As of December 5, 2023, registration for the 2024 PACE National Scholastic Championship is now open for qualified teams. A list of qualified teams can be found here. Eligibility rules can be found here; please note the changes and updates for this year highlighted in yellow.
Registration for Qualified Teams
Qualified teams may register by completing the following two steps:
- Filling out the NSC registration form. Please note that solely filling out this form does not guarantee a spot in the NSC field.
- Making a $100 deposit, or alternatively, full payment of registration costs. Teams are guaranteed a spot in the NSC field once the payment is received. Spots in the field will be reserved based on the deposit receipt date, and in the event of a tie, on the postmark date.
Note: The above process must be completed for every team that seeks to register, even two teams from the same school. For example, if a school seeks to register two teams, the school should fill out the registration form twice (once for each team), and make two $100 deposits (can be combined into a single $200 payment; please make a note in the payment that it is to cover two teams’ deposits) or full payment.
Waitlist
If the field is full, qualified teams may reserve a spot on the waitlist by completing registration. The order of the waitlist will be determined by the order in which registration is completed. If a team on the waitlist is unable to enter the field, their deposit will be refunded.
Standby Teams
Teams with standby status must commit to showing up to the tournament and be ready to play if a registered team fails to appear on Saturday morning for any reason. Standby teams play on an as-needed basis for no charge.
Standby teams are responsible for arranging and paying for all their own costs associated with attending the tournament, just as if they were regular teams in the field. The recompense for being a standby team is the possibility of playing the tournament without paying registration fees, and does not entitle any team to any reimbursement from PACE for other attendance expenses.
Teams applying for standby status need not have qualified for the 2024 NSC and may be B-teams, C-teams, etc. of schools already in the field. However, all members of any such standby team must plan to be on-site on Saturday morning regardless of whether they get to play.
In the event that spots do open up, PACE reserves discretion in selecting which standby teams fill the vacancies, though barring extreme circumstances it will do so on a first-come, first-served order based on the time at which teams registered.
The list of teams with standby status is not the same as the official waitlist for entry into the tournament. Teams on the official waitlist may also apply to be standby teams.
Teams may register for standby status by emailing NSC Tournament Director Ben Weiner (tournament.director@pace-nsc.org).
Fees and Payment
- Base Fee: $845 per team (note that this is per team, not per school)
- Buzzer Systems*: -$15 per buzzer system, max. 1 system per team
- Hosting a PACE-certified tournament: -$10 per tournament, no limit
* In order to claim a buzzer discount, teams must provide a system with at least eight (8) fully working buzzers (defined as having lockout capabilities and functional identifying lights.) Buzzer systems will be tested at check-in and teams who provide non-working systems will be required to refund the discount. Please note that buzzer discounts are limited to one per team. Note also that we will not accept wireless buzzer systems.
Teams may choose to pay the full registration fee as soon as they register, or to pay a $100 deposit at registration. PACE will count the $100 deposit toward the tam’s registration fee. If your team’s registration will be paid in full by the team’s school or school district, but another group (such as the players and/or coach) fronted the deposit, PACE can reimburse your team $100 in the event of overpayment.
If a registered team withdraws from the tournament:
- The deposit is fully refundable (minus a $5 processing fee) until March 15, 2024.
- The deposit is half-refundable (minus a $5 processing fee) until March 31, 2024.
- After March 31, 2024, the deposit is non-refundable.
- After April 30, 2024, the full payment is non-refundable.
All registration payments, online or by mailed check, must be received by May 8, 2024. For each day your payment is not received after May 8, a $15 fee will be added to your entry fee. If your payment is not received by May 22, PACE reserves the right to drop your team from the tournament.
NSC entry fees primarily go toward writers and editors of the NSC question set, travel and lodging for NSC staffers, organization operating costs, and maintenance costs for this website and the hsquizbowl.org forums.
For specific questions about the fee structure or payment methods, please contact PACE Treasurer Mike Bentley at mbentleypace@gmail.com.
Payment may be made securely online via PayPal or in the form of a check made out to “Partnership for Academic Competition Excellence” sent to:
Michael Bentley
5603 125th Ave. SE
Bellevue, WA 98006
Hotel Block
PACE has an agreement with the Hyatt Regency Reston that provides teams with discounted hotel room rates during the tournament. When teams book using the group booking link, rooms with two double beds are available at a rate of $149/night with parking also available at a discounted rate.
Wildcard Teams
Teams that have not qualified for the NSC can submit a wildcard bid starting on January 1, 2024. Additionally, a school that has qualified its A team for the NSC can submit wildcard bids for additional teams (B team, C team, etc.) if those additional teams from the same school have not qualified through other means.
After January 1, teams may submit a wildcard bid by emailing PACE’s Wildcard Coordinator at wildcard@pace-nsc.org with the following: team name, contact information, and a summary of the team’s accomplishments throughout the year.
The PACE Wildcard Committee will then determine whether to grant this team entry to the NSC and return a decision to the team within three weeks of receiving the application.
PACE will automatically approve wildcard bids from teams who finished highly enough at tournaments that meet our standards for qualifier status, even if those events are not officially listed as such. Example: if “City High School A” finished in first, second, third, or fourth place at the “City Invitational Tournament,” a 20-team tournament run on an NAQT Invitational Series Set, offered eight games to all teams, and kept team statistics (within the 20% cutoff of a qualifier), their bid would be automatically approved regardless of whether the “City Invitational Tournament” chose to join the official list of qualifier events.
While this has been implicitly true for wildcard bids over the last few years, it is now official PACE policy.