State Tournaments Are Here

The State Tournament season is finally here!   The tournaments will be held in Grand Rapids March 1-3 for 6th graders and March 8-10 for 7th and 8th graders.   Tonight the team had their last practice together before the tournament. 

See our earlier blog entry for an outline of how the state tournament works. 

Remember at the State Tournament students compete in teams of five.  Clague will be sending six teams each week.  Obviously we will all be rooting for all twelve Clague teams, but if you have someone special you want to follow, find out what their team name is so you can see how they're doing on twitter @clagueag or on instagram @eric_nelson_ag 

All competition at the State Tournament is the team (the team, the team), so you will not see any individual scores. 

Practice Time Changes: State Tournament Ahead

The Clague team is looking forward to the State Tournaments happening in Grand Rapids in March.  Due to those tournaments and the school calendar there are a few changes for the weeks ahead.

• This Friday (February 17) practice goes ahead as usual
• Next week there is no school (and no practice) on Monday (February 20).  We will have a makeup practice for those who can make it the evening of Wednesday, February 22 and our normal practice time on Friday, February 24.  
• Monday, February 27 is the last practice before states and it is important that those going to states be there, since it is our chance to prepare as a group for the tournaments.  
• The "elementary" (6th grade) tournament is March 1-3.  Since most of the coaches and games will be in Grand Rapids, there is no practice on Friday, March 3.
• Monday, March 6 the 6th graders get the practice day off after a busy tournament: the March 6 practice is for Middles (7th/8th grade) only.  
• The "middle" (7th/8th grade) tournament is March 8-10, so for the same reason as above there is no practice on Friday, March 10. 

February's Saturday Tournament

Clague finished up the year of Saturday tournaments with a successful trip to Fenton last Saturday in which a total of 159 students participated.

Clague led the way in team average and top five, and top Clague performers (scores of 18 or higher) included Kaan, Derek, Ismael, Darius, Alfredo, Alex, Kristian, Kaiwen, and Matthew.

There are six Saturday tournaments during the school year, running from September through February.  Six Clague players competed in all six tournaments: Natalie, Jerry L, Alfredo, Nana, Aarnav, and Derek.  Congratulations to all who competed in the AG spirit of friendly and fair competition.

Our next stop in competition is Grand Rapids, where the State Tournaments will occur in March.

January's Saturday Tournament

The penultimate Saturday tournament of the year was held on January 21 in Utica.  170 students from 16 schools took part.  Congratulations to all who competed. 

Clague had a successful competition.  Clague narrowly won in team average over Meads Mill (15.52 to 15.38), and Meads Mill returned the favor by winning Top Five 97 to 96. 

Top Clague results (18 or higher) included Natalie, Nana, Jason, Yaseen, Caleb, Simon, and Raayan. 

Seven Clague players have attended all five tournaments so far this year.   How many will complete the set by attending all six Saturday tournaments?   Find out next week as the last Saturday tournament of the 2016/17 season is played at Fenton High School on February 11. 

January in Clague Academic Games

Happy New Year!

The Clague team has now started all of the games we will be playing at the State Tournaments in March (March 1-3 for 6th graders and March 8-10 for 7th and 8th graders).

We posted what happens at the State Tournament in December.  The big news for now is that those Clague players who are going to the State Tournament need to turn in their permission forms and payment during practice the first week after break (January 9 or 13).  Information was distributed at practice and emailed to families; contact a coach if you need more info.

Other things going on in January include: the penultimate Saturday Tournament on January 21, our usual Friday tournaments, and learning more about all the games in preparation for States.   And of course, the boisterous Choosing Of The State Team Names.

December Tournament in Jackson

35 Clague students participated in the Region B Saturday tournament in Jackson on December 10.  Clague won both Top 5 (with a perfect score of 100) and Team Average (15.83).

Congratulations to everyone who participated -- top scores (18 and above) from Clague were earned by Matthew, Karinne, Aarnav, Jason, Henry, Alex Z, Alex V., Evan, Catherine B.L., Marisa, Kaiwen, and Zihao.  

The tournament also included a practice round of Propaganda while the cube games were being set up in the next room.  Congratulations to Natalie and Aarnav who each got a perfect score of 28 from the 7 questions in the practice round.  

As you can see from the blog post below, we are looking forward to the State Tournaments in March in Grand Rapids.  57 team members have now participated in at least three Saturday tournaments, which is the Clague expectation towards preparing for States.  Another 11 have competed in two tournaments, and can get their third tournament on January 21, at 8:30AM, at St. Lawrence in Utica. 

Clague at the Super Tournaments in March

Time once again for the December looking-forward-to-States post...

If you are reading this blog, you hopefully know that the Clague teams will be competing at the Michigan Super Tournaments (“States”) in Grand Rapids in March. You might not, however, know how the tournament works.

The State Tournament is something the team looks forward to all year. The team members have a lot of fun at States but also are working very hard. Hundreds of students from around the state come to demonstrate the academic skills that they have developed all year.

The “Elementary” teams (this group includes 5th and 6th grades, so yes, we have Clague players playing "Elementary") will compete March 1-3 and the “Middle” teams (7th and 8th grades) will compete March 8-10. Both tournaments are similar in structure.

• We take a bus to Grand Rapids and then the entire tournament takes place in the hotel. Competition and meals all take place in the hotel’s meeting rooms.
• Players compete in teams of five. We form these teams in late January. Last year, we had four Elementary teams and eight Middle teams.  Of course, we will all be rooting for all Clague teams, but if you have a team member in the family, find out what the team name is so you can follow along. 
• We compete in two types of games. First, “cube” games include Equations, On-Sets, Linguishtik, and Wff ‘n’ Proof. Each of these competitions consist of four “rounds”. We play two rounds of each game on Wednesday and two on Thursday. Results are posted each day, so you can see first the scores after the first two rounds and then the final standings. Teams that do extraordinarily well go to playoffs either Thursday evening or Friday morning to determine champions.
• Second, “reading” games we compete in are Presidents and Propaganda (there is also Current Events and World Card Theme, but Clague sticks to six games). We play Propaganda on Wednesday and then Presidents is either Thursday (Middle) or Friday (Elementary).
• We will try to keep our twitter page @clagueag updated with results.  Results also appear on the instagram page @eric_nelson_ag.
• No matter the results, we are all proud of every member of the Clague team for their hard work and the integrity they show in competition. 

Families will be getting more information on the technicalities of signing up soon. We will also need some chaperones to help out.  There is no extra cost to being a chaperone (although you still pay for your student).  The cost per student includes registration for the games, transportation, the three days and two nights in the hotel, food, a t-shirt, and a share of the cost of chaperones.  If you are a team parent and have the time to be a chaperone, it is a great way to spend a few days seeing what the teams from around the state can do. 

November Tournament in Northville

Our November Saturday Tournament was held at Hillside Middle School in Northville.  Clague had a strong tournament, with a 15.41 average just barely ahead of Northville Meads Mill, and both Clague and Meads Mill having Top 5 scores of 95. 

Top scoring Clague players (18 and above) included Sophie, Simon, Claire, Matthew, Derek, Nana, Karim, Kaan, Nico, and Daniel W.

The State Tournaments are held in Grand Rapids in March.  Clague expects players going to States to prepare by going to at least three of the six Saturday Tournaments.  Since this was the third Saturday Tournament of the year, it is the first one at which players can have met that standard.  37 Clague players have competed in all three Saturday tournaments so far.  For a little slightly-outdated information about the State tournaments, check out this blog entry from last year. 

The next Saturday Tournament is on December 10 at Jackson Northeast Elementary School starting at 8:30AM. 

October Tournament at Pioneer

It's been a while now, but there was a Saturday Tournament in October at Pioneer High School. We enjoyed competing against teams from around Region B, including the new team at Ann Arbor Pattengill.

Clague's 63 players had a great tournament, with a tournament-leading average score of 15.48 and a perfect Top 5 score of 100.

Excellent individual scores (18 and above) were earned by 18 (!) Clague players including Claire, Simon, Derek, three Daniels (Daniel H., Daniel L., and Daniel W.), Karinne, Matthew, Angie, Rumei, Anthony V., Kevin Z., Natalie M., Aleko, Gerald, Kaan, Jonathan, and Scott.

What is the Game of Presidents?

So far, our attention in practice has been on the game of Equations. Soon, we will be adding the game of Presidents.

Presidents is a game about U.S. History in which a series of clues are given about a President and the goal is to identify him. Presidents are identified by their number (Washington is #1, Obama is #44).

The players are each given a sheet (which we call a “gazetteer”) giving the number of the President, his name, his years in office, his political party, and the year and state of his birth and death.

The players are given a “range” within which the answer will fall. For example, the range might be 35-44.

First, a "six-point clue" is read about the President (in the first person). This is usually the most difficult clue. For example, 

“Soon after my birth, my parents separated.  I went with my mother to live in a different state.  After she remarried, I was renamed after her second husband. “

Based on this, players choose whether to write down an answer or wait for more clues.  If the answer turns out to be right, they will get six points, but a wrong answer gets no points in Presidents.
Next, a "four-point clue" is read about the same President.  For example,

“I played football for my college team and served as a representative from the same state for many years, eventually serving as leader of my party in the House of Representatives.  I served on the Warren Commission investigating a Presidential assassination.  I left my position in the House of Representatives to become Vice President.”

Players who haven't answered the six-point clue choose whether to answer or not -- this time getting four points if they are correct – and zero if they are wrong.  Then, a "two-point clue" is read.  This clue is usually easier than the others. 

“I became Vice President when my predecessor resigned, and similarly became President when my predecessor resigned.  As such, I am the only President never elected to national office”.

Players who haven't answered yet answer now since it is the last chance for points.  Finally, the President (#38 - Ford) is identified, scores are recorded, and the game moves on to the next question.  

For tips on studying for Presidents, have a look at an earlier blog post.

At the elementary and middle levels, Academic Games covers half of the Presidents each year.  This year (2016-17) we cover #25-44 (McKinley through Obama).  

What is a Saturday Tournament?

A Saturday Tournament is a chance for Clague to play teams from other schools.  In Michigan, there is one Saturday Tournament each month from September through February – for a total of six each year.

Each player will play three rounds in each Saturday tournament.  The games are arranged so that games are between players near the same skill level.  In the September tournament, it is likely we will all play Equations.  As the year goes on, other games will be mixed in, starting with On-Sets and moving on to Linguishtik and perhaps WFF.  We will sometimes play practice rounds of Presidents as well.  

This week in practice we will talk a bit more about how Saturday tournaments work.  

The Saturday tournaments also serve as preparation for the State Tournaments in Grand Rapids in March.  To qualify for the State Tournament, we expect players to participate in at least three of the Saturday Tournaments. 

The location for the Saturday Tournaments varies, but this year the first two are right here in Ann Arbor – September 24 at Clague and October 15 at Pioneer. 

Students should show up at the tournament by 8:30AM, find the Clague team, and put their name on the sign-up sheet.  The tournament ends around noon. 

Almost Time For Academic Games Again

Now that most Clague students have received their schedules, don't forget to add Academic Games as well.

With the Clague bell schedule shifting a bit, we will start out with practice on Friday after school until 5:00, and as per usual, from 7:00-9:00 on Mondays.  We will once again be practicing in the Clague cafeteria.

The first practice for players returning from last year's Clague team will be Friday, September 9, after school.  

On Monday, September 12, we will have a full practice for everyone -- returning Clague players, players who played AG last year and are at Clague now, and Clague students who have never played Academic Games before but are thinking about joining.  Parents are welcome too.   Hope to see you there!