![The Phoenix varsity volleyball team lines up for the national anthem. “We were more communicative [with each other] during this game, and I feel like we kept our energy up, especially after the first set,” senior Jessica Valdov said.](https://theblazerrhs.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/DSC_0202-1200x800.jpg)
On Feb. 21, the Student Council Association (SCA) held their second annual Phoenix Pheud competition. Unlike the inaugural event, the grade levels that faced off this year were the juniors, representing the gray team, and seniors, representing the red team. The gray team came out triumphant with a score of 479-73, marking the first underclassman victory for Phoenix Pheud.
Both teams had four players, including a team-appointed captain who would be the first person to go up to the podium and try to secure the first question. On the red team were seniors Kate Gutshall, Anna Koroma, and Rania Lahbibi, captained by Sophie King, and the gray team had juniors Derrick Forney, Palmer Jolly, and RJ Richardson, captained by Angel Labosette. They also each had their own hosts: junior Nila Divikar for the gray team and junior Shaun Sahayadarlin for the red team. “Learning the dynamic of the game and how it’s hosted was a unique challenge for me,” Sahayadarlin said. “Unlike pep rallies, there was very little script to the show. While the practice rounds helped me learn the general flow [of the game], there was no way to know exactly how things would go.”
To prepare for the event, SCA held practices during advisory and activity blocks, where the contestants would essentially walk through the game of Family Feud and one team would come out with an unofficial win. “We were crushing the seniors during our practice sessions, and [I think that] it transferred towards our win,” Richardson said. “Palmer, Derrick, and I were locked in, quizzing ourselves before the feud started.”
The contest started by having both team captains go up to the podium and introducing themselves. After the question is asked, the first captain to buzz in with a correct answer gets to take the question back to their teammates in hopes of clearing the board and getting every point possible. If they got to three X’s before the entire board was clear, the question would be handed off to the other team and they would have the opportunity to take the points for that question.
There were six questions total, and they ranged from things you can fall out of to what you would do if your date took you out to Chuck-e-Cheese, all coming with memorable answers. SCA prepared an array of questions that were chosen from real Family Feud games, but the ones presented were random.
The event elicited excited reactions from the crowd, since the student body would yell out answers when a team was stuck. In between the questions, the hosts would also announce the senior superlative winners, causing more cheers.
Korama, one of the competing seniors, was disheartened by the loss, but hopes the seniors next year will prepare just as hard, and have a more supportive environment. “[The seniors next year] need to have an audience [and a] crowd. They also need to study a lot and prepare more because a lot of the answers were on Google.” Korama said.
As a junior, Sahayadarlin is grateful to witness a future, third annual Phoenix Pheud. “Last year being the first time we hosted [Phoenix Pheud], there was a big learning curve,” Sahayadarlin said. “We hammered down on things such as the game software, question flow, and overall experience…overall stress for the event was reduced by a good bit this year. I’m really looking forward to hosting this next year.”
