After six rounds of competition between over a hundred students from 23 states and the District of Columbia, Kapadia qualified for the playoffs and finished in ninth place.
This year’s competition was unique because it was held via Zoom, the first large event held by the National Academic Quiz Tournaments since the COVID pandemic started, said Jeff Hoppes, vice president of communications for the organization.
Students must have their cameras on and their hands visible so that quiz bowl staff can monitor them. The competition consisted of students being asked questions in eight academic fields by a live moderator and then students buzzing in electronically to answer.
National Academic Quiz Tournaments have other competitions that are team-based, which allows a team of four to balance each others’ strengths and weaknesses among categories. The individual tournament removes that “safety net” and requires players to expand their learning beyond what they specialize in, Hoppes said. Students are asked questions about anything from history to science to literature to sports. The individual tournament was introduced in 2018.
“They have to know something about everything for this competition,” Hoppes said.
In addition to the overall finish, the tournament evaluated students’ performance on questions in each category and awarded high placements in each category. Kapadia got second overall in fine arts, third in geography and history and fourth in popular culture & sports.
The overall winner was a student from Washington, D.C. Many of the competitors of the IPNCT will meet again in team national championships held by NAQT in the following weeks, including Kapadia and the Beavercreek quiz bowl team.
The High School National Championship Tournament will be held on May 29th and 30th online, Hoppes said.
Hoppes said Beavercreek’s quiz bowl team has been strong for a number of years. They were the national champions in 2019, the first time a school in Ohio secured this title said coach Ellen Spence, who teaches French at Beavercreek High School.
Kapadia is the senior team captain of the Beavercreek Academic Team. He and his teammates will compete in regionals this weekend.
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