Sasha Erfanian, Centretown News
Lisgar’s B and C Quizbowl teams practice with coach Ruth Crabtree in a classroom of Lisgar Collegiate.Lisgar Collegiate hosted a provincial trivia tournament on March 7 that saw about 44 of Ontario’s top high school quiz competitors racing for the buzzer.
Attracting 11 of the best teams in Ontario, the provincial “Quizbowl” competition – won by Lisgar four times in the past five years – serves as a preparation for the national championships this spring.
Winning teams beamed over their success in the friendly competition. Colonel By Secondary School took the title, Lisgar placing second, and Bell High School third.
Bell won the final spot to attend the National Championships in Chicago at the end of May. Prior tournaments have already qualified both Colonel By and Lisgar to compete in the competition against roughly 250 other teams.
“You would be amazed at what some of these teams are able to answer quickly,” says Ottawa-based Ben Smith, president of the Ontario Quizbowl Association. “The Colonel By team and Lisgar team are very impressive and they will certainly do well in any of their university ventures and others beyond that.”
Both schools have great success in Quizbowl competitions. Lisgar won a string of four straight provincial championships between 2010 and 2013 but were defeated in 2014 by Colonel By, which was recently recognized as one of the top 10 teams in North America.
“It is a great feeling because we have worked a long time toward this,” explains Colonel By team captain Ted Gan, “It’s a steep learning curve that requires a lot of persistence, hard work and dedication.”
The tournament at Lisgar was co-ordinated by the Ontario Quizbowl Association. Formed in Ottawa six years ago, the volunteer-based organization works to help high school Quizbowl thrive in Ontario by facilitating regional games and an annual provincial championship.
Smith explains the Canadian Quizbowl community is significantly smaller than the other main high school trivia competition, Reach for the Top. This more common game has been played in Canada since 1961, starting off as a television show on CBC Vancouver. He estimates there are about 15 schools in Ontario that actively participate in Quizbowl, with the largest concentration in Ottawa.
“Quizbowl tends to focus more on the depth of knowledge,” Smith says comparing the game to Reach for the Top.
During a Quizbowl match, two teams of four players compete head-to-head to answer questions from all areas of knowledge, including history, science, and current events. Played with a lockout buzzer system which determines the first contestant to activate their signal, teams have 20 minutes to answer as many trivia questions as possible.
“The game provides a way for students to learn beyond the classroom,” Smith says. “We always want to encourage students to express what they know.”
Aidan Ryan, the Lisgar team captain specializing in literature, was never interested in science before he started playing Quizbowl.
Ryan now in Grade 12 plans on continuing his post-secondary education at Carleton University to study chemistry. He also hopes to join the Carleton Quizbowl team.
“Your mind is moving a mile a minute when you are hearing the (questions),” he says explaining why he enjoys the game. “It is really exhilarating to be playing.”
Ruth Crabtree, the Lisgar Quizbowl team coach and former geography teacher at the Centretown high school, explains the game appeals to a particular type of person.
“There are some students who are intensely curious and intensely spongelike in terms of absorbing information,” she says. “(Quizbowl) feeds their thirst for knowledge.”
Crabtree has been involved with Quizbowl at Lisgar for more than 10 years. Although now retired from teaching, she continues to help out with the team.
“I am somewhat in awe of the students, as I don’t think I would be a stellar competitor myself,” she says laughing. “I thoroughly enjoy facilitating the process.”