Scholastic Bowl:Regional Competition Nears

The John I. Burton Scholastic Bowl team's season reaches its peak as it prepares to compete against the best eight teams in the Western half of the state at the Regional 1A West  competition in Radford, Virginia on February 1, 2014. I interviewed one of the team’s coaches, Coach Sharpe, to find out more.

Coach Eddie Sharpe has been coaching an academic's team for 15 years and has been coaching the Scholastic Bowl team for three years.  Sharpe states that the reason he became interested in coaching was because of the quality of the players. He says the kids on his team are some of the: “best kids we have."

I asked Sharpe about how he prepared for the matches, and he said that the only way to really prepare is to study, study, and study more. He says, “They study a little of everything and more than just the SOL criteria. It goes past that.”  

The JIB Scholastic Bowl Team has had an extraordinary season. Their record was 29-5 and out of these 5 losses the Honaker Tigers were 4 of them -- the Tigers are the number one team in the state.  Brittney R. scored the most points this season with over 6,000. Wow! Sharpe believes that the students will do well at the Regional competition.


I spoke with some students who are on the team and asked them why they decided to join. They said that the reason they join is because they wish to further their education in an extra curricular activity and to participate in a fun and competitive activity.  I also asked what makes the students so dedicated? They told me that its all about team support. You don't ever want to let your team down.

Coach Sharpe says to give the kids all the credit; he simply just leads them in the right direction.




The team consists of the following members:

• Caitlyn C.
• Lance D.
• Brittney R.
• Vanessa B.
• Christian B.
• Jakub B.
• Torie A.
• Olivia D.
• Connor W.
• Evan W.
• Alexus R.
• Ben H.
• Dylan D.
• Michaela I.
• JW W.

Coaches of the team are:

• Eddie Sharpe
• Tracy Sharpe