Awards
The James Pyles Memorial Award for Quizzing Excellence
The James Pyles Memorial Award (formerly the Officials Award for Quizzing Excellence) is awarded at the May (Muskoka Woods) tournament to a quizzer who is in his/her last year of quizzing (not necessarily the Grade 12 year) and who has demonstrated quizzing excellence, leadership, and sportsmanship.
About James Pyles
James Pyles was a quizzer from CCD who loved the Lord deeply and excelled in quizzing. While working with the U.S. Alliance and Samaritan's Purse in Jerusalem in 2004, James tragically died in a car accident. His fire for the Lord and for people left a legacy in CCD that is still remembered today through our quizzer excellence award.
Quotes from James' Mother
Gay Nell Pyles
"As I read Acts 17 about Paul discoursing with philosophers at the marketplace in Athens, I remembered how James and his friends would sit on the floor in the hallway of their high school at lunchtime and invite other students to sit and talk about the question of the day, which was posted on the wall above them. Such questions as ‘Who is your God?’ and ‘Is there life after death?‘”
“James was the youngest of our five children. His spiritual story really began in grade 8, when he returned from Acquire the Fire a changed person. The Holy Spirit had taken hold of him. He began to conquer those adolescent demons of anger and moodiness. He began reading his Bible voraciously. Each night he would have a list of questions for his father when he came home from the church. That was the year he also began taking quizzing seriously. He made the district team that year and went to Internationals for the next 4 years.”
“The [above] photo is of James standing on the Mt. of Olives as it overlooks Jerusalem. James was spending the summer of 2004 working with the U.S. Alliance and Samaritan’s Purse bringing medical, food and clothing relief to the Palestinians of the West Bank while also sharing his faith. He died in a car accident while there.”
Previous Recipients
Jasmine Gao
2024
Peter Koke
2023
Bethany Austen
2022
Kaiden Groombridge
2021
Daniel Quan
2020
Kenneth Prakash
2019
Ben Woelke
Adam Gaunt
2018
Sophie Roy
Tim Magwood
2017
Michelle Shen
Allan Pan
2016