SAN ANTONIO – While the 2025 NCAA Men’s Final Four games are happening in San Antonio, another fierce competition is taking place: the state scrabble championship.
Fifty-six contestants from around Texas made their way to the Alamo City to compete for a prize pool, bragging rights and knowledge that their words were the most powerful.
“Scrabble is serious business,” tournament director Matt Canik said. “We have a die-hard Houston Cougars fan here. He’s going to miss the game to play Scrabble this weekend.”
The game is a combination of luck, skill, and knowledge on a board game as competitors draw seven letters at a time, working to spell out the highest-point word they can.
"There are never any two games that are the same. Every game is different," competitor April McCarley said. “These are people that think like you do. And they love word games. And when you’re a word person, we actually drive down the street, and if you see a billboard, we say, ‘Oh, is that a seven-letter word?’ Because we want more words in our lives!"
“It is like a family,” player Rana Afeiche said. ”We support each other, we root for each other, and yes, we do compete against each other."
“A lot of us played Scrabble growing up with our friends and our family, but I’ve always done word puzzles, word finds, and crossword puzzles, so it’s very relaxing to me,” player Evelyn Callaway said.
There’s a history of tournaments in San Antonio, and clubs continue to look for new members.
“This is a game that is for everybody. You don’t have to be a word expert to play, but I’ve made some of the best relationships in my life through the Scrabble community," event organizer Alex Rivard said.
The San Antonio Scrabble group meets weekly on Thursdays at 5:30 p.m. at the Lions Field Adult and Senior Center.
