Day 9. Amicable Battle #2024SoL #SoLSC

We were all exhausted. It was the last battle for the bronze. Kids were tired, sitting stiff, yawning, frowning or not even paying attention in the semifinals.

Now questions were doubled up. How were we going to endure this? Two teams from my district were battling for 3rd and 4th place in the regional tournament of Oregon Battle of the Books. The very same teams had battled for 1st and 2nd place last Thursday in our own local district battle of the books tournament. I could tell that the energy was low, and the excitement had faded. Teams had arrived at 9 am after an hour drive from their homes on a Saturday and battled non-stop. I glanced at my phone. It was almost 3 pm.

I asked myself again: How were we going to endure this?

— The two teams that are competing at the library are fighting with each other, all stressed out, but us in this room, we are going to have fun. We are going to enjoy this time together— started the moderator. She was a skilled public librarian with lots of experience in running this competition and very knowledgeable of the kids psyche.

As soon as the battle started she was joking with the students; telling them in funny ways when they were wrong or asking them to smile. In the “In which book” questions after both teams didn’t answer correctly, she opened the floor to the teams to take a second guess, and if they were still wrong, she asked the audience. Young kids, parents, coaches, all were blurting out titles of books. Team members started giggling, team captains smiling while giving an answer —which was more of a dialogue with the moderator—, parents laughing with the kids, coaches sitting relaxed. When the battle was done it was past 3:30 pm. Nobody was sad they lost. Both teams after shaking hands were still conversing amicably with the battle officials.