My experience of playing in the Lancaster City Quiz League this year

For the last couple of months, I've been playing in the Lancaster City Quiz League, a league local to me and one that has been running for over forty years. The season has just finished, so I thought now'd be a good time to assess my thoughts and experiences. I was initially nervous about joining, not only because it's something I'd never been in before, being only 18, but also because I was worried that I'd know very little and make a fool of myself.

Anyway, I decided to bite the bullet and sent an email off to the league secretary, who was prompt to respond and eager to put me into his team to give me experience of how the league works and operates. Since that first cup match on 3rd February, I've played around ten matches, and had a fairly mediocre average score over those ten matches, but the main thing for me is that I really enjoyed the experience of playing and competing in a quiz league, and it's further sparked my interest in quizzing.

I needn't have been nervous, in all honesty, because everyone was welcoming, supportive and helpful. As with any interest, I find that people are generally decent and willing to impart advice and guidance to relative novices. League quizzing is, at its heart, a social pastime.

I'll likely be off to university in September, so unfortunately probably won't be able to play much of next season. But I'll definitely be involved in league quizzing in the future, whether it's in Lancaster or elsewhere, and I'd recommend to anyone interested in quizzes - be they young or old - that they should get involved in their local quiz league if they have one, because they're a great way to meet like-minded people, test yourself against some often-challenging questions, and compete against others. There'll always be that team in the league you're desperate to beat, or a question that plays on your mind for days afterwards, but - for me at least - that's part of the beauty of quizzing.