NAME:
Trevor Hovelmeier

AGE/AREA:
31 from Johannesburg, South Africa

OCCUPATION:
Medical doctor working as a general practitioner in private practice

ACHIEVEMENTS:
I've won a few competitions here and there, but specialise in taking second place. I came 3rd in the National Championships on my first try, and have been runner up in the Nationals and National Masters. I won the 2000 Gauteng province champs and 2 other lesser competitions in 2000. I also represented South Africa at the 1999 World Championship in Melbourne, which was a phenomenal experience, despite my disappointing result.

INVOLVEMENT IN SCRABBLE:
I was the National Chairperson for SANSPA (the South African National Scrabble Players Association) in 1999, and put together the SANSPA starter pack. In 2001 I was responsible for reviewing (and partially rewriting) the SA rules.

COMMENTS:
Scrabble is almost a religion to me. I love the game with a passion, and hate to lose even more. One of the questions one commonly gets as a doctor is "What made you choose medicine as a career?". The answer I give these days is along the lines of: "I studied medicine to get a good job in order to be able to buy food to live to play Scrabble!"