After a year of online practices and no tournaments, the Park Quiz Bowl team is ready for a fresh start. According to senior co-captain Truman Fillibrandt, while the hiatus due to the pandemic created challenges starting off the season, the team has high expectations for the year. 

“This year might be a bit different because we don’t have that many people yet. We lost our seniors, and I’m the only one on my team, so far, who’s actually been to a tournament,” Fillbrandt said. “Hopefully (we can) get to Nationals again, place reasonably high in tournaments, actually participate and secure the next generation.”

Quiz Bowl is a game where two teams play against each other, answering questions as quickly as possible about topics ranging from academics to video games. According to adviser Peter Dangerfield, the team aspect of Quiz Bowl is especially important in order to answer a wide variety of questions in different topics. 

“You might just really, really love geography, and that might be it, but there’s a spot for you here. You don’t have to know everything about everything. That’s why you have teammates, that’s why you have others that you can rely on,” Dangerfield said. “That’s what I love about it, it’s an opportunity for kids who don’t participate in team athletics to still have that team mentality, (that they are) together as four or eight.” 

According to senior co-captain Jacy Demcisak, not only has Quiz Bowl allowed her to share her expertise, but she has also gained new skills through the club. 

“It is very fun because it uses knowledge that you don’t think you have — but you do. I enjoy trivia, it’s nice to learn about certain things that I technically should know about,” Demcisak said. “Now I know so much more about the classic books and I think most people would (gain) the ability to think on the spot, which is helpful.

Being one of the only seniors, Fillibrandt is looking forward to growing the team. This year, he will  be responsible for the team, along with Demcisak, during practice and when they travel to tournaments. 

“We just have to get the paperwork ready for Quiz Bowl and make sure everyone knows what we’re doing, just train the team as a whole. Then, at a tournament, you have a captain who sits in a given chair and for bonuses only we can answer,” FIllibrandt said. “It’s just helping make sure the club runs and doing the (paper)work if we need to.” 

Although Park has been successful in the past, the fast-paced nature is not the only thing that makes Quiz Bowl a challenge. According to Dangerfield, the small size of the team and amount of kids involved in other activities can be a disadvantage. 

“We’ve got kids in the past, just bright kids, who were doing theater or they’re doing track or they’re doing cross country and they can’t be there for everything,” Dangerfield said. “I would say for the size of school we are, we do pretty well. We go up against schools that are twice our size — they are tough to beat, due to the fact that they’re just pulling from a wider breadth of kids.” 

According to Demcisak, joining Quiz Bowl isn’t too big of a commitment as it’s a low-stress, lighthearted club. She hopes more students join, and can be given the opportunity to expand their knowledge. 

“You should join because you know more than you think you know — you’d be surprised about the things you can answer quickly,” Demcisak said. “It’s genuinely just a fun team to be around. It’s pretty light, and it’s not super stressful — it’s just fun.”

Practices are held 3:30 – 5 p.m., in room A301, Tuesdays and Thursdays. To learn more about the Park Quiz Bowl team, check out their Instagram.