Dhiara Berkley
Dhiara Berkley
The Playmakers: Inside Spelman’s Competitive Quiz Bowl Team
The Playmakers: Inside Spelman’s Competitive Quiz Bowl Team
On the third floor of the Camille Olivia Hanks Cosby Academic Center, deep in the bowels of the English department, sits the Writing Center. By day, students come to get help and feedback on their writing, but at 6:00 pm on Tuesday and Thursday nights, the room transforms into the set for Spelman’s Honda Campus All-Star Challenge (HCASC) quiz bowl team.
The game begins with a coin toss. Today it’s the established team members, SpelBlue, on one side of the room versus the newcoming SpelWhite team on the other. The atmosphere is familial, filled with laughter and team members break into song every so often, giggling at their synchronization.
When the toss winner opens up the game by choosing the first category, excitement quickly transforms into quiet, intense focus. The Quiz Bowl team is preparing for the National Qualifying tournament hosted at Dillard University, and there are only two practices left.
“I feel really good. I feel like we have a great team. We're very close with one another,” senior political science major Bria Witherspoon said. “We're all uplifting, and we all lean and depend on one another...so I have a lot of high hopes for the team.”
During the game, the team goes from being quizzed on women in hip-hop to naming chemical compounds in the span of minutes. Players lean in towards the screen, buzzer in hand, ready to strike when they know the answer.
At the center of it all, controlling the game’s point system and question display from his laptop is Coordinator of Instructional Technologies and club coach Dan Bascelli. But Bascelli is no distant figure.
“I get really involved,” Bascelli said.
Bascelli has been advising the team since 2000, when he entered the role at the eleventh hour to replace a coach who unexpectedly dropped out.
“I fell in love with it immediately. Everybody that’s involved falls in love," Bascelli said.
This message rings true for Ariana Benson (‘19), who competed on the Quiz Bowl team throughout her time at Spelman College and now serves as the Assistant Director of the Honors Program while also volunteering as an HCASC moderator. During her first year, the team made it to the final eight.
“We made it to that stage, and our first playoff game was against Morehouse. So everyone’s hyping it up, Spelhouse rivalry,…and we got washed on the stage. From that point on, I was like, okay, one I’m never losing to Morehouse again..then two, we have a team that we can get to this point…so every year we got a little better,” Benson said.
By her senior year, with Benson as team captain, the Quiz Bowl team won the championship and a $77,000 grand prize for the first time in Spelman’s history.
“First round we beat Tuskegee, second round we beat Morehouse and then in the finals we beat the most decorated team in the history of [HCASC], FAMU, and we won the whole thing. So, I got to go out on top!” Benson said.
The team also earned several individual awards that year, with a team member winning highest scorer, Coach Bascelli recognized as coach of the year and Benson herself honored as sportsperson of the year.
Today, the team hopes to make it to the championship stage once again. This past weekend, they came one step closer, winning first place in the qualifying competition.
“I think our breadth of knowledge, how consistent we are in conferring with each other to find an answer and our overall support of one another and trust in each other and our coach contributed to our win,” team captain Kaia Hall said.
The team is competitive, but team members agree on the collaborative, friendly and welcoming atmosphere palpable during practices, particularly in contrast to previous quiz bowl experiences.
“In high school, I was captain of my school’s scholar bowl team. I went to a PWI high school and it just didn't feel like I was a valuable member…I would often answer questions and they would be right, but my answers would be overlooked and they would go with my other team members' answers,” Witherspoon said.
Team members, including Hall, work to ensure the culture of Spelman’s HCASC team stays intact.
“The environment is welcoming and collaborative…as captain, I love to encourage this by making my teammates laugh, even after a rough game or round. This is so important because in such a highly competitive space, it is important that no one feels inferior,” Hall said.
As the team gears up for the big competition in LA, they’re focused on faster buzzer reaction times and continuing to improve their knowledge on tricky subjects.
“I went to Los Angeles with the team last April, where we did not make it past the playoff round, but this year, I have faith that we will make it to the championship game and will win.” Hall said.
The impact of this program is keenly felt by Coach Bascelli, who remarked on the unity born from friendly competition.
“The ties that bind the HBCUs are really strengthened by this program, absolutely. I've got friends at HBCUs all over the country that I can call on and count on,” Bascelli said.
Benson, who is also a competitor on an upcoming episode of the CW’s Trivial Pursuit, lauded the organization and its value.
“HCASC is the organization that I am most proud and honored to be a part of in my life. It is truly full of Black folks who care about young Black people, the world and who are doing outstanding things…I look forward to it every year and I love it so much. It's just a Black nerd reunion. It's awesome," Benson said.
On the third floor of the Camille Olivia Hanks Cosby Academic Center, deep in the bowels of the English department, sits the Writing Center. By day, students come to get help and feedback on their writing, but at 6:00 pm on Tuesday and Thursday nights, the room transforms into the set for Spelman’s Honda Campus All-Star Challenge (HCASC) quiz bowl team.
The game begins with a coin toss. Today it’s the established team members, SpelBlue, on one side of the room versus the newcoming SpelWhite team on the other. The atmosphere is familial, filled with laughter and team members break into song every so often, giggling at their synchronization.
When the toss winner opens up the game by choosing the first category, excitement quickly transforms into quiet, intense focus. The Quiz Bowl team is preparing for the National Qualifying tournament hosted at Dillard University, and there are only two practices left.
“I feel really good. I feel like we have a great team. We're very close with one another,” senior political science major Bria Witherspoon said. “We're all uplifting, and we all lean and depend on one another...so I have a lot of high hopes for the team.”
During the game, the team goes from being quizzed on women in hip-hop to naming chemical compounds in the span of minutes. Players lean in towards the screen, buzzer in hand, ready to strike when they know the answer.
At the center of it all, controlling the game’s point system and question display from his laptop is Coordinator of Instructional Technologies and club coach Dan Bascelli. But Bascelli is no distant figure.
“I get really involved,” Bascelli said.
Bascelli has been advising the team since 2000, when he entered the role at the eleventh hour to replace a coach who unexpectedly dropped out.
“I fell in love with it immediately. Everybody that’s involved falls in love," Bascelli said.
This message rings true for Ariana Benson (‘19), who competed on the Quiz Bowl team throughout her time at Spelman College and now serves as the Assistant Director of the Honors Program while also volunteering as an HCASC moderator. During her first year, the team made it to the final eight.
“We made it to that stage, and our first playoff game was against Morehouse. So everyone’s hyping it up, Spelhouse rivalry,…and we got washed on the stage. From that point on, I was like, okay, one I’m never losing to Morehouse again..then two, we have a team that we can get to this point…so every year we got a little better,” Benson said.
By her senior year, with Benson as team captain, the Quiz Bowl team won the championship and a $77,000 grand prize for the first time in Spelman’s history.
“First round we beat Tuskegee, second round we beat Morehouse and then in the finals we beat the most decorated team in the history of [HCASC], FAMU, and we won the whole thing. So, I got to go out on top!” Benson said.
The team also earned several individual awards that year, with a team member winning highest scorer, Coach Bascelli recognized as coach of the year and Benson herself honored as sportsperson of the year.
Today, the team hopes to make it to the championship stage once again. This past weekend, they came one step closer, winning first place in the qualifying competition.
“I think our breadth of knowledge, how consistent we are in conferring with each other to find an answer and our overall support of one another and trust in each other and our coach contributed to our win,” team captain Kaia Hall said.
The team is competitive, but team members agree on the collaborative, friendly and welcoming atmosphere palpable during practices, particularly in contrast to previous quiz bowl experiences.
“In high school, I was captain of my school’s scholar bowl team. I went to a PWI high school and it just didn't feel like I was a valuable member…I would often answer questions and they would be right, but my answers would be overlooked and they would go with my other team members' answers,” Witherspoon said.
Team members, including Hall, work to ensure the culture of Spelman’s HCASC team stays intact.
“The environment is welcoming and collaborative…as captain, I love to encourage this by making my teammates laugh, even after a rough game or round. This is so important because in such a highly competitive space, it is important that no one feels inferior,” Hall said.
As the team gears up for the big competition in LA, they’re focused on faster buzzer reaction times and continuing to improve their knowledge on tricky subjects.
“I went to Los Angeles with the team last April, where we did not make it past the playoff round, but this year, I have faith that we will make it to the championship game and will win.” Hall said.
The impact of this program is keenly felt by Coach Bascelli, who remarked on the unity born from friendly competition.
“The ties that bind the HBCUs are really strengthened by this program, absolutely. I've got friends at HBCUs all over the country that I can call on and count on,” Bascelli said.
Benson, who is also a competitor on an upcoming episode of the CW’s Trivial Pursuit, lauded the organization and its value.
“HCASC is the organization that I am most proud and honored to be a part of in my life. It is truly full of Black folks who care about young Black people, the world and who are doing outstanding things…I look forward to it every year and I love it so much. It's just a Black nerd reunion. It's awesome," Benson said.