Volunteers
Thank you for your interest in volunteering for the 2026 Chesapeake Bay Bowl! George Mason University will be hosting this year’s bowl on the Science and Technology campus in Manassas, Virginia (10900 University Blvd.) on Saturday, February 14th.
If you would like to volunteer, please complete this online form – https://gmu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_54hnWouPHDOJrFk. Prior to completing this form, please review the volunteer job descriptions, as you will be asked to select one or more possible roles. We will do our best to accommodate all requests.
If you have any questions or trouble completing this form, please contact Tina Bell, Chesapeake Bay Bowl 2026 Coordinator, at cbbowl@gmu.edu.
Brief competition official job descriptions are as follows:
Moderator:
Reads the questions, keeps the match running smoothly and determines if an answer is right or wrong.
Level of effort: Attend a minimum of one (1) volunteer training; practice reading competition questions with other room officials multiple times; provide edits on questions as needed; practice reading questions in the eOSB prior to competition; and participate on day of competition. Time commitment: *approx. 10-15 hrs.
Science Judge:
Addresses scientific challenges, resets the buzzer system and reports the scoring of the Team Challenge Questions to the teams following grading.
Level of effort: Attend a minimum of one (1) volunteer training; practice reading competition questions with other room officials multiple times; provide edits on questions as needed; practice reading questions in the eOSB prior to competition; and participate on day of competition. Time commitment: *approx. 10-12 hrs.
Rules Judge:
Maintains the order in the game room, enforces competition rules, addresses challenges to the rules, issues warnings if necessary, and passes out Team Challenge Questions and scrap paper.
Level of effort: Attend a minimum of one (1) volunteer training; practice with other room officials multiple times; review rules of competition; and participate on day of competition. Time commitment: *approx. 10 hrs.
*Full Competition Rules Document
Scorekeeper:
Keeps a running tally of the points earned by each team on a flip chart, within view of the competitors.
Level of effort: Attend a minimum of one (1) volunteer training; practice with other room officials multiple times; review scoring rules of competition; and participate on day of competition. Time commitment: *approx. 10 hrs.
Timekeeper:
Marks the game time with a clock and a stopwatch.
Level of effort: Attend a minimum of one (1) volunteer training; practice with other room officials multiple times; review timekeeping procedures; and participate on day of competition. Time commitment: *approx. 10 hrs.
Runner:
Runs TCQs to Judges’ Appeals room for grading and picks up new round of TCQs from Ocean Bowl Central between rounds.
Level of effort: Attend a minimum of one (1) volunteer training; practice with other room officials multiple times; review layout of rooms on competition day; and participate on day of competition. Time commitment: *approx. 10 hrs.
