Starting a Junior Bible Quizzing Team

Goals & motivation

The ultimate goal is to get a love for the Word of God into the hearts of our young people. Their involvement in quizzing should neither be too easy or too hard. Older, more established quizzers may develop motivation on their own. Motivating newer, younger quizzers often takes more time, attention & creativity until their own desire to study & succeed catches fire.

Team & church affiliation

Each team must come from a church in good standing with the Oregon United Pentecostal Church. The team must have approval of their pastor.

Team & quizzer setup

  • A team must have at least one coach.

  • A church can field as many quizzers as would like to participate.

  • The coach divides the quizzers into teams. Each team must have between two and five quizzers.

  • Maximum three quizzers can be at the board at any one time.

Quizzers memorize Scripture

  • Material to be studied is set several months before the quizzing season begins.

  • The number of verses memorized depends on the division the quizzer is in, Junior or Beginner.

  • The head coach assigns verses for each quizzer to memorize each week.

  • A quizzer typically memorizes 1-3 verses per day (6 days/week), or 10-15 verses per week. depending on the quizzer's age, ability and motivation.

  • The quizzer also reviews daily the material already memorized.

  • As their quizzing memorization progresses, the amount of study grows that they must do. Early in the year, a quizzer may complete his/her new memorization and review of past material in 15-30 minutes. But in April/May, a quizzer may spend an 60-90 minutes per day to study new verses and review existing material.

Coaching & practice

Coaches and quizzers meet for 1-2 hours each week, preferably at a consistent time & place. These sessions enable the head coach to:

  • set specific assignments for the coming week

  • test a quizzer's knowledge & progress

  • help quizzers with study methods

  • conduct practice quizzes, simulate competition

  • develop quizzing techniques

  • motivate quizzers through appropriate rewards

The coach may develop a system of rewards to help motivate their quizzers. It should be neither too generous nor too strict; the goal is to keep our quizzers positive and focused, enjoying the study, practice and competition sessions. Quizzing practice should be enjoyable and rewarding, but should also challenge them to study and excel.

Coaches need to be involved in setting specific goals and requirements for each quizzer. Weekly sessions should assess, reward and motivate each individual quizzer. A coach should be able to detect the progress each quizzer is making toward their goals. A quizzer should not "float along" week after week with no significant study or progress.

Tournament team setup

Each team competing at a tournament must have at least two and at most five quizzers. The coach decides how many teams will compete, and how quizzers will be arranged on each team.

It is recommended that a coach arrange their teams so that each quizzer gets maximum time at the board during a quiz. Teams of two or three quizzers means each quizzer is at the board for the whole quiz.

Teams attend tournaments

Tournaments typically involve teams from around the home district, although occasionally a team may choose to compete in a neighboring district's tournaments.

District tournaments typically occur once per month from January to June; the June tournament is the state finals tournament. These events are hosted by a local church, which may or may not field a quizzing team.

A Junior Extravaganza tournament happens each spring, bringing in teams from around the region. It is a nationally sanctioned event, and is good preparation for the national finals in July.

Tournaments are beneficial -- and fun!

Tournaments are a great source of enjoyment, reward and motivation to the quizzers and the coaches:

  • Quizzers develop friendships with young people from other teams

  • They have the opportunity to compete against other quizzers

  • There is often some travel involved

  • Tournaments provide excellent opportunity to develop their quizzing and coaching skills

  • Tournaments provide great motivation for quizzers to excel in their continued studies