SWAG: The Ron Smith Experience" at Webb in Bell Buckle, TN
Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2014 2:38 pm
" SWAG: The Ron Smith Experience is scheduled for November 15th at The Webb School in Bell Buckle, TN. We are using NAQT packet 139A and will follow the standard Tennessee rules. The opening rounds will consist of 10 toss-up questions, the second round will be a worksheet round, and the final round will consist of 10 toss-ups with bonus questions.
Please contact tournament director Raymond Pryor at [email protected] if you are interested in joining us.
I am leaving my teaching and coaching posts at the end of the year; hence the shamelessly narcissistic name change for the tournament. It could change again. Just yesterday TD Raymond Pryor was sticking with SWAG: Ron Has Left The Building.
Some do not particularly care for the Tennessee format, but I am staying with it to continue to honor Carolyn Hawkins, who coached Cookeville HS for many years. Carolyn was always willing to help young coaches and inexperienced teams, and the worksheet round allows even the greenest of teams to at least score a few points.
The only reason I started the SWAG tournament was to encourage new teams to play. My good friend and former colleague Stan Rupley brought BGA to their first tournament ever at SWAG I. In just a few years they were regularly beating us. Did I question my philosophy of inclusiveness? Of course I did. I hate to lose as much as anyone. But iron does sharpen iron, and the more competitive teams we have in the Tennessee circuit the more competitive all of us will be at the regional and national levels.
Webb began competing in 2000, so I was a rookie coach during the glory years of Cookeville's dominance. We never beat them, but over a three or four year period we got stronger and stronger as we tried to beat them. None of that would have happened without Carolyn's support.
Please contact tournament director Raymond Pryor at [email protected] if you are interested in joining us.
I am leaving my teaching and coaching posts at the end of the year; hence the shamelessly narcissistic name change for the tournament. It could change again. Just yesterday TD Raymond Pryor was sticking with SWAG: Ron Has Left The Building.
Some do not particularly care for the Tennessee format, but I am staying with it to continue to honor Carolyn Hawkins, who coached Cookeville HS for many years. Carolyn was always willing to help young coaches and inexperienced teams, and the worksheet round allows even the greenest of teams to at least score a few points.
The only reason I started the SWAG tournament was to encourage new teams to play. My good friend and former colleague Stan Rupley brought BGA to their first tournament ever at SWAG I. In just a few years they were regularly beating us. Did I question my philosophy of inclusiveness? Of course I did. I hate to lose as much as anyone. But iron does sharpen iron, and the more competitive teams we have in the Tennessee circuit the more competitive all of us will be at the regional and national levels.
Webb began competing in 2000, so I was a rookie coach during the glory years of Cookeville's dominance. We never beat them, but over a three or four year period we got stronger and stronger as we tried to beat them. None of that would have happened without Carolyn's support.