SCRABBLE - The Last Word Newsletter

From the EditorF R O M T H E E D I T O RI’ve just returned from the 2013 National School SCRABBLE® Championship, held this year in Washington,D.C. As always, it was an exciting event, culminating with the finale: a room filled with kids, their coaches,and their families watching the final game on a giant screen. This year’s winners, Kevin Bowerman andRaymond Gao from the Smith Middle School in Chapel Hill, NC, took home a $10,000 prize check, plus wona flight to California to appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live! (May 23).Drew Magary, a friend of Stefan Fatsis, has written an excellent article for Deadspin about the NSSC:“Searching for Anything But Bobby Fischer At School Scrabble Nationals” (http://deadspin.com/searchingfor-anything-but-bobby-fischer-at-school-scra-496035498.In it he quotes John D. Williams, Jr., ExecutiveDirector of the National SCRABBLE® Association, saying, “We learned what not to do from the SpellingBee.” Unlike the Scripps National Spelling Bee, which features the best spellers in the United States, theNSSC has 4th-8th graders of widely varying abilities. The NSSC is also played in teams of two,encouraging camaraderie and fun. While there were several dozen young competitors with NASPAtournament experience, the majority of the players were there for the excitement and joy of spending twodays with other kids who like SCRABBLE. Teams wore matching shirts; kids played Twister at the ice creamparty; there were many more smiles than tears.But is there room in School SCRABBLE for the more serious players--and for players who have “aged out”after 8th grade? As a School SCRABBLE coach, I encourage my young players to compete one-on-one insanctioned tournaments. I also provide shorter (3- to 4-game) “Youth Tournaments” at my tournaments,limited to 3rd-12th graders rated under 1000. These tournaments give the young players a chance tocompete as individuals against other kids, as is done in chess and other competitions.Karen Richards, from Australia, is the chair of the Youth Committee of the World English-Language ScrabblePlayers Association (WESPA). Since 2006 she has organized the annual World Youth ScrabbleChampionship, which brings together young players under 18 to compete for the title of World YouthChampion. This past year two Americans, Tim Bryant and Brad Robbins, competed in the WYSC, doingwell and having a fantastic time meeting fellow young Scrabblers from all over the world. The 2014 WYSCwill be in Dubai, and Karen is hoping that Americans will again attend.I’d love to see a TeamUSA of young Scrabblers at the 2014 WYSC--ideally with their expenses subsidizedby a scholarship. The rub: The championship uses the Collins lexicon. Most young players here use theOWL (or the OSPD, in the case of School SCRABBLE players). However, the championship is severalmonths away, and strong youth players can learn Collins-only 2s, 3s, JQXZ words, and high-probabilitybingos over the summer. These players may in a few years be our team players for the World SCRABBLEChampionship--now renamed the Scrabble® Champions Tournament, and debuting December 3-8 inPrague with a guaranteed prize fund of $25,000.In the meantime, I’d like to encourage other directors to offer Youth divisions at their tournaments. It saddensme to see top competitors from each year’s NSSC leave tournament SCRABBLE. Yes, there are those whostick with it and become competitive in regular tournaments. However, wouldn’t it be more fun for most to beable to compete in a youth league? I’m looking forward to offering more opportunities for kids to play withother kids: school and library teams matches; SCRABBLE in school curricula; America joining the rest of theworld as a force at the World Youth SCRABBLE Championship.Cornelia Guest 3