Central High School Scholar Bowl team prepares for MSHSAA competition
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Academic athletes at Central High School are preparing to take on state competitions with Scholar Bowl.
"In two weeks, we're going to start the district competition through MSHSAA, and so we have to work our way through that process," said Jeff Carter, Scholar Bowl coach. "Go to district sectionals and hopefully on to state in May. And then, over Memorial Day weekend, we'll go to the national tournament, which is in Atlanta."
In the moments leading up to more competition, the team is taking time to practice whenever and however they can.
"We'll just practice. And then also, I think especially for varsity, you have to do a lot of work outside of practice," said Edison Kimmel, a Scholar Bowl team member. "And you had, like, at least I personally have done a lot of, like, studying on my own time."
As the clock continues to countdown to more competitions, players are doing what they can to prepare.
"We'll just practice," said Edison Kimmel, one of the Scholar Bowl player. "I think especially for varsity, you have to do a lot of work outside of practice. And you had, like, at least I personally have done a lot of, like, studying on my own time."
Kimmel is a junior on the team, who said his "specialty" is science. Kimmel said it means a lot for the team to go back into a competitive environment with other high schools.
"I think really it's kind of a testament to, to our coach more than anything because I feel like he's kind of the one who built the program," said Kimmel "I think that it definitely it's a good feeling to know that, the people who came before, you know, we've all heard all these stories about how, you know, they were so good at like, we can maybe measure up to that."
To prepare for upcoming district competitions, the team will continue to meet for practices, but Kimmel wants people to know that Scholar Bowl is more than a "nerd thing".
"A lot of people think Scholar Bowl is as like, I don't know, like a nerd thing, you know," said Kimmel. "It's more than that, you know, because it's not just like learning and memorizing facts…It's also, like, I guess, more learning how to think."
Although Kimmel believes the team's success is a testament to Coach Carter, that's something Carter thinks otherwise.
"One of things that I just appreciate about our kids in our teams is, they've just built this really strong tradition of success and this culture of they're going to be committed to each other to continue what we've got going and continue the success," said Carter.
