The academic team members are the unsung heroes of RHS activities. Maybe that’s an extreme title for a group, but if there were any throwing of objects or a rowdy fanbase involved, we wouldn’t be having this discussion, would we? With a record of 30-2 upon publishing, the academic team brings Rolla a reputation of intellectual achievement. Yet the majority of our students here have no idea that academic team even exists.

Senior Jesse Liu is the captain of the team, and gave a basic definition of just what academic team is.

“Academic team is a scholastic competition that is generally competed with two teams of four on either side, and it’s split into four quarters. Every tournament is a different style, but the main purpose of it is to basically gauge each team’s knowledge and the depth of their knowledge in a variety of topics,” Liu said.

The format of each round is anything but typical. Often, local tournaments deviate from the norm and add their own types of twists to the format. However, coach Lisa McCarthy explained how rounds work with the MSHAA sanctioned format.

“We play four quarters; first and third quarters are identical, and second and fourth quarters are set up identically. During first quarter, we have fifteen questions called toss-ups. The moderator reads the question, and you have about five seconds to answer after buzzing in. If you’re correct, your team gets ten points. During this, you’re not allowed to confer with each other-it has to be all from you. Then second quarter, there are ten toss-ups, but if you’re correct on one of these toss-ups, then your team will get two bonus questions. On bonus questions, you’ll have a little extra time to confer with each other and then the captain will give the answer after that,” McCarthy said.

The questions come from a broad spectrum; mostly relating to academia, but a multitude of other topics can be asked just to spice things up. McCarthy disclosed the sort of questions one can expect.

“It’s kind of like trivia questions on steroids. We answer questions from not just the categories that you learn in school like math, science, english and history, but anything else that might occur like pop culture, television and movies, biblical questions, anything someone could know is fair game,” McCarthy said.

The team has a mix of Sophomores through Seniors on the team, and with the Freshman coming over it should only grow. Liu himself joined early on in his high school career after being encouraged to give it a try.

“I joined actually in my Sophomore year, because Mrs. McCarthy and my mother both said it’d be a good idea. I’m a massive mama’s boy, so I listened to my mom and I decided to go to practices. I really loved it, and just kept doing it since then, and I’ve been a baller since,” Liu said.

The academic team is also still open for members. An obligation-free trial is offered for those still on the fence, and no hard feelings if it’s not your cup of tea.

“I would say that a lot of people don’t join because they don’t really know what it is. Just come for one practice and give it a try, there’s no commitment needed. If you like it, stay! You don’t need to feel like you have to be the all-star who answers all the questions, either. There’s a little bit of something for everyone, so just come in if you enjoy it,” Liu said.