Registration and Qualification


Team competing at the 2000 Falcon Fall Classic at Bowling Green State University

Registration for the 2004 NSC (University of Maryland)

ENTRY FEES (due May 1, 2004)

Base entry fee per team: $350.00 (maximum 2), maximum number of students per team: 6. Additional teams must be petitioned to the NSC Tournament Director.

Early commitment discount (expires after January 31, 2004): -$50.00/team
A team using this discount commits to compete at the 2004 NSC and can reserve on-campus housing in advance. An automatic bid is NOT REQUIRED to take advantage of this discount. A subsequent signed form/document will need to be submitted to confirm the discount.

Automatic bid discount (expires after April 30, 2004): -$50.00/team
Automatic bids to the NSC are awarded to the top 4 school programs represented at a PACE-affiliated tournament during the current academic year. This discount may be applied IN ADDITION to the early commitment discount Note that the automatic bid discount will not apply to those teams that pre-register on May 1 or after.

Staff or Buzzer system discount: -$25.00
Buzzer discount: the team will bring a fully-functioning buzzer system designed to accommodate a minimum of two teams of four players each to the NSC. Staff discount: a coach or an adult chaperone is available to serve as a volunteer reader or scorekeeper during the preliminary rounds and consolation rounds of the NSC; the volunteer must fully understand the rules of the NSC format.

Minimum entry fee per team charged: $225.00
Maximum field size: 48 teams

ON-CAMPUS HOUSING FEES (due May 1, 2004)
Flat rate: $85 per person.
This covers each person staying in a double-room arrangement for two nights of accommodations (June 11 and June 12). Rates at nearby hotel rooms charge $70 per night per room. Please indicate the number of adults and students for whom we should reserve rooms. It is very important that you indicate male or female for each person. We will do our best to keep all the teams together.

WITHDRAWALS AND LATE FEES
All entry and housing fees will be charged to the teams and are non-refundable once you have pre-registered. Schools that withdraw from the NSC must pay their invoices in full by May 1 or be subject to a 10% late fee. If balances are outstanding after July 1, an additional 1.5% surcharge per month will be assessed upon that balance.

REGISTRATION PROCEDURE
Pre-registration will only be accepted from team advisors or coaches by electronic mail to Dr. Chuck. Please include the following information:
a) Name and email address of contact
b) Name and mailing address of school
c) Evening phone number of contact
d) Number of team slots to be reserved (one or two); if you are not sure, indicate one.
e) Number of adults and students you anticipate will require on-campus housing. We can try to add more rooms until May 1, which is when PACE is required to freeze the housing roster.
f) If you require a formal invoice to expedite payment, please indicate what should be disclosed on the invoice (itemized for entry fee and housing or a "lump charge").

Send your registration information to Dr. Chuck at the address: pace_nsc@hotmail.com. Checks should be made and sent to the following address:

Partnership for Academic Competition Excellence
c/o Dr. Emil Thomas Chuck
18 Durbin Place
Durham, North Carolina 27705

How to Qualify for the NSC

To receive an automatic invitation for the NSC, a team must finish in the top four places at an affiliated tournament. If a team that finishes first or second place in an affiliated tournament declines its bid, a semifinalist team competing from that affiliated tournament will be asked to take its place. For tournaments with a larger number of teams (40 or more), automatic invitations may also be extended to the quarterfinalists.

In addition to automatic invitations, teams can apply for at-large bids. To receive an at-large bid, the following procedures must be followed.

You must list the following information for at least the tournament at which you became eligible to apply for an at-large bid:
tournament (name, place, date),
tournament director (with phone or e-mail)
standings (win-loss record, overall place--winner, runner-up, etc.).
In addition, you may list your standings at any other tournaments you have attended since September 1, as well as the names and results of matches against individual teams, if you have such records and wish to provide them to PACE, or any other information you feel will help PACE in its decision.

This application process is set up to your benefit, since PACE will consider both individual best performances and overall results to determine who will receive at-large bids. You may disclose up to five tournaments held on or after September 1. Your performance against other teams that have already qualified for the NSC will also be taken into account.

High school academic competition programs may also qualify as many as two teams to compete in the NSC to help give more experience for the younger members of the program. However, no program may receive both bids at any one tournament. At the NSC, no student can play on both teams, including alternates.

Send At-Large Application information in Microsoft Word or similar format to the Director of Communications Emil Thomas Chuck at pace_nsc@hotmail.com.