd | DNR |
| Kings Park A | DNR | DNR | DNR | DNR | 3rd |
Garden Cup
| Team | I (2022) | II (2023) | III (2024) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ridgewood A | 1st | DNR | DNR |
| Edison A | 2nd | DNR | 2nd |
| WWPN A | 3rd | 3rd | DNR |
| Livingston A | DNR | 1st | 1st |
| Princeton HS A | DNR | 2nd | DNR |
| Mountain Lakes A | DNR | DNR | 3rd |
Valley Cup
| Team | I (2023) | II (2024) |
|---|---|---|
| Scarsdale A | 1st | |
| Edgemont A | 2nd | |
| Horace Greeley A | 3rd |
Mayflower Cup
| Team | I (2023) | II (2024) |
|---|---|---|
| Belmont A | 1st | 1st |
| Chenery MS A | 2nd | DNR |
| BB&N A | 3rd | DNR |
| Lexington A | DNR | 2nd |
| Westwood A | DNR | 3rd |
Charter Cup
| Team | I (2023) | II (2024) |
|---|---|---|
| Woodland A | 1st | DNR |
| Darien A | 2nd | DNR |
| Staples A | 3rd | DNR |
| Choate A | DNR | 1st |
| King A | DNR | 2nd |
| Greens Farms A | DNR | 3rd |
Keystone Cup
| Team | I (2024) |
|---|---|
| GFS A | 1st |
| Elizabethtown A | 2nd |
| Cedar Crest A | 3rd |
Allegheny Cup
| Team | I (2024) |
|---|---|
| Carlisle A | 1st |
| State College A | 2nd |
| Hollidaysburg A | 3rd |
Carnegie Cup
| Team | I (2024) |
|---|---|
| South Side A | 1st |
| Winchester Thurston | 2nd |
| Norwin A | 3rd |
Mitten Cup
| Team | I (2024) |
|---|---|
| Utica Academy A | 1st |
| DCC A | 2nd |
| DCC B | 3rd |
LIQBA Members
LIQBA Members are those who serve in an administrative role in the organization, and are trusted enough to direct LIQBA tournaments on their own.
The LIQBA does not directly recruit Members. All Members are retained internally, and they all started at lower positions in the LIQBA. The LIQBA actively seeks people for those positions, and promotes individuals particularly talented in administration to be Members.
List of LIQBA Members
Joe Feldman, formerly of Smithtown West, President (Since May 2019)
Nic Pruitt of Bates College, formerly of Ridgewood, Senior Outreach Coordinator (Since December 2023); Outreach Coordinator (May 2020 to December 2023)
Aum Mundhe of Rutgers, formerly of Ridgewood, Assistant Tournament Director (Since February 2022)
Robert Wang of Livingston, Outreach Coordinator (Since February 2023); Assistant Tournament Director (Since June 2023); High School Outreach Coordinator (May 2022 to December 2023)
Benny Feldman (No relation to Joe) of Chicago, formerly of Hastings, Assistant Tournament Director (Since June 2023); Hudson Valley Coordinator (Since June 2022)
Andrew Gao of Belmont, Assistant Tournament Director (Since June 2023)
Sophia Wu of Rutgers, formerly of Livingston, Assistant Tournament Director (Since August 2023)
Ace Chun of MIT, formerly of Montgomery Blair, Assistant Tournament Director (Since January 2024)
Matt Kelly of Michigan, formerly of Kings Park, Assistant Tournament Director (Since April 2024)
Jessica Shen of Livingston, Assistant Tournament Director (Since May 2024)
Sam Macchi of Vassar, formerly of Belmont, Writing Technology Director, Assistant Tournament Director (Since May 2024)
Writing Department
Danny Peelen of Pitt, formerly of Cedar Crest, Head Editor, High School Division
Conor Thompson of Iowa, Head Editor, Middle and Elementary School Division
Owen Riley, formerly of Inver Hills CC, formerly of Northmont, Packetizer
Matt Weiner of VCU, TV Sales Advisor
Past Members
Aalok Bhattacharya of Boston College, formerly of Staples, Assistant Tournament Director (June 2023 to March 2024); Question Coordinator (June 2023 to September 2023); Connecticut Coordinator (April 2020 to June 2023)
Joy An of Harvard, formerly of Choate, Assistant Tournament Director (June 2023 to February 2024)
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)