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Quiz Bowl and Speech and Debate Team Updates - Oct. 2025

SSFS Quiz Bowl Team
Quiz Bowl and Speech and Debate Team Updates - Oct. 2025

SSFS Upper School students have fantastic opportunities to be a part of academic clubs and co-curriculars that have earned local and national recognition for their wins against much larger schools with larger programs. Two of these clubs, Quiz Bowl and the Speech and Debate Team, share their early-season 2025 updates and successes, below. 

Quiz Bowl Team Update: Summary of MABL Round 1

By Eduardo Polón, Quiz Bowl Coach

On the heels of recent victories over Rockville and Blake high schools, SSFS extended its competitive interscholastic academic season record to an impressive 10-1-0 overall and 3-0-0 in the Montgomery Academic Beltway League (MABL) with a sweep of its MABL Round 1 opponents, Churchill, Poolesville, and Wootton high schools on Thursday, October 9.

See below for more details!

Led by Justin (Captain), Nate, Ian, Steve, Benji, Catherine & Henry, SSFS hit the road on Oct. 9, 2025, for Round 1 of this season’s Montgomery Academic Beltway League (MABL) at Churchill HS to compete in three one-on-one matches against Churchill, Poolesville, and Wootton. 

For the uninitiated, the MABL is among the nation's more established competitive academic leagues. Consisting of 24 teams this season, and evidenced by our first-round opponents, SSFS is, by far, the smallest school in a league of giants. That said, SSFS has built a reputation as a perennial contender, ranking consistently among the top academic programs in the county and continuing to distinguish itself, among other things, as “an ideal setting for intellectual contemplation, diverse extracurricular pursuits, and personal growth.” 

Understandably, the start of a new academic competition season comes with many unknowns. New students emerge every year, and others move on (including at SSFS), so we did not know much about the other teams at this early stage. We entered this first round of the MABL with a handful of tangible objectives: 

  • to expose and familiarize our newest traveling team members to the specifics of MABL,
  • to perform well, indifferent of results,
  • to win our first MABL match of the season,
  • to attempt to come out of the round with a winning record,
  • to score more points-for than surrender points-against over the three matches. 

In addition, there are a series of less tangible team goals that include...

  • sticking together through tougher times,
  • leaning on each other and collaborating at all times,
  • being a positive contributor to the team, in whatever capacity possible (e.g., buzzer speed, brainstormer, a topic specialist, cheerleader, etc.),
  • learning to play purposefully, confidently, and aggressively, but with self-awareness and tactical savvy,
  • have ice in our collective veins (i.e., accept mistakes as a normal part of competition, learn to let them go rather than perseverate only to exacerbate matters and commit additional and avoidable mistakes),
  • have fun playing a game without sacrificing a competitor’s mindset (i.e., matches are played to be won),
  • be the example of class and courtesy, in both victory and defeat,
  • understand that we are representing SSFS as ambassadors.  


While not surprised in the least, I was deeply moved that last year's beloved Captain Diego Zein from the SSFS Class of '25, now studying at the University of Southampton in England, took the time to craft some words of support and inspiration intended to reach this year's squad, the protégés of last year's award-winning team, ahead of our opening round:

Dear Justin, Nate, Ian, Steve, Catherine, Benji, and Henry,

This is it. The beginning of this year’s Quiz Bowl journey. For one half of the team, this is familiar territory; for the other, it is all new, but the feeling never changes. I know you all have that same excitement that I and everyone before had, and you are more than prepared to take on this challenge. If there’s one quality I can point to that separates the SSFS Quiz Bowl Team the most from our competition, it’s the échale ganas, or the will to win. No doubt this season you will be tested, there will be ugly games and tense moments, but at the end of the day, if you have the ganas, the grit, nobody can stop you. Remember to also lean on each other during this journey. SSFS, one way or another, teaches us the value of community, and the community we build on the Quiz Bowl team is one of the strongest there is. So lift each other up, embrace each other in the emotional moments, and whether you win or lose, do it as a team, and…always go to California Tortilla afterward. Grit, Grace, Gratitude, as Eduardo always says. I am eternally grateful to have seen you rise from awkward 9th graders to now confident upperclassmen, and I only grow prouder of who you are. And I know you’ll accomplish great feats this year. Go ‘Beests!

Always,

Diego

With Diego's permission, I chose to share this insight because it is so genuine and reflects the absolute best of what this program can and should be by virtue of our alumni electing to pay it forward so thoughtfully and selflessly. I remember when prior Captains, like Greta Garrettson-Taylor (SSFS Class of '24), did something similar for Diego and his team last October. I remember when Clara Shapiro (SSFS Class of '23) did something similar for Greta and her team, once she was off to college. I remember when Captain Sophia Strocko (SSFS Class of '22) did something similar for Clara and her team, once she was off to college. I remember when Captain Moira McCudden (SSFS Class of '21) did something similar for Sophia and her team, once she was off to college. I remember when Captain Justis Dixon (SSFS Class of '19) did something similar for Moira and her teams, once he was off to college. It is servant leadership personified, and others learning of and reading it -- beyond Justin, Nate, Ian, Steve, Benji, Catherine, and Henry -- has powerfully exponential and inspirational value. Thank you, Diego, from the bottom of this proud coach's heart for choosing to give back!

But, even with all that support, cheerleading, and championing, the games still needed to be played.

This is how it went...

MABL ROUND 1 (SSFS 3-0-0) and (1,628 PF – 775 PA):

  • vs. Churchill        W    (515-415)
  • vs. Poolesville        W    (570-360)
  • vs. Wootton        W    (543-0) Forfeit

SSFS AVERAGE POINTS PER GAME: 543
SSFS POINTS ALLOWED PER GAME: 258

When the dust settled, SSFS finished the round with an undefeated 3-0-0 record. Alas, it was frustrating that Wootton was unable to participate and had to forfeit. Some might argue that "a W is a W, any way you slice it." Frankly, it's a hollow victory that leaves a bad taste in any honest competitor's mouth. Of course, we would have much preferred to play the game than to win by forfeit. Nonetheless, the rules of the MABL state that a forfeited match will be recorded as a W for the team present, and the points registered will be the average of the points earned in the other two matches (i.e., 543-0). It looks impressive, but don't be fooled. Nonetheless, Justin, Nate, Ian, Steve, Benji, Catherine, and Henry checked off every tangible objective set ahead of the round. Not only did our newest varsity members -- Benji, Catherine, and Henry -- acquire invaluable MABL experiences, but, along with Justin, Nate, Ian, and Steve (our returning varsity team members), they performed harmoniously together. Standing on the shoulders of giants and determined not to let the tradition down, Justin conducted himself as a rightful SSFS Captain. Earning the captaincy of the SSFS Quiz Bowl Team is quite an honor that comes with a lot of responsibility to shoulder and significant pressure to handle! Similarly, Nate, Ian, and Steve have been tasked with greater responsibilities, too, doing a good job of developing their own leadership. Together, our veterans make for a dynamic and quite complementary leadership group!

That said, the results speak flatteringly for themselves, because another goal was for this group of ours to earn their first MABL win together, and they achieved that objective in Game 1 over Churchill, a complicated match against a veteran all-senior team that demanded grit, focus, teamwork, and resilience. This coach is particularly happy for and proud of Justin for earning his first official victory as Captain in the MABL. It's not easy to shoulder the weighty responsibility of being the one with whom the proverbial buck stops, having to decide which answer to go with for every question over which we confer. Still, another goal was whether SSFS could emerge with a winning record from the round, and this goal was also achieved by the end of our second match, against Poolesville, an excellent team that defeated SSFS last year in a heartbreaking nailbiter (460-465). We proudly dedicate today's victory over Poolesville to last year's Captain Diego. That one's for you, amigo.

I couldn't have been prouder of this new team of ours. We talk a lot in this program about "good wins" versus "bad wins" and "good losses" versus "bad losses," and this round came with a pair of "good wins." We are a better team this evening than we were this afternoon, because of our experiences today. Not only that, but we also achieved our remaining objectives, emerging from the round having scored more points-for (1,628) than surrendering points-against (775). If that weren't enough, if you go back to the top of this post-match summary, I listed seven less tangible goals that we aspired to achieve, and we achieved every one of those, too! Lesson: Focusing on the intangible can translate to tangible results.

Moving forward, MABL Round 2 is scheduled for Thursday, October 23, where SSFS is slated to travel to Blair HS to square off against Blair A, Blair B, and Richard Montgomery.

Onward and upward, 'Beests! 

To learn more, here is a closer look at...

Speech and Debate Teams Fall Update: Oct. 2025

By Barbara von Salis, Speech and Debate Team Coach

The Speech and Debate Teams have already had their first informational meetings. Students have either begun preparing for or participated in the first local competitions. On October 11th, the SSFS Debate Team participated in its first Washington Area Speech and Debate League (WASDL) competition of the season by sending one Public Forum team, consisting of Debate Captain Catherine Risen ('27) and her partner, Nate Miles ('26). This team of two began planning together shortly after summer to prepare their briefs and to ready themselves for the first competition. At the tournament they went 1-3, after winning their first match ever as a team. We have tremendous appreciation for Catherine's father, Mike Risen, who is the volunteer debate coach this year. Currently working at Norwood School, Mike has over twenty years of experience coaching both middle and high schoolers in debate.

The Debate Team is looking forward to bringing in more members for the subsequent tournaments, the next of which is on November 8th. The SSFS Speech Team is now gearing up for its first tournament on October 25th. Wish them luck, and stay tuned for more updates from both teams!

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