The Format
Two formats. One season.
Quick Recall every Thursday from September through December. NAQT pyramidal play in January, with the top finishers qualifying for the national championship.
Regular season
Quick Recall
Quick Recall is a buzzer-driven academic competition. Two teams of four face 100 questions across two short halves. A tossup is open to either team; whichever player buzzes in first answers individually. If correct, their team gets a bonus question. If the team misses the bonus, it bounces to the other side.
There is no penalty for early buzzes. Matches run roughly 35 to 45 minutes. Each Thursday, all matches happen simultaneously across multiple Maclay upper-school classrooms, not in the gym. JV matches begin at 6:00 PM; Varsity matches begin at 7:15 PM.
The pace is closer to a live Jeopardy taping than to a sporting event. Spectators stay attentive during play and applaud between matches. The room is engaged but not raucous.
January championship
NAQT-sanctioned tournament
After three Thursdays of Quick Recall playoffs in early January, the top eight teams meet for a Saturday NAQT-sanctioned tournament. NAQT uses pyramidal questions: a clue starts hard and grows easier through the read. Powers reward early correct buzzes; negs penalize incorrect early buzzes. Bonuses come in three parts, no bounce-back.
The top 15 percent of the field auto-qualifies for the High School National Championship Tournament at Memorial Day weekend in Atlanta. In a 14-school field, that is three teams. Seeds are set by regular-season Quick Recall standings.
Roster and eligibility
Each school fields two teams: JV and Varsity. Four players are active per match; alternates are allowed. A minimum of eight students must be rostered.
Each school sets its own academic-eligibility standards using the school's or district's published requirements, whichever is stricter. Until the League adds a middle-school division (a planned Year 2 or 3 expansion), middle-school students enrolled at a member school may be rostered on JV or Varsity at the school's discretion.
JV-to-Varsity sub rule: a JV player may sub up but cannot also play that night's JV match. A JV player who appears in four or more Varsity matches in a season is reclassified as Varsity for the remainder.
Ready to join?