Ridwan Oyebamiji

Senior Matthew Boyd test other scholar members for practice. Scholar bowl members practice every Monday after school in sponsor Patrick Troy’s room. “I think it can be intimidating for [underclassmen] to come to practice and see that the juniors and seniors know a lot of information, but I think [they] should still be doing it because it’s fun and you get to learn a lot.”

After a 216-word question is read, senior Neil Tomala slams his hand down on the buzzer to qualify for nationals for scholar bowl in a 2-1 victory. According to Tomala, part of the team’s success came from a variety of people being able to excel in different subjects.

“We usually split up different tasks so people will focus on different subject areas,” Tomala said. “I do a lot of history and mythology. Some people focus on science and some people focus on literature so that we can divide up the work evenly.”

After their loss in the semifinals finals last year, the team made logistical changes to their strategy.

“We have a lot more people to sub in and sub out,” junior Mohammed Kuziez said. “People that are subbing in and subbing out are, most of the time, at relatively the same skill level. None of us get too worn out by the end of each match so we’re able to stay fresh and take breaks during the matches.”

Every Monday the team meets for two to three hours in math teacher and sponsor Patrick Troy’s room to discuss plans and study questions from previous years.

“Troy gives us head to head activities for certain questions that he writes out,” Kuziez said. “So we have two people partner up with a computer and Mr. Troy will have a video that asks you questions and whoever answers first between the two of them gets the point.”

Although the Scholar Bowl has qualified for nationals, the team stills needs funding in order to compete in Atlanta next May.

“We think we’re going to use a snap fundraiser like a GoFundme,” Troy said. “Just entering the tournament costs $750, but our hope is that if we do a lot of fundraising, [students] won’t have to pay money to go.”

Moving forward, Troy hopes for the team to gain more underclassmen.

“I think it can be intimidating for [underclassmen] to come to practice and see that the juniors and seniors know a lot of information, but I think [they] should still be doing it because it’s fun and you get to learn a lot.”