North American School Scrabble Championship

Last updated

The North American School Scrabble Championship, formerly the National School Scrabble Championship, is a Scrabble tournament for 3rd grade to 8th grade students, held annually in North America since 2003.

Contents

History

In 2018, 3rd graders were allowed to compete for the first time. Prior to 2012, 5th graders were the youngest grade allowed to compete. The School Scrabble Championship uses the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary.

The competition is in tournament Scrabble play, in which teams of two play for 25 minutes with digital timers similar to those used in the board game of chess. [1] The time limit was originally 22 minutes for each side until 2012 when the switch was made to coincide with the traditional times of the Adult Nationals. [2] The team with the most wins is determined the winner. If there are multiple teams with the same number of wins, cumulative point spread is used to break the tie.

Matthew Silver of Connecticut became the first competitor to win two consecutive National School Scrabble Championship titles, in 2007 (with Aune Mitchell) and 2008 (with Logan Rosen). Matt Silver accumulated a 14-0 record in those two years. [3] In 2009, for the first time ever, the event was won by a team of 5th graders, Andy Hoang and Erik Salgado of Salem Elementary in North Carolina. They were the last team to finish the tournament with an undefeated record (7-0) until 2018, when the team of Jeffrey Pogue (CT) and Noah Slatoff (ON) finished with a perfect 9-0 record. The champions finished 6-1 in 2010, 7-1 in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016, and 8-1 in 2017 and 2019.

The winners have often been invited to be on Good Morning America [4] and Jimmy Kimmel Live!. [5] [6] The event has also received recognition from president Barack Obama and NBA superstar Shaquille O'Neal, who are advocates for the game themselves. [7]

In 2012, Andy Hoang and Erik Salgado of North Carolina became the first team to win two NSSC titles, their first as 5th graders in 2009, and their second as 8th graders in 2012. [8] In 2019, Jeffrey Pogue and Noah Slatkoff became the first team to win consecutive championships.

The 2013 NSSC was held in Washington D.C. 2013 marked the first time since 2009 that a previous champion did not compete. In 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2019 Andy Hoang, Erik Salgado, Bradley Robbins, Evan McCarthy, Jeffrey Pogue, and Noah Slatkoff were champions that returned. Andy Hoang and Erik Salgado and Jeffrey Pogue and Noah Slatkoff were the only ones to repeat during the streak, with Jeffrey Pogue and Noah Slatkoff being the first to win back-to-back championships.

With Jeffrey Pogue and Noah Slatkoff's win in 2019, Connecticut became the first state to hold 4 National titles: Connecticut players Matthew Silver (2007 and 2008), Aune Mitchell (2007), Logan Rosen (2008), and Jeffrey Pogue (2018 and 2019). California and North Carolina teams have won 3 National titles: California players Zach Ansell (2015 and 2017), Jem Burch (2016 and 2017), and Cooper Komatsu (2016); and North Carolina Players Andy Hoang (2009 and 2012), Erik Salgado (2009 and 2012), Kevin Bowerman (2013), and Raymond Gao (2013). [9]

Canadian teams were permitted to compete in this event starting in 2010, and 2011 saw the first Canadian champions: Alex Li and Jackson Smylie from Ontario. In 2018 and 2019 Noah Slatkoff, also from Ontario, was champion (with Jeffrey Pogue from Connecticut).

In 2014, champion Thomas Draper became the first three-time finalist. The 2014 NASC was the first tournament to return to Providence since 2009. 2015 was the second year in a row where a bi-coastal team [10] won the tournament and the fourth consecutive time where a team from North Carolina played in the final game. In 2018 the first U.S.-Canadian team won. Selected games from these tournaments were aired live with commentary on the internet.

In 2017, champions Zach Ansell and Jem Burch both won for the second time, but with different teammates. Zach won with Noah Kalus in 2015, and Jem won with Cooper Komatsu in 2016.

In 2019, Jeffrey Pogue and Noah Slatkoff became the first team to win two years consecutively, under the team name Rackmasters.

In 2017, High School and Challenge divisions were added to the event. The 2017 High School division winner was Kevin Bowerman (NC), who was champion (with Raymond Gao) in 2013; Challenge division winners were Audrey Benford (MD) and Dina Lacugna (CT).

Past winners

YearWinner(s)Runner(s)-UpLocationEvent DirectorWinner's PrizeTotal Prize Pool
2023Walden Giezentanner (MO) and Nathanael Campos (CT)Nathan Lerlop (DC) and Milo Anderson (DC)Washington, DCBen GreenwoodUS$1,000US$2,500
2022Walden Giezentanner (MO) and Nathanael Campos (CT)Gideon Brosowsky (DC) and Milo Anderson (DC)Washington, DCBen GreenwoodUS$1,000US$5,000
2019Jeffrey Pogue (CT) and Noah Slatkoff (ON)Thomas Shundi (NC) and Archit Kalra (FL)Philadelphia, PABen GreenwoodUS$3,000US$10,000+ [11]
2018Jeffrey Pogue (CT) and Noah Slatkoff (ON)Knox Daniel and Logan Strzepek (VA)Philadelphia, PAJudy Cole and Jason KellerUS$10,000US$23,000 [12]
2017Zach Ansell and Jem Burch (CA)Knox Daniel and Logan Strzepek (VA)Foxborough, MAJason KellerUS$10,000US$20,500 [12]
2016Jem Burch and Cooper Komatsu (CA)Matias Shundi and Javier Contreras (NC)Foxborough, MAJohn ChewUS$10,000US$20,500 [13]
2015Noah Kalus (NY) and Zach Ansell (CA)Matias Shundi and Javier Contreras (NC)Pawtucket, RIJohn ChewUS$10,000US$20,000 [14]
2014Thomas Draper (NJ) and Jacob Sass (TX)Jack Miklaucic and Nicholas Miklaucic (NC)Providence, RIJohn ChewUS$10,000US$20,000 [15]
2013Kevin Bowerman and Raymond Gao (NC)Thomas Draper (NJ) and Sam Masling (DC)Washington, DCJohn ChewUS$10,000US$20,000 [16]
2012Andy Hoang and Erik Salgado (NC)Thomas Draper and Nicholas Vasquez (NJ)Orlando, FLJohn ChewUS$10,000US$20,000 [16]
2011Alex Li and Jackson Smylie (ON)Evan McCarthy and Bradley Robbins (NH)Orlando, FLJohn ChewUS$10,000US$20,000 [17]
2010Evan McCarthy and Bradley Robbins (NH)Timothy Bryant and Kevin Rosenberg (NY)Orlando, FLBen GreenwoodUS$10,000US$20,000 [18]
2009Andy Hoang and Erik Salgado (NC)Paolo Federico O'Murchu and Nicholas Vasquez (NJ)Providence, RIBen GreenwoodUS$10,000US$20,000 [19]
2008Logan Rosen and Matthew Silver (CT)Dorian Hill and Joey Krafchick (GA)Providence, RIBen GreenwoodUS$5,000US$10,000 [20]
2007Aune Mitchell and Matthew Silver (CT)Dorian Hill and Joey Krafchick (GA)Providence, RIBen GreenwoodUS$5,000
2006Aaron Jacobs and Nathan Mendelsohn (MA)Boston, MABen GreenwoodUS$5,000US$9,250
2005Scott Cardone and Asif Rahman (OH)Boston, MABen GreenwoodUS$5,000
2004Thomas Bao and Eric Johnston (CA)Boston, MABen Greenwood and
Joe Edley 		US$5,000
2003Nick Amphlett and John Ezekowitz (MA)Boston, MABen (Loiterstein) Greenwood and
Joe Edley		US$5,000 [21]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atlantic Coast Conference</span> American collegiate athletics conference

The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)'s Division I. ACC football teams compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The ACC sponsors competition in twenty-seven sports with many of its member institutions held in high regard nationally. Current members of the conference are: Boston College, California, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, SMU, Stanford, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament</span> United States top collegiate-level basketball tournament

The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played in the United States to determine the men's college basketball national champion of the Division I level in the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Played mostly during March, the tournament consists of 68 teams and was first conducted in 1939. Known for its upsets of favored teams, it has become one of the biggest annual sporting events in the US.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Donovan</span> American professional basketball coach

William John Donovan Jr. is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Chicago Bulls of the NBA. Before moving to the NBA, he served as the head basketball coach at the University of Florida from 1996 to 2015, and led his Florida Gator teams to back-to-back NCAA championships in 2006 and 2007, as well as an NCAA championship appearance in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pine Crest School</span> Private preparatory school with campuses in Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton, Florida, United States

Pine Crest School is a private preparatory school with campuses in Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton, Florida. It was founded in Fort Lauderdale in 1934 by Mae McMillan, who also served as the school's first president. The Boca Raton campus, originally Boca Raton Academy, was absorbed by Pine Crest in 1991 and hosts students in pre-kindergarten through grade 8. The Fort Lauderdale campus hosts students in pre-kindergarten through grade 12.

The World Scrabble Championship (WSC) is played to determine the world champion in competitive English-language Scrabble. It was held in every odd year from 1991 to 2013; from 2013 onwards, it became an annual event.

The Scrabble Players Championship is the largest Scrabble competition in North America. The event is currently held every year, and from 2004 through 2006 the finals were aired on ESPN and ESPN2. The 2023 event was held in Las Vegas from July 15–19, 2023, with Joshua Sokol emerging as champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bridgewater-Raritan High School</span> School district in Somerset County, New Jersey, US

Bridgewater-Raritan High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school. It is the lone secondary school of the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Bridgewater Township and Raritan in Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The school has been recognized by the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program, the highest award an American school can receive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Carolina Tar Heels</span> Intercollegiate sports teams of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The North Carolina Tar Heels are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to individuals from the state of North Carolina, the Tar Heel State. The campus at Chapel Hill is referred to as the University of North Carolina for the purposes of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Since the school fostered the oldest collegiate team in the Carolinas, the school took on the nickname Carolina, especially in athletics. The Tar Heels are also referred to as UNC or The Heels.

The first World Youth Scrabble Championships were held in Wollongong, Australia 2006. Competitors from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, England, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Kuwait, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates and United States have competed in the annual tournament so far. WYSC is open to anyone under the age of 18 on 1 January of the year of each tournament. The tournament used to be held at the start of December but was brought forward to August for 2014. So far the WYSC tournament has been held in Malaysia five times, Australia twice, Dubai twice and the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and the United Kingdom once each.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Villanova Wildcats</span> Athletic teams of Villanova University, Pennsylvania, US

The Villanova Wildcats are the athletic teams of Villanova University. They compete in the Big East for every sport; except football and women's rowing where they compete in the Coastal Athletic Association, and women's water polo where the compete in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. On December 15, 2012, Villanova and the other six, non-FBS schools announced that they were departing the Big East for a new conference. This conference assumed the Big East name on July 1, 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florida Gators men's basketball</span> Team representing the University of Florida in basketball

The Florida Gators men's basketball team represents the University of Florida in the sport of basketball. The Gators compete in NCAA Division I's Southeastern Conference (SEC). Home games are played in the Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus.

David Lawrence Gibson was an American professional Scrabble player and mathematics professor. Ranked the top player in North America and widely regarded as one of the greatest Scrabble players, Gibson won the North American Scrabble Championship twice.

Nigel Richards (<i>Scrabble</i> player) New Zealand Scrabble champion (born 1967)

Nigel Richards is a New Zealand-Malaysian Scrabble player who is widely regarded as the greatest tournament-Scrabble player of all time. Born and raised in New Zealand, Richards became World Champion in 2007, and repeated the feat in 2011, 2013, 2018, and 2019. He also won the third World English-Language Scrabble Players’ Association Championship (WESPAC) in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Davidson Wildcats</span> Sports teams of Davidson College, North Carolina, U.S.

The Davidson Wildcats are the NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletics teams representing Davidson College of Davidson, North Carolina, United States. A member of the Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10), Davidson College sponsors teams in ten men's and nine women's NCAA sanctioned sports. The Wildcats previously competed in the Southern Conference, and the wrestling team retains associate membership in that league since the sport is not sponsored by the A-10. The football team is a member of the Pioneer Football League, a Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) conference of schools that do not offer athletic scholarships for football.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Go Shiozaki</span> Japanese professional wrestler

Go Shiozaki is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah. He is a record-holding five time former GHC Heavyweight Champion. He made his debut for the Pro Wrestling Noah in July 2004 and initially remained with Pro Wrestling Noah until the end of 2012 when he jumped to All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). In AJPW, he became a one-time Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion and a two-time World Tag Team Champion, before resigning from the promotion in September 2015. Afterwards, he returned to Noah, where, in May 2016, he won the GHC Heavyweight Championship for the third time. He has also worked for American promotions Ring of Honor (ROH) and Full Impact Pro (FIP), winning the latter's World Heavyweight Championship. In August 2016, Shiozaki was appointed the chairman of Noah's wrestlers' association.

The UK National Scrabble Championship (NSC) is a British national scrabble tournament, held annually since its inception in 1971. While it was formerly organised by Mattel, the copyright owner of Scrabble in the UK, since 2014 it has been organised by Association of British Scrabble Players (ABSP). It is one of five major scrabble tournaments in the UK. The other four comprise the UK Open, the British Isles Elimination Scrabble Tournament (BEST), the British Matchplay Scrabble Championship (BMSC) and the UK Masters. The current UK champion is Paul Allan.

The World Scrabble Championship 2011 was held in the Hilton Hotel, Warsaw, Poland, from 12 October to 16 October 2011. The format was a 34-round preliminary tournament and a best-of-five final. The top two players after the preliminary tournament, Nigel Richards and Andrew Fisher, played a best-of-five final for the top prize and the title of World Scrabble Champion 2011. There were 114 places allocated to competitors from around the world, with 106 players eventually competing.

The World English-Language Scrabble Players' Association (WESPA) is the overarching global body for English-language national Scrabble associations and similar entities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bravado Brothers</span> Professional wrestling tag team

The Bravado Brothers were an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of real-life brothers Harlem Bravado and Lancelot Bravado. The duo have worked for several independent promotions, including Ring of Honor, Chikara, and Full Impact Pro, and have also appeared in Japan for Pro Wrestling Noah.

The Belgian Scrabble Federation (BSF) is an association for Belgian Scrabble players. The federation has approximately 1,000 members in 60 clubs, and was the first federation for Francophone Scrabble players, founded in 1972, before the unified French Scrabble Federation and the International Francophone Scrabble Federation. As of 2012, the president is Éric Leurquin.

References

  1. ↑ "2011 National School Scrabble Championship Rules and Regulations" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 April 2012. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  2. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 6 May 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ↑ "2008 National School SCRABBLE® Championship".
  4. ↑ "Video Playing Scrabble with National Champions". ABC News .
  5. ↑ "- YouTube". YouTube .
  6. ↑ "Search results". YouTube .
  7. ↑ "- YouTube". YouTube .
  8. ↑ "2012 NSSC Finals Commentary". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  9. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 1 May 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. ↑ "Bi-Coastal Student SCRABBLE Team Brings Home the W-I-N at the 2015 North American School SCRABBLE Championship" (Press release). 17 May 2015.
  11. ↑ https://hasbrogamingchampionships.com/scrabble-registration/ Archived 26 July 2019 at the Wayback Machine [ bare URL ]
  12. 1 2 http://hasbrogamingchampionships.com/scoreboards/A-standings-008.html [ bare URL ]
  13. ↑ "Prize Table".
  14. ↑ "Prize Table".
  15. ↑ "Prize Table". event.scrabbleplayers.org.
  16. 1 2 "2012 NSSC Prize Chart". Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
  17. ↑ "2011 NSSC Prize Chart". Archived from the original on 26 August 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  18. ↑ "2010 NSSC Prize Chart". Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  19. ↑ "2009 NSSC Prize Chart". Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  20. ↑ "National School Scrabble Championship Team Prizes" (PDF). school.scrabble-assoc.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2007.
  21. ↑ School Scrabble [ dead link ]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.