West Kentucky Academic Association 2017 2018 Coaches Guide Welcome to another season of exciting academic competition! Whether you are a seasoned coach or a beginning one, coaching your school s academic team is sure to be a challenging, yet rewarding endeavor. Your fellow coaches, as well as your league officers, are ready to make this year as smooth for you as possible. This guide has been designed especially with you in mind. The Fall Coaches Meeting Early in the school year, the date, time, and location of the annual fall coaches meeting will be posted on the WKAA website, which can be found at http://wkaa.org. Mark this date on your calendar, and plan to attend. At this meeting, coaches will finalize scheduling that was started at the spring coaches meeting. There will be adjustments made to the tentative schedule that was produced in May. Make sure you are present for scheduling, so you are aware of any changes. Important announcements will be made regarding rules changes and upcoming tournaments in the area. Our treasurer, Kelley Vollmar, will be available so you can ensure your school has paid its dues for the school year. Shortly after the meeting, coaches will be e-mailed a password that will grant them access to the questions that will be used at each week s matches. Keep this password in a safe place so you will be able to print the questions before each s week s competition! Frequently Asked Questions about the Fall Coaches Meeting What if I can t attend the Fall Meeting? All schools are expected to send a representative to the fall coaches meeting. We understand, though, that extenuating circumstances make it impossible for everyone to
attend. You might want to ask a coach from another school to ensure you have a full schedule for the season. If your school has paid its dues for the current year, you will be e- mailed a question download password a few days after the coaches meeting. If your school has not paid its dues, though, we will not be able to send you a password. Why do we continue scheduling in the fall if schedules were already made in the spring? Primarily because circumstances change. Some teams may not be able to attend a match on a specific date and may need to make changes to their schedules. Some teams may have an incomplete schedule and will need to be added to the master schedule. There may be new teams joining the league that also need to be added. In any case, teams that want a full schedule playing as many matches as possible should attend all coaches meetings. After the Coaches Meeting In the days following the coaches meeting, you will want to do the following: Arrange for bus transportation to away matches. Organize and practice with your team. A few days before each match, reconfirm with other participating schools. Get certified in quick recall (see the Governor s Cup section.) Question Download Most of our association s expenses come from purchasing each year s competition questions. They are made available to you via the question download section of wkaa.org. To download your questions each week, visit wkaa.org, click on Middle Grades Questions or High School Questions, then input your password. Frequently Asked Questions about Question Download Is it okay to practice with the questions before the matches? No! Students should never have access to the question packet before a week s match. Your school s question download password should never be made available to students. They are considered to be strictly confidential. For practice, use questions from previous weeks or other old questions. A moderator or judge may preview the questions shortly before a match, but it is of utmost importance to keep the questions secure, so no students see or hear them. 2
May we use the questions with teams from non-wkaa member schools? When we purchase our league questions, we are licensed to use the questions in matches only involving WKAA member schools. Please do not release the questions to schools in other leagues, as this may jeopardize our ability to obtain secure questions in the future. The Weekly Matches Most schools take two teams to each weekly match JV and Varsity. Many middle schools have an additional 6 th grade team, as well. Our weekly matches are normally held in a round-robin mini-tournament format. This means that three or four schools will require three rounds of questions to complete the day s competition. When four schools arrange a match if all four schools field JV and Varsity teams it will require four different rooms running simultaneously (2 rooms for varsity; 2 rooms for JV). If only three schools are in attendance and all schools have JV and Varsity teams it will require only two rooms running simultaneously (1 varsity room and 1 JV room). Make sure you take your set of secure questions for that week to the match, and don t forget your buzzers! If you forget either of these items, it will cause a delay at the host school. Frequently Asked Questions about the Weekly Matches Who acts as moderator and judge at the match? Generally, coaches take turns moderating at our weekly matches. However, if you have an extra adult who can serve as a moderator, that person can help, too. Any judging issues or inquiries are normally resolved by the two participating coaches within the match room. Who provides pencils and paper at the match? Usually, the host school provides pencils and paper. However, other items, such as timers, buzzers, nameplates, and scoresheets, should be brought by each participating school. What are the rules for weekly matches? WKAA-sponsored matches follow rules outlined in the KAAC Quick Recall Manual for the current school year. 3
You can obtain this year s Quick Recall Manual by visiting kaac.com, then clicking on Coaches > Downloads > Quick Recall Manual. The only exceptions to these rules are as follows: High school matches consist of 12-minutes halves, instead of 15. A half can consist of 40 untimed questions, only if both coaches agree. Who can play on a JV team? Normally, any student enrolled in a school can play on that school s varsity team. However, at the middle school level, only 7 th graders or younger can play on a JV team. At the high school level, only 11 th graders or younger can play on a JV team. No student may play on two different teams on the same day. Special League Events Each year, WKAA hosts special tournaments that are only open to member schools. In November, middle school teams are invited to the annual WKAA Middle School Tournament, held at West Kentucky Community & Technical College in Paducah. This year s competition will be held Friday, November 17. There is no entry fee, and teams get to play several matches throughout the day. For information about the Middle School Tournament, contact Zachary Rudolph or Gary Goodaker. High School teams are invited to the annual President s Cup Tournament, also hosted at WKCTC. The entry fee for this tournament is $45. This tournament features several rounds of quick recall play, as well as a Written Assessment test in the morning. Held in early January, it serves as an excellent warm-up before post-season Governor s Cup. This year s tournament is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, January 4. For information about President s Cup, contact Gary Goodaker. Post-Season Governor s Cup Nearly all academic teams in the Commonwealth of Kentucky participate in Governor s Cup an academic competition featuring quick recall matches, as well as other events such as Written Assessment and Future Problem Solving. Information on joining KAAC can be found on the www.kaac.com website. Annual dues for KAAC are currently $325 for high schools and middle schools. Please note that these dues are completely separate from WKAA membership. Governor s Cup events take place from January through March, with district competitions (involving 3-5 schools) in January. Winners at the district level advance to the regional competitions (involving between 13 and 19 schools), which take place in February. Winners 4
at regionals advance to the State Finals, which will be held at Louisville s Galt House Hotel in March. Frequently Asked Questions about Governor s Cup How do I participate in Quick Recall at Governor s Cup? Probably the most important step a coach can take is to get certified in Quick Recall well before Governor s Cup begins in January. The easiest way to get quick recall certification is to attend a rules clinic near you. Over 100 of these clinics are held statewide, and approximately 10-12 are held here in western Kentucky. Advance registration is required and free. To register, go to www.kaac.com and click on Certification. Quick recall certification is required to be a coach or official during Governor s Cup and other KAAC events (which includes Sixth Grade Showcase and JV Challenge). Quick Recall Training Clinics for 2017-2018 Thu Sep 28 Marshall County HS 2+ yrs exp 5:00 0-1 yrs exp 5:00 Tue Oct 17 University Hts Academy 2+ yrs exp 4:00 0-1 yrs exp 5:00 Sat Oct 21 Paducah Tilghman HS 2+ yrs exp 10:00 0-1 yrs exp 11:00 Mon Nov 6 Graves County HS 2+ yrs exp 4:00 0-1 yrs exp 4:45 Sat Nov 18 Paducah Tilghman HS 2+ yrs exp 10:00 0-1 yrs exp 11:00 Tue Nov 28 Trigg County HS 2+ yrs exp 4:00 0-1 yrs exp 5:00 Sat Dec 9 Paducah Tilghman HS 2+ yrs exp 10:00 0-1 yrs exp 11:00 Thu Dec 14 Graves County HS 2+ yrs exp 4:00 0-1 yrs exp 4:45 Sat Jan 6 Paducah Tilghman HS 2+ yrs exp 10:00 0-1 yrs exp 11:00 Wed Jan 10 Graves County HS 2+ yrs exp 3:45 0-1 yrs exp 4:30 Mon Jan 29 WKCTC Paducah 2+ yrs exp 4:00 0-1 yrs exp 5:00 Make sure you visit www.kaac.com and click on Certification > Certification Clinics to register. Each participating school is required to provide at least one certified coach and at least one certified official. 5
How do I register my students? Early in the school year, all KAAC member schools receive a coaches password. This password is used to log in to the coaching section of the www.kaac.com website. In September, you will log in to update your school s contact information. In December or early January, you will log in to add student names to your District Entry Form and register all required officials. A copy of this District Entry Form needs to be sent to your District Contest Manager. After District, you will log in to confirm advancing students to Regional and to confirm your officials. After Regional, you will log in to confirm advancing students to State and to confirm any officials. When is the coaches meeting for Governor s Cup? The coaches meeting will be held approximately 9 days before the Saturday of Governor s Cup. The District Contest Manager will contact you with the exact date, time, and location. At this meeting, coaches in the district will meet to decide key logistical details of the competition. This is also where the Quick Recall bracket is produced, by blind draw. What are the other Governor s Cup events? Governor s Cup includes Future Problem Solving, an exciting team competition in which groups of four students collaborate to produce potential solutions to a hypothetical problem based in the future. Find more information about FPS at www.kaac.com. Future Problem Solving Training Clinics for 2017-2018 Thu Sep 22 Marshall County HS 2+ yrs exp 5:00 pm Other dates in Western Kentucky are available at kaac.com. Make sure you visit www.kaac.com and click on Certification > Certification Clinics to register. Written Assessment allows students to compete individually by taking tests in five different subject areas Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Language Arts, and Arts & Humanities. Students also may compete individually in the Composition event, writing creative essays in an on-demand setting. 6
Quick Recall is the only event open to the public. Any student may compete in a maximum of three events at Governor s Cup each year. Yes, each written assessment test category counts toward the total event count. Post-Season Work After the season has concluded, you will be contacted via e-mail and sent a Letter of Intent for the upcoming school year. Please fill out this form and return it to the WKAA President, Jeremy Krug, at the address on the form. The Letter of Intent lets the officers know that your school plans to compete in WKAA next year. Normally, we send an Invoice for Dues in the spring, as well. Annual WKAA dues are $100. High schools in the Jackson Purchase (west of the lakes) pay an additional $30 to be a member of the West Kentucky Academic Bowl scholarship fund. Dues for the season are due by September 1 st of each academic year. Along with the Letter of Intent and an Invoice for Dues, you will be invited to the Spring Coaches Meeting. All schools must send a representative to this meeting; this is where most of the scheduling for the following year will be completed. Coaches that do not attend the spring meeting may find themselves without a schedule or a very limited schedule for the following year. At the spring meeting, coaches vote for WKAA officers. Each school gets one vote in the officer election, even if the school has multiple coaches; only those schools that send a representative to the meeting are eligible to vote. If you would like to run for a WKAA position (President, Vice-President of High Schools, Vice-President of Middle Schools, or Treasurer), please notify any current WKAA officer, and your name will be added to the ballot. 7
Your Officers Are Here to Help! If you have any concerns or questions about coaching your team, qualifying for Governor s Cup, or any other matters that arise throughout the season, please do not hesitate to contact your officers! President Jeremy Krug, Graves County High School Jeremy.krug@graves.kyschools.us General League Concerns, Competition Questions, League Membership, Rules of Play Vice-President of High Schools Gary Goodaker, West Ky Community & Tech. College Gary.goodaker@kctcs.edu High School Membership, High School Tournaments Vice-President of Middle Schools Zachary Rudolph, Lone Oak Middle School Zachary.rudolph@mccracken.kyschools.us Middle School Membership, Middle Schools Tournaments, League Secretary Treasurer Kelley Vollmar, Graves County High School Kelley.vollmar@graves.kyschools.us Payment of Dues, Chief Financial Officer 8