Athens Classic, Part 2

The new year has officially kicked off. People have returned to work and school and the Christmas Holiday season has seemingly been wrapped up.Hold it right there folks! The new year’s celebration can not end until a 2011 winner is named for the New Year’s Classic. I had stated before that I can see a scenario where 4 different teams each win one of the Grand Slam tournaments. We will get a great chance to see how viable of a possibility that is in 2011. Although Mukwanago WI and Scripture NM have proven that they have top tier teams this season, they will not be able to attend this tournament. Have no fear however—the tournament field is loaded. The NYC will give the Bible Quiz world its first chance to see how far the Temple TN and Hillsdale FL programs have progressed, if Heritage Mission NY and Calvary FL have reloaded, and if prior notables such as Calvary SC, Athens GA, and Parsippany NJ will play a role in the major tournaments this year.

Earlier this week, I discussed what it takes for a team to win this tournament. Mr. Jack Bamford, the NYC tournament director, shared with us his thoughts as to what it takes to win: “The teams that have won the New Year’s Classic in recent years seem to have this in common – they have at least one person on the team who has all the material memorized and is saturated with it. He/she can jump on a reference or on the first word of a finish-the-verse question and answer correctly most of the time. But he must have a strong supporting cast. After he quizzes out, his teammates have to be able to play strong against the top quizzers of the opponent’s teams. Because of the 5-4 quiz-out rule at Athens, there is no such thing as a one-person team.” Mr. Bamford makes a great point that one strong quizzer alone can not pull out a victory in this tournament. Surely it will take a great team effort to win Saturday.

Enter Woodside Colorado! Woodside has been the home to a great Bible quizzing program for several years and also hosts one of the Grand Slam tournaments. It is certainly no surprise to see a Woodside team competing strongly at any tournament, but this season has ushered in possibly a new era for Woodside. Several quizzers have devoted themselves to learning this year’s passage and have completely memorized the text by this early stage. I can see 5 or 6 different teams winning this tournament, but would be least surprised to find Woodside finishing on top. Erica Olsen has shown flashes of being a dominant quizzer in years past and I expect her to step up and lead Woodside through what could be several tough stretches Saturday. Temple TN and Hillsdale FL could prove to be Woodside’s toughest competition at this tournament.

One thing (that we can all agree on) is certain: Bible Quiz provides kids a wonderful opportunity to saturate their lives with God’s Word. The competition is exciting and brings us together, but the Word of God is our focus. Mr. Bamford said it best: “I hasten to add that ANYONE whose life is impacted by the power of the memorized Word is a winner at a much more important level than trophies and medals can ever measure. And this kind of winning is possible for everyone who enters the tournament.”

Be safe in your travels and stop by on the message board to let us know what you think may happen!