Local Mind Challenge team comes up a few points shy of victory this year

by Dan Holland

Team Broadview Heights, which has won the Mind Challenge for the New Majority competition three times in the past eight years, fell in the finals match held at the Independence Civic Center on May 27. This year’s champions, Willoughby Hills, bested Broadview Heights by a score of 129-123.

This year’s competition, which included four playing rounds and a fifth round called “The Elevated 10,” fielded 75 cities with more than combined 800 players in an NCAA tournament-style elimination bracket. Cities are grouped into 10 regions with one city in each, including Broadview Heights, hosting earlier rounds of play. Teams can consist of up to six players in a round, often designating an alternate.

Co-founders Art Greenberg and Phil Levine organized the first competition in 2019 in which seniors compete against teams from other cities around Northeast Ohio to win a total of $5,500 in cash prizes for their respective cities, with the winnings benefitting a team’s local senior center or charity.

Team Broadview Heights, led by Tom Bendycki, also includes Ken Winter, Marlene Winter, Rick Biasella, Connie Brittain, Carol Siebert and John Bertschler. The team, which won $1,500 for its second-place finish this year, has been together since the first competition in 2019 and frequently makes it to the semifinal round or beyond.

A number of teams hold practice trivia get-togethers to gear up for the competition, a practice the Broadview Heights team has not engaged in.

“The team has been very good and hitting on most cylinders throughout the competitions, and we’re hoping to bring another championship home,” said Bendycki during the semifinal round. “It’s really all about the challenge and the camaraderie; we’ve had the same team now for seven years and it’s how we all get together. I know some teams get together for monthly practices, but we don’t do that. This is our together time, and we know our trivia.”

The competition saw many close victories during the earlier rounds, according to Levine.

“The competition has been great so far. We’ve had a lot of close races, with only a one- or two-point difference in scores in many cases,” said Levine. “We have a lot of new teams this year, as five of the 10 teams that advanced during the Elevated 10 are all new. We’ve seen a lot of new faces coming up, and that’s what makes it fun, because it’s our eighth year, and we’ve advanced from 16 cities to more than 75 this year.”

Although socialization and having fun are the primary goals of the program, teams still want to bring home a victory.

“When they’re here, the fun is still there, but they all want to win, as it means money for their senior centers, as senior centers are grossly underfunded,” said Levine. “So, to win a cash prize for their senior center is absolutely fantastic.”

“The most important thing is that the people who play really enjoy it,” said Greenberg. “Whether they win or lose is immaterial. They’re doing it because they like it and it stimulates the mind with the questions, and they socialize with others.”

“This is our eighth year, and it’s been great,” he added. “This has been a big one, with the biggest crowds and a lot of new sponsors. We had over 20 sponsors this year.”

A number of trivia questions, which can be pulled from any category, were challenging during the finals, Bendycki noted, following their runner-up finish.

“There were some really tough questions, with a couple that were mystifying,” he said. “But we’ve managed to advance to the semifinals almost every year. The most important thing is that everyone had a lot of fun.”

Photo caption: This year’s Broadivew Heights Mind Challenge team included Tom Bendycki, Ken Winter, Marlene Winter, Rick Biasella, Connie Brittain, Carol Siebert and John Bertschler. Also pictured is Art Greenberg (left) and Phil Levine (right). Photo by Dan Holland.