On March 5, the founder and director of History Bowl, David Madden, came to speak with Poolesville members. Madden is a 19-day Jeopardy champion from 2010, who founded the International Academic Competition (IAC) — the organization that runs the History Bowl, History Bee, and other academic competitions. The History Bowl began with Madden contacting his old high school principal about starting a history competition at his old school.
“The first year of 2010 or 2011, I put 60,000 miles on my car, drove all over the country, and set up 32 tournaments and had 400 students in Nationals in year one and never looked back since,” said Madden.
History Bowl is the largest club within the school. The club challenges students’ knowledge of history through team events, history bees, geography, political science, and history tests. They participate in various competitions and engage in many practice, community, and fundraising activities throughout the year.
Junior Eleanor Huber is a Junior Varsity officer, and media, financial and events coordinator.
“My favorite part about being in History Bowl is the community and having the opportunity to go to all these great places, like going to regionals, getting to compete and meeting new people. And we all share this mindset of loving history and even if what you think you know is insignificant, you actually contribute quite a bit,” said Huber.
For students competing, the National History Bowl is a two-stage competition. Each tournament has a Varsity and Junior Varsity Division; the JV Division is limited to teams that are composed of students in 10th grade and younger.
The first stage of the National History Bowl is the Regional Tournaments. Between 60-80 of these are held each year in-person around the USA and online. The Poolesville team participates in three yearly tournaments to qualify for nationals. Tournaments consist of five preliminary rounds and one to five playoff rounds depending on the field size.
The second stage of the National History Bowl for the Varsity and Junior Varsity Divisions is the National Championships, which for the 2023-24 academic year will take place at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Virginia from April 26-28, 2024.
In the previous 2022-2023 season, the team achieved remarkable success, sending 61 students to nationals, including six varsity teams, and four junior varsity teams. They also broke the IAC National record for the most teams to advance to the second round at nationals. Many members also ranked in the top 10 nationally in individual events.
Junior Varsity Captain Beth Weld is a member of the Junior Varsity H team and a qualifier for the History Bowl National Competition.
“It means a lot for David Madden to come here, especially because something like this doesn’t happen often and tell us that you’re the biggest [team] in the country. I feel very special to be related to this club,” said Weld.
