Alex Dzurick

Alex Dzurick

Noted subjects	social sciences, Earth sciences, trash
Past colleges	As player: Illinois (2015-2017), Missouri (2008-2012) As coach: Harcum (2019-2021)
High school	South Callaway (2004-2008)
Middle school	As player: South Callaway (2002-2004) As coach: South Callaway (2012-2013), EFIP (2020-2021), Rohan Woods (2023-present)
Stats	HDWhite • NAQT

Alex Dzurick is the founder of SAGES Quizbowl Questions and currently lives in the St. Louis area, where he teaches and coaches at Rohan Woods School. He previously taught and coached quizbowl at the French International School of Philadelphia. He was the first secretary of the Missouri Quizbowl Alliance (from 2008-2015) and served as the Vice President of the Missouri Academic Coaches Association (from 2013-2015). Alex was also a former player from the University of Missouri-Columbia and South Callaway and served as the Academic Quizbowl Coordinator for ACUI Region 11 in 2011. He also served for a year (2012-13) as a coach for the South Callaway Middle School quiz bowl team.

South Callaway (MS 2002-2004; HS 2004-2008)

Alex began his quiz bowl career as a 7th grader serving as the team manager for the 8th grade team at South Callaway Middle School. The next year, he began playing and found success in local events, spurring him to continue playing upon entering high school. Alex began playing as a member of the junior varsity squad, but began playing full-time varsity his freshman year. He began to learn of many tournaments as he became more involved, and was able to convince South Callaway to attend the William Woods Academic Tournament (which he helped to found) and the Warrenton Warrior Classic his senior year.

Individual Accomplishments

Alex earned places on the MSHSAA C3D4 All-District team from 2005 through 2008.

University of Missouri (Undergrad 2008-2012)

Alex double-majored in Linguistics and Sociology with minors in Philosophy and Geography. He was involved in planning the structure of the newly re-formed University of Missouri Quizbowl Club alongside Charlie Dees. He served as president of the club from 2009-2011 and as treasurer from 2009-2012 as well as serving as co-director of nine of Mizzou's hosted tournaments (three iterations each of MFAT, Tiger Bowl, and the Mort Walker Invitational).

University of Illinois (Graduate School 2015-2017)

Alex enrolled at the University of Illinois as a graduate student in the Education Policy, Organization and Leadership program starting in the fall of 2015. He made his UI quizbowl debut at the 2015 Missouri Open site at his alma mater, Missouri, where his team took 2nd to Washington University. He graduated in May of 2017.

Organizations

Missouri Quizbowl Alliance (2008-present)

Alex was chosen as the inaugural secretary for MOQBA in the fall of 2008 and served in that position until August 2015. MOQBA as a group received the Benjamin Cooper Young Ambassador Award from PACE in 2011 for mentoring and improving the growth of the circuit in Missouri. Alex has staffed and helped prepare for many MOQBA-certified events, including co-directing the 2014 Laker Bowl middle school tournament, and helps to promote events statewide. In 2014 and 2015, Alex co-directed the MOQBA NAQT State Qualifier with Jeffrey Hill. He remained an active MOQBA member even while living in Illinois and Pennsylvania.

Association of College Unions International (2010-2011)

In March 2010, Alex was appointed Academic Quizbowl Coordinator for ACUI Region 11. As coordinator, Alex was responsible for organizing and TDing the 2011 SCT for the region at Missouri State. He recruited teams and staff, secured space and coordinated with the ACUI regional treasurer. After that year, ACUI subsequently dropped their collaboration with NAQT.

Missouri Academic Coaches Association (2010-2011 and 2012-2015)

At several MACA fall conferences, Alex presented or co-presented informational sessions for coaches. In 2013, Alex was elected to a two-year term as vice president of MACA serving under president Scott Allen of Hallsville. He helped track statistics and award medals for All-State and All-District team qualification during the 2014 and 2015 tournament series, and served as a co-director of the 2014 MACA JV state tournament.

Illinois High School Scholastic Bowl Coaches Association (2015-2017)

In 2016, Alex presented at SchoBowlFest alongside Jacob O'Rourke, helping teams figure out how to plan a season's schedule effectively.

Coaching Career

In 2012-13, Alex was a science teacher at South Callaway Middle School (his alma mater). He was the head coach for the 6th grade quiz bowl team at SCMS. Alex also served as a volunteer assistant coach for the middle school quiz bowl team.

While serving as an adjunct faculty member at Harcum College in Pennsylvania, Alex initiated efforts to begin a quizbowl team on campus. In 2021, he also founded the middle school quizbowl team at the French International School of Philadelphia. After moving back to Missouri, Alex started a team at Rohan Woods School in 2023.

Writing and Editing

Alex serves as the owner and head editor of SAGES Quizbowl Questions, a company specializing in writing pyramidal elementary and middle school question sets.

Beyond work with SAGES, Alex has also contributed to several other writing efforts, primarily in the areas of science, social sciences, and history.

2011 - Olympia HS set - Social Science, Geography, Current Events, Trash
2013 - Collegiate Novice 4 - Science, Social Science
2014 - ICCS - Science, Social Science, Trash
2014 - PADAWAN - Science, Social Science
2016 - NHBB sets - Historical Geography, Recent History
2017 - EMT - Other Academic, Trash
2017-18 - Masonics - Science, Social Science, Current Events, Other
2018 - USABB Nationals - Earth Science, Geography
2018 - IHO - Women's History
2019 - IAC National Science Bee - head editor and writer
2020 - Matt Cvijanovich Memorial Tournament - editor: Social Science, Geography, and Current Events
2021 - IAC Environmental Science and Ecology Exam - head writer
2023 - SITH - editor: Physics, Math, Pop Culture