Just named Jr. High Scholastic Bowl Coach!
Just named Jr. High Scholastic Bowl Coach!
I was just named Jr. High Scholastic Bowl coach at our Board Meeting this week. I played in high school (16 years ago), but have not been around it since then.
Any tips that one can share with me would be appreciated. I'm excited about getting started,but am really going in pretty clueless.
Any tips that one can share with me would be appreciated. I'm excited about getting started,but am really going in pretty clueless.
- Stained Diviner
- Auron
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If the team already exists, I recommend talking to the current coach before s/he departs about the state of the team--which returning students are reliable, what tournaments do they usually play in, what do you have in terms of a buzzer system and practice questions. You should do things your own way, but it is helpful to know what the kids are used to and whether you are going to have to ask your supervisor for some funding to get things started.
If you let us know what geographical area you are in, somebody on this board probably can give you suggestions in terms of good people to contact in your state and perhaps good tournaments to compete in.
If you let us know what geographical area you are in, somebody on this board probably can give you suggestions in terms of good people to contact in your state and perhaps good tournaments to compete in.
- Stained Diviner
- Auron
- Posts: 5087
- Joined: Sun Jun 13, 2004 6:08 am
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IESA runs a good workshop each year. The upcoming one is Friday, October 26.
You also might want to refer to the member directory at http://www.ihssbca.org. It is a list of high school coaches, but the coach in the school you feed into might be willing to give you some help. Other people in Central IL who are generally knowledgeable and helpful are Tom Durbin (Decatur), Cathy Groesch (Springfield), John Rathbun (Peoria), Jack Small (Farmington), and Deb Voorhees (Bloomington), among others.
You also might want to refer to the member directory at http://www.ihssbca.org. It is a list of high school coaches, but the coach in the school you feed into might be willing to give you some help. Other people in Central IL who are generally knowledgeable and helpful are Tom Durbin (Decatur), Cathy Groesch (Springfield), John Rathbun (Peoria), Jack Small (Farmington), and Deb Voorhees (Bloomington), among others.
- millionwaves
- Auron
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- the return of AHAN
- Auron
- Posts: 1988
- Joined: Thu Feb 01, 2007 10:40 pm
D-SAR,
Welcome to IESA scholastic bowl! How competitive has Athens been? I know they were in the same regional as Petersburg PORTA; a VERY good program that took 3rd in state this year. The goofy thing about IESA scholastic bowl is that our 2-class system splits the schools in half by enrollment, unlike IHSA which has a much larger Class A group to insure the relatively small schools aren't squashed by the likes of New Trier. But, as PORTA showed this year, you only need to have 5 kids that play better than the 5 your opponent throws out there.
Any way, if you are hoping to improve the competitiveness of your new team, I can only advise you to seek out more matches. When I look up the Athens JHS calendar, it only shows 3 triangular meets before regional play. If that's accurate, I'd lobby the principal for the authority to put together more matches, perhaps even find a Saturday tournament or two. If Streator is not too far, there are a couple of Saturday tournaments you may find worthwhile (Streator St. Anthony's Brain Strain tournament in late January, and Northlawn's Knowledge Power tournament in early March) . Normal Metcalf stages a tournament in mid-February, but they keep the field small and have very few drops from year to year. Still, it may be worth your while to contact them. If all else fails, I'd ask you to follow the wisdom of Tom Egan, "If you host it, they will come." That's right. Host your own Saturday tournament. When I staged the Cahokia Invitational Tournament (2000 & 2001), schools such as Springfield Franklin, Taylorville, Rochester, and Toledo Cumberland made the trip to the other side of East St. Louis because they were starving for a Saturday tournament, to say nothing of a certain Barrington Station team that came all the way from the Chicago suburbs (and changed the course of my life...yada yada yada).
Welcome to IESA scholastic bowl! How competitive has Athens been? I know they were in the same regional as Petersburg PORTA; a VERY good program that took 3rd in state this year. The goofy thing about IESA scholastic bowl is that our 2-class system splits the schools in half by enrollment, unlike IHSA which has a much larger Class A group to insure the relatively small schools aren't squashed by the likes of New Trier. But, as PORTA showed this year, you only need to have 5 kids that play better than the 5 your opponent throws out there.
Any way, if you are hoping to improve the competitiveness of your new team, I can only advise you to seek out more matches. When I look up the Athens JHS calendar, it only shows 3 triangular meets before regional play. If that's accurate, I'd lobby the principal for the authority to put together more matches, perhaps even find a Saturday tournament or two. If Streator is not too far, there are a couple of Saturday tournaments you may find worthwhile (Streator St. Anthony's Brain Strain tournament in late January, and Northlawn's Knowledge Power tournament in early March) . Normal Metcalf stages a tournament in mid-February, but they keep the field small and have very few drops from year to year. Still, it may be worth your while to contact them. If all else fails, I'd ask you to follow the wisdom of Tom Egan, "If you host it, they will come." That's right. Host your own Saturday tournament. When I staged the Cahokia Invitational Tournament (2000 & 2001), schools such as Springfield Franklin, Taylorville, Rochester, and Toledo Cumberland made the trip to the other side of East St. Louis because they were starving for a Saturday tournament, to say nothing of a certain Barrington Station team that came all the way from the Chicago suburbs (and changed the course of my life...yada yada yada).
Jeff Price
Barrington High School Coach (2021 & 2023 HSNCT Champions, 2023 PACE Champions, 2023 Illinois Masonic Bowl Class 3A State Champions)
Barrington Station Middle School Coach (2013 MSNCT Champions, 2013 & 2017 Illinois Class AA State Champions)
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Barrington High School Coach (2021 & 2023 HSNCT Champions, 2023 PACE Champions, 2023 Illinois Masonic Bowl Class 3A State Champions)
Barrington Station Middle School Coach (2013 MSNCT Champions, 2013 & 2017 Illinois Class AA State Champions)
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Thanks for all the info. Keep it coming.
Our school has just had JH scholastic bowl for 2 years. I know they were in more contests than what is listed on our school's website...but probably not near as many as powerhouses like PORTA
I will look into starting a tournament..I'm sure I'll have a billion questions about getting one off the ground.
I coach girls basketball in the fall and host a 16 team tournament so I do have some experience coordinating tourneys.
Our school has just had JH scholastic bowl for 2 years. I know they were in more contests than what is listed on our school's website...but probably not near as many as powerhouses like PORTA
I will look into starting a tournament..I'm sure I'll have a billion questions about getting one off the ground.
I coach girls basketball in the fall and host a 16 team tournament so I do have some experience coordinating tourneys.
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- Auron
- Posts: 1350
- Joined: Fri Nov 28, 2003 11:12 pm
- Location: Vienna, VA
- Contact:
How is the team at the school to which you feed? If there is a good stable situation the coach at your high school can help you navigate bureaucracy and share tips that have worked. Also it might be possible to coordinate efforts -- so players come out of 9th grade well-prepared for 10th grade.
I know sports analogies are frowned on, but some of the rural football powerhouses in VA will have the same system from youth football on up -- by the time players get to the high school level they know the system and focus on conditioning and strength training.
I know sports analogies are frowned on, but some of the rural football powerhouses in VA will have the same system from youth football on up -- by the time players get to the high school level they know the system and focus on conditioning and strength training.
- the return of AHAN
- Auron
- Posts: 1988
- Joined: Thu Feb 01, 2007 10:40 pm
Say, when did you play at Glenwood JHS? I may have coached a game or two against you...ecks wrote:Good to hear! You guys will probably be playing my alma mater, Glenwood, then, yes?D-SAR wrote:I will be coaching at Athens Jr. High. Athens is a small town 12 miles north of Springfield.
Jeff Price
Barrington High School Coach (2021 & 2023 HSNCT Champions, 2023 PACE Champions, 2023 Illinois Masonic Bowl Class 3A State Champions)
Barrington Station Middle School Coach (2013 MSNCT Champions, 2013 & 2017 Illinois Class AA State Champions)
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Barrington High School Coach (2021 & 2023 HSNCT Champions, 2023 PACE Champions, 2023 Illinois Masonic Bowl Class 3A State Champions)
Barrington Station Middle School Coach (2013 MSNCT Champions, 2013 & 2017 Illinois Class AA State Champions)
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Never actually played in Junior High, although I did go to the school. I'm in the same year as Caleb and Pasha, who you will probably remember. I joined scholastic bowl when I was a sophomore at GHS.BarringtonJP wrote:Say, when did you play at Glenwood JHS? I may have coached a game or two against you...ecks wrote:Good to hear! You guys will probably be playing my alma mater, Glenwood, then, yes?D-SAR wrote:I will be coaching at Athens Jr. High. Athens is a small town 12 miles north of Springfield.
Christopher Stone
Truman State University '09
Truman State University '09