Day 1 of practice was filled with both laughter and work; we all had a great time together alternating quizzes with fun activities. Who would have thought that quizzing all day would be so much fun?
Our first break found us jumping on the trampoline, followed by exploring the playground. At around lunchtime, we played a rousing team game of grounders—thankfully no lost or broken body parts resulted from this diversion!
The weather was beautiful and provided the perfect weather for an outdoor lunch, a brief walk, and even golfing in the afternoon!
Between getting stuck in little swings (Adrienna), breaking five irons (Denae), and flying off swings (Kyle & Sandy), we still managed to get in twelve quizzes.
Jennifer was well behaved all day!
Kyle has become the resident cat whisperer and chef.
One of our favourite quizzing games is “The Spoiler.”
Playing Monopoly (Electronic Banking!) late at night, with Denae clobbering Kyle, who ended up behind bars four times and never got past “Go.”
Our rate of accuracy: answering 18 out of 20 questions correct in a quiz multiple times!
Technical difficulties with Rock Band… maybe tomorrow’s attempts will be more successful.
Kyle says we’re having fun.
Kyle’s Kwotes:
“TV is reality.”
“I haven’t had milk in two days!!!”
“The iPod is always 100% accurate.”
Highlight of The Day: Getting together as a team
Western Canada International Team 2009 —
Denae Dyck, Adrienna Dyck, Breanna Sinclair, Kyle Sinclair, Sara Barnard
Coaches: Jennifer Dohms & Sandy Hoppus
Stay tuned here for daily details all week… including updates to the image gallery. Check out the Life Impact Ministries website for complete meet stats on all of the teams.
The team is looking forward to the trip and to finally starting the competition and would appreciate your prayers. Leave a comment below to send a message of support to the team!
Our resources page has been updated to include the 2009 - 10 Key Verse List and Schedule.
The dates on the schedule are intended to serve as a guideline for planning. Your team should adjust the dates according to your practice days, other events and desired review periods.
Quizzers going for the Club 300 award must start with Club 45 as a base, then select an additional 255 verses from the other clubs or remaining material. Quizzers hoping to attend this year’s Great West tournament must be working on at least Club 145.
Please keep in mind our critical need for committed stats room staff for our upcoming year. Without available trained staff for this area we will not be able to continue running our meets in the same way as in the past. Training will be provided for anyone interested in working in the computer room. Please contact Sandy if you have anyone interested in finding out more about this area of service.
Tyler Durston invites WCD quizzers to check out his new website at QuizMeet.com, particularly the forums for lively quizzing and non-quizzing discussion from quizzers across North America.
Due to what I’m told is “popular demand”, here is the Nakamun 2009 Scavenger Hunt poem by the Three Hills Team — Rebekah, Christy, Amanda, Veronica and the other Rebekah.
Roses are red, violets are blue;
Sandy is awesome, and Travis is too.
I remember the time you coached at Great West;
With you on our side, Wes Can is the best.
Sandy has streaks and Travis has spikes;
and with their strong voices, don’t even need mics.
We all love quizzing, everyone knows;
Even though sometimes the rivalry grows.
Don’t jump on a ‘w’, you might regret it-
The dreaded restriction, they’ll tell you to SIT!
Don’t jump on ‘puce’; you might get a glare;
Stand for 30 seconds and watch people stare.
Practice your specialties and jump really fast;
When you work as a team, Nats is a blast!
Quizzing with blindfolds or buds in your ears;
Nats will be treasured by all for years.
Donna and Merle with your doors open wide;
We’ll never forget all that happened inside.
Never stop quoting, day in and day out;
We love it so much that we all give a shout.
The GPS, Patsy helped us find our way
To the fancy motel where we got to stay.
Jennifer let us go swim down by the stream;
Cover your ears, or you’ll hear the girls scream!
As the creative juices begin to drain,
We’d better stop before we go insane!
In 2000, I created this eight-minute promotional video designed to introduce the state of California to quizzing. You’ll have to forgive the 1990s clothes, motion graphics and tech (audio tape!).
I’m working to put the high-res version of this on DVD for Foothills promotions. If anyone is interested, let me know.
Be sure to check the other video on the site by clicking on the “video” category link to the right.
West Canada #3’s captain, Adrienna, lends her thoughts on Great West 2009.
Great West 2009 was an incredible experience. Definitely one of the best quizzing tournaments I’ve ever been to, and not just because of the mountains, the food and the quizzing, either!
I felt really blessed to be a part of the team I was placed on (WCD 3—Carolyn, Josh, Kimmy & Katherine, with coaches Paul and Jeff). I’ll never forget looking over to my coaches between questions and seeing exaggerated, ear-to-ear grins on their faces! (part of our team signal system). I loved getting to know my team, and how we always won/lost together, as a team. One memorable quizzing experience was our third elimination quiz where we got all five of us in, resulting in a 200+ score! That got us into an all Western Canada finals, which felt very friendly and relaxed despite the competition.
The whole weekend was really one big highlight, but I do have some specific favourite moments—for example, the hilarious, two-hour game of Apples to Apples that several of us quizzers played on Saturday evening. Later Saturday night, we all gathered around a campfire for a time of worship in the frigid outdoors. Shea Durston from CMD led us all in some worship songs with the guitar, and we also took time for “popcorn prayers” of thanksgiving to God, as well as sharing Bible verses that were particularly meaningful to us. It was a great group experience, but I think the most amazing part of it all was that you could really sense God’s presence among us. It was a very powerful yet reflective time. I also liked staying up until 2:00 a.m. on Saturday night! I and a couple other quizzers/coaches got kicked out of the lodge at around 1:30 a.m., where we had spend nearly four hours sitting and talking, often on a fairly deep level.
Probably the main thing that made Great West special for me was the sense of community that was prevalent throughout the weekend. I felt like I got to know/reconnect with a lot of people, and that the whole atmosphere was positive, friendly, and accepting, as it always is with quizzing. From laughing to singing, playing to praying, Great West ’09 was a weekend that I will look back on as one with many special and meaningful memories.
