There are some trivia teams out there who play in one trivia spot on the same night every week and can usually get at least 6-8 players – or more – to come out to the weekly trivia games. I used to have one of these teams! Until I had players move away, and in some cases, just lose interest in trivial pursuits.

There are other challenges of getting teams together for trivia, too! Take geography, for example… Having teammates who are spread apart geographically means that some players will only drive “x” far to go out to games, which complicates finding a spot that all players can play – and are willing to play.

I get it! If my team were one of those such teams, here is what I would do:

• Focus on the highest-performing “key” players in regular games – in particular players who can play more than one night a week. Don’t waste too much effort on the players who are underperforming, unreliable, and undedicated. But do keep them in the loop if they are needed for tournaments, and invite them out to the occasional “off” games that may occur.
• Divide and conquer – if one player can “fairly” easily dominate a trivia spot in one region/league, let them do it. There is absolutely no point in trying to conquer multiple spots in one league unless at least one of them is “conquerable” (don’t waste the effort otherwise).
• Less is more – play with the fewest players possible (aka “lean ‘n mean”).
• If “shopping” for a new place to play, try to scout it out first – get to know the players, look at past scores, get to know the host, etc.

I have players on my team who can only play “x” nights, and a player on my team who is unwilling to drive to games. I have a player with a very complicated personal life who is trying to juggle dating and the responsibilities of shared child custody. Sometimes this means we do two trivia nights a week. It truly is rare when I can get all of them together!

Thankfully, the players in my current “mix” all live within 10 miles of each other! Except that one player who now lives in San Francisco (he’s a pilot who visits Michigan from time to time)! But we all have our “things” that can make it difficult to plan where to play…