Sunday, November 12, 2017

The Academic Games Year: Competitions

The year in Academic Games is a combination of learning and competing.   Particularly for new families and those considering joining, it might be useful to have an outline of how the year fits together.  Some of these details are specific to Clague. 

Clague practices twice a week in the school cafeteria.  Generally, Mondays are devoted to learning new things and Fridays are mostly about competition.  (Of course, competition is a good way to learn as well).  Our "Friday Tournaments" give players a chance to compete with their teammates.  When the rules are different for 6th graders, then the 6th graders compete against other 6th graders while the 7th and 8th graders have a separate competition.

We also compete once a month (September through February) on Saturday mornings with other schools in the area.  These "Saturday Tournaments" are hosted by schools around Southeast Michigan. 

The big event in Michigan Academic Games is the "Super Tournament", also known as "States", held in Grand Rapids in early March.  This is a three day tournament with a lot of great competition open to schools across Michigan.   Competition at States is in five-player teams, which means Clague generally has a number of teams at States.   At Clague, we expect any student who wants to go to States will prepare including by going to at least three of the six Saturday Tournaments.  There is a cost to going to States -- last year it was $365 -- which includes the bus, the hotel, the food, tournament registration.  We will need chaperones (parents) to join us on the trip.  Chaperones do not pay themselves (although they still pay for their children).  Making sure that students who work hard all year do not miss out on the tournaments for financial reasons is important to us so we do raise funds during the year to provide some scholarship aid to families in financial need. 

Families make the decision whether to go to States in January and coaches then put the players on teams. 

Those who do particularly well at the State Tournament may also be given the chance to compete at the Academic Games National Tournament in late April.  The location of this tournament varies but is generally somewhere in the eastern United States.  In 2018 it will be in Knoxville. 

Clague Academic Games is proud of our record including winning many State and National Championships and we are also proud of having so many players compete with integrity at the tournaments.  At the same time, we welcome players who do not wish to travel for the major tournaments but who are dedicated to working on the games to join us on Mondays and Fridays developing skills and enjoying the competition.