Hampton Bays Students Take Talent to Next Level at Scrabble Tournament

WESTHAMPTON-HAMPTON BAYS, NY - Scrabble isn't just a game for a group of talented Hampton Bays students who took their talents to table this weekend.

A team from Hampton Bays Middle School joined more than 80 teams from the United States and Canada in the 2016 North American School Scrabble Championship, where top school Scrabble players ranging in grades 4 through 8 competed in the 14th annual event at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

Although the top scorers were Jem Burch and Cooper Komatsu from Los Angeles, California, taking home a $10,000 grand prize and the prestigious title of 2016 School SCRABBLE Champions, every participant was a winner.

Hampton Bays students Willy Kraus, Christian Pensa, Holly Anderson, Alison Pensa, Tara Brochu, and Shania Pierce all participated.

In tournament scrabble there is no elimination, said Kathy Hummel, the advisor and coach at Hampton Bays. "Everybody plays all seven rounds. There is then a 'finals' round between the top two teams to determine the champions."

Willy and Christian finished 33 out of 85 teams, she said. They won four games, lost three and had a spread of 121 points. Holly and Alison finished 73 out of 85 teams. They won two games, lost three and their spread was -384. Meanwhile, Tara and Shaina finished 74 out of 85 teams. They won two games, lost three, and their spread was -390.

Final placement is determined by wins, losses and spread. Spread is the difference between the winning score and the losing score. If Team A ends the game with 100 points and Team B ends the game with 50 points, the spread for that game is 50. The winning team is +50 and the losing team is -50. The spread increases/decreases as teams win and lose games, Hummel said.

For Alison Pensa, an eighth grader at Hampton Bays Middle School, the competition marked her third. Alison said she began in fourth grade, when Hummel had an elementary school Scrabble program.

"It's just a lot of fun. I learn of lot of new words and expand my vocabulary. And I get to hang out with friends and family," she said.

Part of the excitement of the championship event was meeting players from around the country, including California, and also from Canada, she said.

"It's fun to play and to travel," she said.

Willy Kraus, also in eighth grade, said he's been playing scrabble for a "really long time." His brother played Scrabble on Hummel's teams and he followed in his footsteps when he was in the fifth grade.

"You get to be with your friends. And it's pretty exciting to know that you're one of the better teams in the country," he said.

Hummel, who has run the program for 16 years, said the school Scrabble program kicked off in the 90s and has grown nationwide.

She lauded the benefits of the game in an educational setting: "It's good teamwork. It's conflict resolution." Students combine their unique skill sets, she said, including English and memorization, and form a strong team and bonds. "It gives them an opportunity to participate in something, even if they're not 'sporty,'" she said.

Many of the kids on the team have older siblings who've paved the way and sparked interest in their younger brothers and sisters. "It tends to run in the family," Hummel said.

The program also helps to expand students' vocabularies, she said, and affords kids who might not otherwise have had the chance, the opportunity to travel. The experience enriches students, imbuing them with a "Jeopardy" type of knowledge — and it's a great subject to write about in college essays, she said.

Hummel thanked the community and business sponsors, as well as the Hampton Bays school district's administration, for their unwavering support.

Following the 2016 North American School Scrabble Championship on Wednesday, Hasbro will celebrate National Scrabble Day with fans on social media. Originally referred to as the Criss Cross Words game, Alfred Mosher Butts invented the Scrabble game in 1933.