Carmel High School’s mock trial team has been vigorously preparing to compete in New York at an international level for the Empire Competition from November 9-15.
The trip to New York will be a first for the CHS team, and they have been practicing three to five days a week to prepare for the competition. The team has also scrimmaging other teams in places such as Fresno and Sacramento.
“Our goal is to go there knowing that we did our best,” history teacher and team adviser Bill Schrier says. “In terms of other goals, our number one goal for mock trial is to have fun and be respective of what we are doing, even in practice.”
The mock trial team has been a part of other impressive competitions before, an example being last year where they competed in the Empire San Francisco tournament from November 12-16, winning second place at an international level.
During their trip to San Francisco, the team competed against international teams such as Australia, Canada and Korea; last year’s trip was a junior-version of the upcoming New York competition.
“I think we have the potential to do really well,” senior club president Mindy Morgan says. “We are a really strong team, and we have a lot of returning members.”
There are 43 teams that the CHS team will be competing against.
According to Schrier, all of the hard work that was done from the start of the club in 2005 till now has made participating in such an intense tournament as the one they are about to face possible.
“I worry sometimes that we will get there and lose sight of what mock trial is supposed to be about,” Morgan says. “Mock trial is supposed to be a fun thing, and the last thing that I would ever want is to go and place the importance of a tournament over the importance of our team.”
Witness for this year’s case Rachael Schroeder says that she thinks the CHS team has a lot of strong attorneys and witnesses this year.
“I’m excited for being with my friends, exploring the city and eating awesome food in New York,” sophomore returning member Megan Kou says.
There is much excitement and building anticipation from the students participating in the Carmel High School mock trial team, and they will continue to prepare until their flight into New York City takes off.
-Asha Johnston
