When to Begin

Dormant threads from the high school sections are preserved here.
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Scott
Rikku
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Joined: Thu Feb 28, 2008 7:13 pm
Location: Leitchfield KY

When to Begin

Post by Scott »

I was just thinking that while it is good to introduce players to quizbowl early in order to get them accustomed to its format prior to high school, there may be some negative effects to this. Sometimes is people start playing a variety of quizbowl when they are in middle or even elementary school they will become interested in it and excel when they become high school quizbowl players. However, some players will get burnt-out of the activity after being involved in it for 5 or more years prior to high school. This has caused numerous outstanding players at Grayson quit playing immediately after middle school, because they are just tired of quizbowl.

So these are the questions I ask:
What is the ideal grade that a person should start playing some form of quizbowl in in order to create the best future situation?
Has anyone ever seen a situation similar to the one I described?
What can be done to prevent the "burning-out" of excellent prospects in quizbowl teams?
Scott Blain
Grayson '12
Vanderbilt '16
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Matthew D
Yuna
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Joined: Sun Oct 23, 2005 9:52 pm
Location: Scenic Grant Alabama

Re: When to Begin

Post by Matthew D »

I personally think that 7th grade is a good starting place for most players. It gives them a chance to get the basics down and continue to grow in high school. Which will led to less of a burnout because they seem to have a better grasp of the knowledge.
I think the burnout factor has more to do with number of tournaments attended, personal satisfaction with the individual play, and overall atmosphere of the team. It is hard for a player that goes to tournaments every other Saturday and gets the dog beat out of them not to get disillusioned with the whole thing.
Matt Dennis
Coach DAR Quizbowl Team
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