FAQs
What is the Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl?
The Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl is a quiz-based competition between Illinois high school scholastic bowl teams that tests the players on a wide variety of academic subjects taught in Illinois high schools. This is an annual tournament sponsored by the Masons of Illinois and is coordinated through the Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of the State of Illinois. The goal is to provide positive recognition for academic excellence.
Who develops the questions?
The Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl Committee, under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Illinois, is responsible for obtaining the questions. The chairman of this committee usually purchases the questions from a reliable company that prepares questions for high school scholastic bowl teams. Security of the questions is maintained by the chairman of the Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl Committee. For the sectional tournaments, identical questions are used at all tournament locations. For both the sectional tournaments and state tournament, identical questions are used for all three Classes.
When do teams register?
Entry usually commences in early September and concludes on January 8th. Late entries (after January 8th) will be accepted up to February 1st based upon space availability at the sectional tournament sites. The earlier that teams enter, the easier it is to organize and schedule the sectional tournament locations therefore, coaches are encouraged to enter their team early. There is no penalty to the school if a team must be withdrawn from participation due to scheduling conflicts, weather conditions, personal emergencies of team members or coaches, etc.
How are the individual Masonic Lodges involved?
All Masonic Lodges in the state of Illinois are asked to sponsor a high school scholastic bowl team in our tournament. The cost of sponsoring a team is $150, payable to the Grand Lodge of Illinois. A Lodge may sponsor one school, or more than one school, or share the sponsorship of a school with another Lodge. Some Lodges may not desire to sponsor a specific school, but may wish to make a general donation to support this Grand Lodge program.
Masonic Lodges desiring to sponsor a high school should personally contact the Scholastic Bowl Coach at the school to determine the school’s desire to compete in our tournament. The Lodge may NOT enter the school in our tournament, as the Scholastic Bowl Coach must submit her/his own entry information to the Tournament Director. Lodges are encouraged to make plans for some of their members to be present at the tournament site on the day of the competition to support their school’s team.
What are the rules?
The " Tournament Rules for the Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl" is the governing document for the rules for this tournament. These rules are reviewed each year and revised as necessary. The current set of " Tournament Rules" are emailed to the Scholastic Bowl Coach for each high school that registers for this tournament.
What does it cost to enter a team?
High schools entering the Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl pay NO ENTRY FEE. Our tournament is financially supported by the Masons of Illinois.
Are awards given for the winners?
Monetary scholastic awards are presented to each school finishing in the top four positions at each Class 1A, Class 2A, and Class 3A sectional tournament location and at the state tournament. The Sectional Champion receives $400, the second-place team receives $300, the third-place team receives $200, and the fourth-place team received $100. At the state tournament, $1,500 is awarded to each State Champion, $1,000 is awarded to each second-place team, $700 is awarded to each third-place team, and $400 is awarded to each fourth-place team. Each team advancing to the state tournament, but not finishing in the final four of each class is awarded $100 each. These amounts could be adjusted in future years of the tournament. The Masons of Illinois ask only that the scholastic awards money be used by the schools for scholarships or academic purposes (i.e., purchase of practice questions, computer hardware or software, lockout systems, or scholastic bowl team shirts) within the school system.
The Class 1A State Champion, the Class 2A State Champion, and the Class 3A State Champion, each, will be given a State Championship trophy to keep at their respective school.
Does a school need a Masonic sponsor to participate?
The simple answer is NO. If a high school desires to participate in the Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl, the high school Scholastic Bowl Coach should submit her/his entry information to the Tournament Director. The Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl Committee attempts to obtain Masonic Lodge sponsors for the schools entered in the tournament. Even if a school ends up with no Masonic Lodge sponsor, the school will still compete in our tournament, and the school still pays no entry fee.
When is the tournament?
The Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl sectional tournaments are held on the third Saturday in February of each year throughout the state of Illinois. The winners of the sectional tournaments automatically advance to the state tournament.
The Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl state tournament is usually held in the central part of the state on the first Saturday in March of each year.
How many teams compete in the tournament?
Each sectional tournament site consists of a maximum of 12 teams. Our tournament is a round-robin format. Each team competes against all teams at the specific sectional tournament site unless “pool play” is required due to the number of teams registered. Pool play means that the teams will be divided into two pools with each pool being round-robin play. The winner of Pool " A" will compete against the runner-up of Pool " B" , and the winner of Pool " B" will compete against the runner-up of Pool " A" , with the winner of both of these matches competing against each other for the championship, and the runners-up of both of these matches competing against each other for 3rd Place. At sites that use a straight round-robin (no pool play), the team with the best win-loss record is the champion, the team with the second best win-loss record is the 2nd Place finisher, etc. If two teams tie with identical win-loss records, then the team that won the head-to-head match will be declared the team with the better record. The number of sectional tournament sites is based upon the total number of teams in each class registering to participate in our tournament. Our tournament is a 3-Class tournament with Class 1A being the smaller schools, Class 2A being the middle-sized schools, and Class 3A being the larger schools. The 3-Class system became effective for the 2015 tournament.
The state tournament is conducted at one location, usually in the central part off the state, with the winner of each sectional tournament site automatically advancing to the state tournament. The state tournament is also a 3-Class round-robin format. With this format, only sectional champions will advance to our state tournament.
How can I find out more info?
Additional info can be found on this site, or by emailing Herman J. Albers, Chairman, Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl Committee, at albers@htc.net. The Chairman of the Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl Committee is also the Tournament Director for the Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl tournament.