A Coach’s Perspective of Athens 2016
By David Poston | May 31, 2024

You'll have to forgive me if I sound a bit emotional, but I've got a whole lot of feelings bound up inside me on this one. In fact, unless you have experience with the topic, you'll likely wonder if I've gone a bit crazy when you read this.
If you don't know what Bible Quiz is, simply put- it's a Bible memory competition for students. I'll spare you the details, but will say that its challenging rules and competitive tradition make it intensely fierce for the students and observers. While it obviously doesn't have the wide fame of football or other sports, its participants will tell you--nothing else holds a candle to it.
I participated as a high school student at ACS, became a judge for many events across the country as a young adult, and later coached the ACS team for 4 years. I. Love. Bible. Quiz.
When I returned to ACS to coach and teach, I inherited a storied Bible Quiz program that had been led by one of the most passionate men around- Jack Bamford. It was truly an honor to follow in his footsteps. We had a tradition of success, the administration's support, and most importantly an amazing group of students (and parents) who loved Bible Quiz. I had an easy job.
Those next 4 years coaching ACS Bible Quiz will easily go down as some of the sweetest times of my life. Those kids poured themselves into God's Word and literally memorized thousands of Bible Verses (letter perfect.) They took it incredibly serious. I took it incredibly serious. There were intense conversations, occasional disagreements, quite a few tears shed, and a whole lot of apologies and come to Jesus meetings. It took a couple of years for our team to develop trust, but when it happened, it was a thing of beauty.
While there were 30-40 students who participated in those 4 years, there was a core group who really took it to the next level. They were the ones who were rewarded with trips to tournaments in Denver, Indiana, Wisconsin, Florida, and where ever else we could manage to go. I'd be amazed to know how many thousands of dollars were spent. Remember, I mentioned earlier--their parents also loved Bible Quiz and they proved it.
That core group became so special to me. They put in hours upon hours personally to learn verse after verse and we put in hours collectively each week trying to hone our craft. We parsed the scripture, sought for better understanding of what the verses actually meant, discussed how to appropriately answer certain types of questions, practiced against scores of impressively dominant imaginary teams and played a lot of Ultimate Frisbee. A. lot of Ultimate Frisbee. A. Lot. When we were fairly certain the school wouldn't turn the football field lights on for us, a parent literally brought an impressive set of portable lights for us to play late into the night. I don't know if I loved that crew like an older brother would or perhaps to some degree like a dad would. All I know is that I loved that crew and still do.
When I felt like God was leading me to step away from ACS, I knew my departure would hurt for a myriad of reasons. I love that place. But at the top of the list was this Bible Quiz team. And worse, most of that core group was heading into their senior year. How could I leave before their last year? It hurt. I considered how it might hurt them and it was a painstaking decision. But I had peace that God's plan was best.
I mentioned how committed their parents were, right? Well, what a God-send: Bruce & Michele Hockema stepped up to lead the team this season. It was masterful to sit back at a few tournaments and watch the crew interact. My how I missed being in that huddle, but my how sweet it was to see that crew in action. The team won the first major of the year in January in stunning fashion. They were the epitome of a team. February came and with it was their second major championship in Denver, Colorado. And finally, nationals week arrived this week. My heart hurt that I couldn't be there Monday but I followed the results online. I saw a loss (it's a double elimination tournament) pop up on my screen in the morning and wondered if they could fight their way back. Well, fight they did and like it was a story book ending for a trio of seniors, the team came back and won their 3rd and final major of the year.
There truly aren't words that I can find to express how meaningful that group of young people is to me. I've struggled to try to state in this post how beautiful our time together was. I looked through a pile of pictures from our many trips and amazing times together hoping to post one. I was looking for a victorious picture with a trophy held high and smiles on our faces. I saw plenty of those. But I saw one that told a story I am much more proud of. Here we are in Denver in February of 2015. We had just given one of the most disappointing tournament performances I'd ever witnessed. We were probably the best team at the tournament. Yet before the tournament had barely started, we had lost twice, were eliminated, and couldn't hardly believe what had just happened. That was a lot of money, a lot of time, and a lot of miles to not even make the top 10. But here we are, gathered outside the building reminding each other and ourselves of a promise we had made. We had promised God we would praise Him in victory and defeat. So praise Him we did...and maybe cry a little. Ok, well at least I cried a little. It will always be my favorite picture (even if Katey is hiding in the huddle somewhere.)
Though I love the picture, I'm just thankful there was a lot of praising Him for victory in 2016!
Major congrats to those 3 seniors, that junior who refused to be outworked by anyone, and that underclassmen who stepped up to fill a major void. I love you guys! You'll never know how proud I am of you! To Cheerwine, Frisbee, Red Rocks, Arby's, Fuddruckers, Catchphrase, road trips, and late night conversations about God's Word-thank you for the memories!
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