Members of this year’s Great Neck South High’s in its last competition, being crowned the top JV team in both Nassau and Suffolk Counties.
Quiz Bowl is a high school club that focuses on trivia based on literature, history, science, fine arts, religion, philosophy and more. Each competition features trivia that is formulated in tossups where three-to-five sentences of clues
are given to each contestant in order for him or her to reply with an answer.
The Regional Quiz Bowl was held in Plainview as the culminating tournament after 50 teams competed against one another once a month in their individual regions. The best 16 teams from across Long Island after five games were invited to participate in the tournament. At the regional competition, each team answered one sentence tossups in each subject in order to take the top spot.
Great Neck South’s team consists of members Noah Sheidlower, Ethan Vainrib, Willian Yam and Anderson Gu. Sheidlower and Gu are the captains, and the team is coached by Deborah Cassetta. The team officially meets twice a week; however, Quiz Bowl competitions take years to prepare for since the questions pertain to specific facts that are not necessarily taught in school.
At the beginning, each team member is assigned a content area to delve into, which requires varying techniques and methods of studying. Team members are able to fully immerse themselves in their assigned subject areas and become experts.
“My favorite part of being on the Quiz Bowl is that I get to study something that I am very passionate about,” said Sheidlower.
Since the Regional Quiz Bowl competition, the team has also been successful at many others and has strong hopes for its varsity team next year.
The JV team’s next major competition is the History Bowl Nationals in Washington, DC, where teams aim to finish in the top eight in the nation. The JV Quiz Bowl team will be also be attending the HSNCT Nationals in Atlanta, where the group hopes to finish in the top 13.
