Students create winter Olympics sports for SCIL

By RICHARD A. ROSS

LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — A timely task faced the Sullivan County Interacademic League (SCIL) students from Sullivan County high schools on February 23: to create a new sport for the Winter Olympics. Faced with the challenge of coming up with a new team sport that would be readily sponsored and attractive to the public, the teams broke up into subgroups to handle the various tasks on the morning’s agenda of the fourth SCIL competition of the 2005-06 school year.

Each team was required to devise a sport for a team of five to 12 players using one of the venues at this year’s winter games, which took place in Torino, Italy. A rulebook had to be developed as well as a diagram of the playing area. Teams also had to design a flag for the Olympic committee that represented the elements of their sport and the Olympic games. Finally, a group from each team took to the stage in front of the assembled students and four judges to make a presentation to sell their sport to potential investors. .

The sports included the Tridogalon from Eldred, featuring a blend of man and his best friend in an exciting race. Roscoe’s Usteifeil involved high-speed ski jumps. Monticello’s Crossbar involved a combination of existing sports in a blend of high speed and accuracy. Sullivan West designed Sawball, which combined speedskating, hockey and figure skating while simultaneously offering the appeal of beach volleyball.

Liberty’s Orbitus claimed to attract all types of sports enthusiasts while Fallsburg’s Funnelball claimed to offer potential patrons a “new sport experience.” Livingston Manor produced the alluring Quintski, which featured five skiers on the same pair of skis. Monticello’s other squad invented Octice, which deployed eight team members in three exciting routines synchronized skating, lifts and jumps. Tri-Valley’s entry was Ice Billiards, a unique blend of curling and hockey.

The results from this competition were as follows: fifth place Livingston Manor (176), fourth place Eldred (177), third place Tri-Valley (186), second place Liberty (191) and first place Monticello with a perfect score of 200.

To date, the cumulative standings are as follows: fifth place Fallsburg (648), fourth place Tri-Valley (692), third place Sullivan West (698), second place Liberty (739) and first place Monticello (788).