Kentucky Collegiate Quick Recall League
RULES, 2008-2009

Introduction

    The purpose of the Kentucky Collegiate Quick Recall League is to promote amiable competition within an academic setting.  Through the academic tournament process, the KCQRL hopes to foster good will and provide a forum in which academic excellence may be rewarded throughout the commonwealth of Kentucky and surrounding areas.

Section One:
The League

A. Membership

1. Membership is open to any four-year or two-year college in Kentucky or neighboring states.

2. Membership dues are $30.00 per year.  They will be waived for the schools of the League President and Vice-President as well as any schools in their first year of KCQRL membership.

3. Membership dues must be paid no later than the second tournament in the fall or spring or the team will not be considered a member for that semester.

B. Divisions

1. To compete in the KCQRL, a player must be a registered student at the school he or she represents.  Students who are registered at more than one school must declare their team affiliation and compete with that team for the entire season.

2. Division II teams shall consist of freshmen and sophomores.

3. Division I teams shall consist of juniors and seniors.

4. Class rank is based on the determination of the school's registrar or equivalent officer.

5. Division II players may compete in Division I, but Division I players may not compete in Division II. Once a player has competed in one division at a tournament, that player must continue to play in that division for the remainder of that tournament.

6. No person with an Associate's Degree may compete in Division II (except as noted in I.B.7), and no person with a Bachelor's Degree or higher may compete in the KCQRL.

7. Any player who starts the year in Division II may continue to compete for that year in Division II despite attaining an Associate's Degree during the year or attaining junior status as long as the student is still registered at that college.

8. All coaches should be willing to verify their players' status on the request of the League.  If a team plays an ineligible player at a tournament, the team's participation at the tournament may be invalidated by the agreement of the President and Vice President.  If the team in question is sponsored by a league officer, the decision will be made by the other officer.

C. League Officers

1. The League shall have three officers, a President, President-Elect, and Treasurer.

2. The President-Elect and the Treasurer shall be elected at the last coaches' meeting of the year.  The treasurer and shall serve a one-year term.  The President-Elect shall serve as Vice-President of the League in the year following election, and as President of the League in the second year following election.

3. The duties of the President shall consist of scheduling tournaments, assisting Tournament Directors in planning and conducting tournaments, keeping League statistics (or assigning same to the Vice President), keeping all League records, scheduling the annual coaches' meeting, recording and distributing rules, enrolling members, addressing complaints, and awarding the end of the year trophies.

4. The duties of the Treasurer shall consist of keeping all accounts, assisting Tournament Directors in planning and conducting tournaments.

5. The duties of the President-Elect/Vice President shall consist of acting as President in the absence of the elected official, keeping League statistics if assigned by the President, and assisting the President in addressing complaints and other matters.

D. League Awards

          The League will award first, second, and third place trophies in each division each year.  To be eligible for end-of-the-year league awards, a team must compete in one more than half of the tournaments scheduled by October 1 of the academic year.  To schedule a tournament, participating schools must notify the League president before Oct. 1.  Final rankings will be based on each team's win-loss ratio in a self-selected set of one more than half of the League tournaments for the year (round down for odd number of tournaments).  Head-to-head records for the entire year and then point totals in the self-selected tournaments will be used if needed.

Section Two:
Tournaments

A. Team Eligibility

1. Each school may enter one team in each division.

2. Each team must have three or four players to begin and play a tournament.  No team with fewer than three players will be permitted to start or continue in a tournament.

B. Entry Fees

1. Entry fees for member schools are $35 for one team and $70 for two teams.  The entry fee for any new League school participating in its first KCQRL tournament will be paid by the League.  A team who provides and experienced staff person to work in a tournament will receive a discount of $10 from their registration fee.  When a team provides a volunteer, every effort will be made to keep the individual out of the same room where her/his team will compete.  These volunteers are ineligible to be moderators in any circumstances.

2. Entry fees for non-member schools are $40 for one team and $65 for two teams.

3. Entry fees should be collected from each school entering a tournament unless that school gives notification of cancellation at least one week in advance.

C. Sponsors

1. Any team competing in a League match or tournament must be accompanied by a faculty member from the school represented by the team or by a legally designated adult representative of the school who has been officially charged by the school with the responsibility of supervising the team and who can assume responsibility in case of accident or other emergency.  A person's status as a faculty member will be defined by her or his college.

2. If the sponsor of the team is anyone other than a faculty member, that person must have a letter authorizing that person to be the team sponsor on file with the League or present a letter to the League President at the tournament.  The letter must be on the school's letterhead and signed by either the Dean of Students or the President of the college or their designees.  Other appropriate officials may be approved by the League President.

3. Under no circumstances may the sponsor of the team be an undergraduate student or a member of a KCQRL team.

D. Rankings

1. Win/loss records will be used in determining rankings for the final rounds or results of a tournament.

2. If two or more teams have identical records, ranking will be determined by records in head-to-head competition among the teams involved in the tie.

3. If the teams in question did not play each other, total points will determine ranking.

4. Win/loss ratio will be used in determining league rankings.

E. Courtesy

1. Any flagrant disregard of common courtesy by a player and/or coach during a tournament may result in the disqualification of that player and/or coach from the tournament.

2. Disqualification of a player or coach will be determined by the match judge and/or chief official in consultation with the moderator of the match, and that decision will be final.

F. Draws

1. The schedule for match play will compiled using standard draws adopted by the KCQRL.  The draws are archived at:  http://www.kcqrl.org/Standardized_Draws.html.

2. The tournament draw will be held at 9:30 with match play beginning at 9:45.

G. Tournament Hosting

Every school that competes in the KCQRL must host a tournament once every four years.

Section Three:
Match Play

A. General

1. A match shall consist of two twenty-question halves, plus the requisite number of bonus questions.

2. Points are scored by correctly answering questions asked by the moderator.

3. If a team fails to appear within five minutes of the scheduled time for a match to begin (except when its previous match ran over), that team forfeits that half of the match.

4. Teams must exchange sides at the half.

5. The lunch hour is generally acknowledged as 12:00 - 1:00 p.m.; however, under circumstances when match play delays are significant (i.e., teams leaving the last pre-lunch match so far into the 12:00 p.m. hour that they will be completely unable to acquire a meal), the lunch period will extend one hour from the end of the last pre-lunch match.

B. Questions

1. There are two types of questions: toss-ups and bonuses.

2. The number of questions per match shall be fairly evenly divided among the areas of Mathematics, Natural Sciences, Humanities (language and literature, fine arts, philosophy, etc.), Social Sciences (history, economics, psychology, political science, etc.), and General Knowledge (current events, popular culture, etc., not to duplicate other subject areas).

3. There will be no multiple choice questions or yes/no questions.

4. Questions may require multiple answers and will be so designated prior to being asked. Answers must be given in the order the question was asked.

5. Contest managers will be responsible for both the balance of questions from the various areas and for the integrity of the questions.

C. Answers

1. Unless otherwise stated in the question, answers to mathematics questions must be given in their simplest form with any required units.

2. Unless otherwise stated in the question, last names shall be sufficient and common names acceptable.

3. Unless otherwise stated in the question, the answers to spelling questions require normal punctuation but not capitalization.

D. Toss-ups

1. Each half will begin with a toss-up question.

2. Toss-up questions may be answered by any member of either team after he or she buzzes in and is recognized by the spotter.

3. After a toss-up question has been read in its entirety, players have up to five seconds to buzz in and must answer immediately (as determined by the judge/moderator) after being recognized by the spotter.

4. Toss-up questions which are read in their entirety but answered incorrectly shall not be re-read, but may be answered by the opposing team after a team member has buzzed in and been recognized by the moderator.

5. The moderator will ask for the second team's response, if any, immediately upon receiving an incorrect answer from the first team.  The five second rule does not apply to the second team, which must answer immediately after the first team has incorrectly answered a question read in its entirety.

6. A contestant may interrupt the reading of a toss-up question, but if she or he does not answer or gives an incorrect response, the interrupted question will be read in its entirety for the opposing team, whose members win then have five seconds to buzz in and answer (see III.E, Interrupts, for more details).

7. If a player confers with a teammate on a toss-up question, the answer (even if correct) does not count for that team, and the question is turned over to the other team for an opportunity to buzz in and answer.  The moderator should give no indication of the appropriateness of the first player's answer.

8. If a player answers a toss-up question without being recognized, the answer (even if correct) does not count for that team, and the question is turned over to the other team for an opportunity to buzz in and answer.  The moderator should give no indication of the appropriateness of the first player's answer.

9. The first response given on a toss-up question is the one that counts.  Sometimes a player will attempt to give more than one piece of information in his or her answer, and in some instances such a response is acceptable.  The judge must distinguish whether the player has in fact pinpointed the answer or is just reciting a list of facts on a given subject.  This situation is particularly likely to occur on an interruption.  The moderator and judge must be alert, as this is a judgment call.

10. If the moderator inadvertently gives an answer to a toss-up question prior to either team buzzing in, she or he replaces that question with the next tossup question.

11. If the moderator inadvertently gives an answer after one team has responded incorrectly, he or she will then read the next toss-up question for the other team only.  Any penalty assessed a team for interrupting and providing an incorrect answer will remain.

12. If someone in the audience provides an answer, the moderator nullifies the question and replaces it with another question, with all rules of the game still in effect.  Any penalty assessed a team for earlier interrupting and providing an incorrect answer will remain.

13. If a player answers a toss-up question correctly, her or his team scores two points and is given a chance at one bonus question worth two points.

14. If a player answers a toss-up question incorrectly, the player's team will not be penalized unless the player responded before the moderator finished reading the question.  In this case, the player's team would be penalized one point (see III.E, Interrupts, below).

15. The moderator may not accept partially correct answers and may not ask for additional information.

E. Interrupts

1. A contestant may interrupt the reading of a toss-up question, but if he or she hesitates or gives an incorrect answer, the interrupted question will be read in its entirety solely for the opposing team members of which will then have five seconds to buzz in and answer the question.

2. The moderator should stop reading immediately when an interruption occurs; if the moderator continues reading an interrupted question, procedure should be called.

3. If a team member interrupts the reading of a question with a partially correct answer, the moderator may not accept that answer or ask for additional information and must impose a one-point penalty.

4. The first response given on a toss-up question is the one that counts.  Sometimes a player will attempt to give more than one piece of information in her or his answer, and in some cases such a response is acceptable.  The judge must distinguish whether the player has in fact pinpointed the answer or is just reciting a list of facts on a given subject.  This situation is particularly likely to occur on an interruption.  The moderator and judge must be alert, as this is a judgment call.

5. If a player interrupts the reading of a question and answers incorrectly, that player's team will be penalized one point.

6. If the second team attempts to answer at the point of interruption or interrupts while the moderator is rereading the question, then the penalty rule will apply as above.

F. Bonuses

1. The team of a contestant who correctly answers a toss-up question win be awarded a bonus question.

2. Team members may confer on bonus questions, and all team members should be encouraged to participate as much as possible.

3. Teams have ten seconds in which to answer a bonus question.  After ten seconds have elapsed, the moderator will call for a team's answer.  This must be offered immediately.

4. The team captain may designate another player to give the team's answer.  If there are conflicting answers, the moderator will ask the captain for the team's official answer.

 5. If a team answers a bonus question correctly, the team scores two points.

 6. No penalty will be assessed when bonus questions are answered incorrectly.

 7. If a team interrupts the reading of a bonus question with an answer, the moderator should stop reading the question and rule on the correctness of the response.

8. If someone in the audience provides an answer, the moderator nullifies the question and replaces it with another bonus question, with all rules of the game in effect.

G. Half-time

1. There will be a five-minute intermission between halves.

2. The intermission cannot be extended.

3. Protests will be discussed only after each half.  If a protest is pursued after an official warning during the match, the team will forfeit the match.

4. Substitution of any or all players may be made during the half-time recess.

5. If a team does not return at the end of the five-minute intermission, that team forfeits the second half.

H. Time-outs

1. The coach of a team competing in a match may call two time-outs during the match.  A team captain may call a time-out in the absence of the team's coach.

2. Time-outs will be allowed only after the completion of a question sequence, i.e., after a bonus question or after both teams have had an opportunity to respond to a toss-up question and no bonus question is to be asked.

3. Time-outs will be one minute in length, and teams must be ready to proceed with the match at the expiration of the time-out or, after a warning from the moderator, forfeit the match.

4. Substitution of any or all players may take place during a time-out.

I. Tie-Breakers

1. If at the end of a regulation game the score is tied, the moderator will ask a series of five toss-up questions.  No bonus questions will be asked.  All other rules pertaining to toss-up questions apply.  After the five questions have been asked, the team with the most points will be declared the winner.

2. If this procedure fails to produce a winner, toss-up questions will be asked one at a time.  The first team to take a lead (including an interrupt) will be declared the winner.  All other rules pertaining to toss-up questions will apply.

J. Procedure

1. A coach or player may not interrupt the progress of a match unless an error in proceedings has occurred--e.g., a moderator inadvertently announces that the next question will be a toss-up when it should be a bonus.

2. If a coach or a team captain (in the absence of a coach) detects a violation of procedure on the part of a match official, that person may call "procedure" and inform the moderator of the perceived error.

3. A coach or team captain may not confer with or substitute players during such an interruption of play.

4. No interruptions may be made about the suitability of a response.

5. A moderator may choose to warn a coach or captain that the person is in violation of League rules and thus faces disqualification from the tournament for unauthorized interruptions.

K. Protests

1. Coaches may protest the decisions of a moderator or match judge.  In the absence of a team coach, the team captain may lodge a protest with the moderator and/or match judge.

2. Any protest must be made within five minutes of the end of the half in which a questionable decision was made.

3. Protests may relate to the acceptability of an answer, the wording of a question, the amount of time allotted to a player or team, or any infraction of League playing rules.

4. In the event of a protest, the coach or team captain (as appropriate) must state the nature of his or her protest to the moderator, who may seek the counsel of the match judge.  Coaches or team captains may be aided by one team member in explaining the exact nature of the protest.

5. After the protest has been stated or written to the satisfaction of the moderator and judge and the opposing team's coach has been informed and consulted, all persons involved in the protest other than the match officials should leave the area and allow the officials to arrive at their decision.

6. If a toss-up or bonus question is invalidated because of a protest, a new question will be asked to either or both teams as appropriate to replace the invalidated question.  Any penalties for interruption will be voided.

7. If a toss-up answer is invalidated because of a protest, a new question will be read only to the second team to replace the invalidated question if the second team did not have an opportunity to answer the first question.  All rules for toss-ups will apply.  An interrupt penalty will be applied to the first team only if the first team interrupted the reading-of the first question.

8. If a protest is pursued beyond the level of tournament director to league official(s), once the league official(s) have ruled on the protest, all arguments must cease.  A coach or player may state her or his disagreement with the decision, but any further argument will result in a warning to the coach or player.  A second offense or continued arguing after the warning will result in the coach's or player's disqualification from the tournament.

L. Forfeits

        In the event one team fails to appear for a scheduled match, questions will be read solely for the team present, which may count its points scored up to the average point total for winning teams in that round.  If both coaches mutually agree to forfeit a match, each team will receive a loss for the round and no points will be added to either team's total.