This year, the returning members of the Scholars’ Bowl team have large shoes to fill as only one member remains of the 2012-13 State Scholars’ Bowl team.

The team will have its first opportunity to fill these shoes at the Frontier League meet on Jan. 13.

One of the challenges that this date presents is the fact that the team will be out of practice due to winter break. However, head Scholars’ Bowl coach Phillip Hamilton hopes that the team will be able to overcome this challenge by having members utilize their new flashcard app, Quizlet,  over the break.

“I am hoping we will get better over winter break because students will be willing to study, but honestly I don’t think the winter break definitely benefits us that much,” Hamilton said.

After winter break, the team will focus on the League meet. This year,  Hamilton’s goal is not to win, but instead to be competitive.

“Our League is actually really challenging this year. [It is] the most challenging it’s been since I have been here, and we also simultaneously have the most turnover in our team since I have been here,” Hamilton said. “I hope we improve and do well.”

In order to do well in postseason, Hamilton believes that the team needs to focus on fine arts and improve on being more confident.

“We don’t seem to be sure of ourselves and so we’ve been beaten on the buzzers a lot,” Hamilton said.

Even though the team is having trouble in the rounds, it is doing rather well with membership. The  amount of people who come to practice has increased by 20 percent compared to last year.

“It is going very well from a membership perspective; we have broken our attendance record, and we are over 50 members this year,”  Hamilton said.

Due to an increase of membership the team is able to hold internal tournaments for the varsity team. They are also able to hold junior varsity and varsity practices regardless of whether or not there is a meet. This has also allowed the team to go to more tournaments.

“In January, we will actually be able to attend our first triple meet where we have three meets simultaneously going on,” Hamilton said. “As far as our tournaments go, we are going to start doing a lot better in January.”