Illinois H.S.toric

“What we want to see is the child in pursuit of knowledge, not knowledge in pursuit of the child.” -- George Bernard Shaw

Although the “roots” of Scholastic Bowl are almost four decades old, this exciting academic activity is a relative newcomer to the ranks of IHSA-sponsored events. Scholastic Bowl was first included in state series competition during the 1986-87 school year.

Before Scholastic Bowl, the early years of academic contests in Illinois were varied in organization and scattered throughout the state. Many of these events were undoubtedly influenced by television programs such as Jeopardy, The GE College Bowl, and a Chicago show known as Academic Challenge. Each of these programs offered a slightly different format. It was readily evident that a large segment of our population enjoyed being challenged intellectually.

The origins of present day scholastic bowl trace back to a variety of academic contests that followed no uniform set of rules. Some tournaments sprang up simply because there were no other competitions in the immediate area.

One of the first Scholastic tournaments was held in the 1960's in Streator. It was known as the Senior Bowl Classic, and it was sponsored by the local Rotary Club. It was unique in that only seniors could participate. The questions were prepared by local professionals, including physicians and teachers. The publicity for this contest explained that it was being “presented to stimulate and encourage young people who are intellectually gifted.” Teams from Dwight, Farmington, LaSalle, Spring Valley, and Park Forest competed. Wethersfield High School in Kewanee began their tournament in the mid- 1970's. The “lockout” (buzzer) systems were home-made, and the questions were written by coaches from the various schools.

Local businesses sponsored the tournament, purchased trophies, and gave away free meals to the participants. One of the major differences in the rules included the fact that the matches were timed. The game was completed with twenty-five toss-ups, fifteen bonuses or twenty-four minutes, whichever came first.

Eureka College and Peoria television station WRAU initiated a Scholastic Showdown in 1977. Nineteen high schools from central Illinois participated over a four-month period. Questions included audio and visual formats, and each team was encouraged to provide a “slide show” which was used to promote their schools. Winning schools received cash awards, and scholarships were given to members of the “Grand Champion” team.

In the late 1970's the best and brightest students from over fifteen high schools took part in the Hillsboro Academic Achievement Bowl. Judging from the reports of these events in local newspapers, the interest of both participants and spectators ran quite high. For the first several years of this competition, the format was unique in that the teams were composed of one freshman, one sophomore, one junior, and one senior.

Numerous other “pre-scholastic bowl” events, going by names such as Scholar's Cup, Academic Challenge, Brain Bowl, and other developed throughout the state in the 1970's and 1980's. Each had its own unique character and specific set of rules.

In 1986, the Illinois High School Association recognized the tremendous interest in academic competition which existed among students and teachers, and Scholastic Bowl received recognition as an official IHSA activity. At that time, there was, no established length to the season or limitation as to the number of competitions which teams could enter. Many teams actually competed from September through the state finals in May. Total matches entered by individual schools ranged from less than a dozen to more than one hundred. Schools that had been part of other forms of scholastic competitions were well-positioned to make the transition to the Scholastic Bowl rules which were established by the IHSA. Other schools, with no previous history of academic contests to draw from, more slowly developed their own unique methods for organizing squads, recruiting players, and developing materials. Some schools simply participated in tournaments while others competed in events against neighboring schools.

During the formative years of Scholastic Bowl, from 1986-1991, only one class of competition was held. Matches consisted of thirty toss-ups and thirty bonuses. In that same period, all state finals were hosted by Mahomet-Seymour or Springfield Lanphier. The competition was divided into two classes and until 1995 the sites for the final included Rochester, Carlinville, Peoria Woodruff, and St. Charles High Schools. In 1995, the state finals were co-sited in the Peoria Civic Center with the Class AA Boys Basketball Finals.

Although still in its early years of history as an IHSA-sponsored event, Scholastic Bowl has made significant progress and growth. Coaches agree that the questions continue to become more challenging as players and coaches refine their techniques. Numerous companies have been formed to market practice materials and tournament questions. Teams travel throughout the state to compete in tournaments and a number of Illinois squads take part in national contests.

Coaches clinics have grown in popularity over years, and some teams attend summer academic camps which specialize in “fine-tuning” player skills. During the past few years, the Illinois High School Scholastic Bowl Coaches Association, under the leadership of Rob Grierson, has provided a valuable source of information for all Illinois scholastic bowl coaches.

The majority of participants agree that the composition of a typical scholastic bowl squad is quite varied. Oftentimes, players will participate in a number of other activities at the same time. The challenge of competing against the “best and brightest” students from throughout the state attracts a diverse mix of participants who learn to work together as a team.

In addition to going to a two class system, a number of other modifications have occurred in rules of Scholastic Bowl. Matching uniform shirts are now required to be worn in the series competition. The variety of team shirts reflects the flavor and unique character of each school's squad.

Over the years there has been a time change for all toss-up questions, The time limit was originally fifteen seconds for all toss-ups. It was modified in 1996 to be thirty seconds for computation and ten seconds for all others. Also, in 1998, a limit of eighteen dates of scheduled competition was placed on all teams.

As in many sports, some schools have a knack for repeating as state champions, and scholastic bowl is certainly no exception in that regard. Since the inception of this activity in 1986, multiple state championships have been won by the following schools:

Class AA: Aurora (Illinois Math and Science Academy) - 7; Quincy (Sr.) - 3
Class A: Chicago (The Latin School) - 2; Winnebago - 2

These talented students reflect the sentiment of Eric Hofer who stated: “In times of change, learners will inherit the earth and the learned will find themselves beautifully equipped for a world that no longer exists.” Scholastic Bowl competition provides Illinois students with an exciting opportunity to display their academic talents and to match wits with other outstanding competitors throughout the state.