Texas and QB/AD (was: Another proposal)

E_Steinhauser · Thu, 30 Dec 1999 22:14:53 -0800

etchuck wrote:

"Houston Memorial is also a
good qb team, and they do Decathlon, but they haven't
won the Texas Decathlon championship for all I know.
That title goes right now to James E. Taylor out of
Irving ... However, the qb scene is much less on "life
support" there than say California. However, there aren't
as many tournaments in Texas as they'd like
(according to my sources)."

Just a couple of points
from a misplaced Texan:

1. About Texas AD:
Yeah, Taylor is the current large-school champion, but
I'm going to buck up for my alma mater, Friendswood
High School, which has won the mid-size school
championship for all 7 years of the category's existence.
Because involvement in AD is so very widespread across
the state, they split the field into three separate
state meets following the regionals, and the champion
with the biggest aggregate score goes to nationals
(always been the large school).

2. As for the
state of HS quizbowl in Texas (at least around Houston
schools I'm familiar with), it seemed as if it were
withering on the vine while I was a student. Texas is a
rather unique state in the way it handles most all
interscholastic competition -- through the University
Interscholastic League (UIL), run by the Texas Education Agency.
It is extremely difficult for a club/group/teacher
within a Texas public school to secure funding for any
sort of academic competition that is not sanctioned by
the UIL or has a strong history in the state. (J.
Frank Dobie HS's national victory at USAD opened the
floodgates for AD funding in Texas.)

ETC has the
situation down pat as it is in both California and Texas.
Right now, "quizbowl" participation in TX is limited to
only a few schools and is considered almost an
afterthought to the more prestigious AD and UIL championships.
Tournaments are a rareity.

3. As for the AD "study,"
I'll give a personal note: In my two years of
participation at the varsity level (we have a JV Academic
Octathlon) I won $6500 in scholarship monies. As I once
calculated, this meant I received approximately $0.50 for
each total hour of work. Furthermore, the only subject
in AD that has ever substantively helped me in
quizbowl has been Fine Arts.

4. I'm probably
rambling on way too long, but I would like to see a
greater quizbowl presence in my home state. The major
obstacles in states like CA and TX are the institutional
barriers, lack of funding, and lack of initiative at the
actual school level. My prescription: greater involvment
of collegiate teams in hosting high school
meets.

Still Texas Proud,
Eric Steinhauser
(Not speaking
for Pitt, as if anyone else there 
really
cares)

Member: 1996 & 1997 State Champion FHS AD
teams.
Member: 1994-1997 State Champion UIL CIE teams.