The Partnership for Academic Competition Excellence is pleased to announce that the 2014 National Scholastic Championship will be taking place at the Hyatt Regency in Reston, VA, part of the Washington, DC, metro area, on May 24-25, 2014.
This hotel is located near the Dulles International Airport in a “town center” setting alongside several restaurants and other shops. The hotel’s website is located here: http://www.reston.hyatt.com/en/hotel/home.html. Reservations for the PACE room block are made through this link: https://resweb.passkey.com/go/2014NatlScholasticChamp. Reservations made through the main website will not receive a discount.
The 2014 NSC will be directed by Sarah Angelo, with the assistance of 2012 and 2013 TD Matt Weiner and the other members of PACE, and the set will be edited by Rob Carson.
The field will be capped at 96 teams. Recent fields have drawn 192 teams from 95 schools in 23 states, DC, and Canada.
The fee structure follows:
· Base fee: $550 per team
· Buzzer systems: -$10 each per school, no limit
· Staffers: -$50 each per school, max 2 per school
· Hosting a gold-certified tournament: -$10 each per tournament, no limit
· Hosting a platinum-certified tournament: -$20 each per tournament, no limit
· Early payment discount: -$25 from total fee for paying by March 1
Details about qualification and registration will remain much like last year. They can be found here.
The tournament will use the same game format as the NSC has since 2010. Games will continue to consist of 20 tossups and up to 20 bonuses, with missed bonus parts bouncing back to the other team. The All-Star Game will once again be played on academic questions.
As in past years, registration will begin at 7 AM on Saturday and gameplay will continue through 6 PM, resuming at 8 AM Sunday. All teams will participate until 11 AM on Sunday, with top finishers continuing through the finals until 4 PM.
Teams are welcome and encouraged to stay for finals, awards, and the All-Star Game and are consequently advised not to book flights departing earlier than 7 PM on Sunday. Memorial Day in the DC area is an exciting weekend, and we encourage teams whose plans allow for it to depart later on Monday and enjoy the holiday.
The hotel is located near Dulles International Airport, and will run a free shuttle from that airport as well as another shuttle from the new Wiehle/Reston East Metro station, which will open with Phase I of the Silver Line by the end of calendar year 2013. Though Dulles will be the most convenient airport to fly into, the new metro station will also allow teams flying into Reagan National to reach the hotel without a car through any of several methods.
Rooms in the hotel are available at a discounted rate of $119/night at the following link: https://resweb.passkey.com/go/2014NatlScholasticChamp. Both rooms with two double beds and rooms with a king bed (with or without a rollaway second bed) are available at that rate. The discount is available for whatever length you choose for your stay–teams wishing to arrive early or stay late during the holiday weekend for tourism in the DC area may use this rate for all nights. Rooms may also be booked by phone; simply indicate that you are booking for the PACE NSC.
If you have any questions about the NSC or PACE in general, please e-mail Mike Hundley, Director of Communications.
We hope you’ll join us in DC next May.