Mock trial, one of PCS’ most distinguished clubs– is known for its outstanding feats year after year. After another win in the Santa Cruz county championship and Best Sportsmanship award at the State Competition, its reputation has only grown. Much of this is due to experienced seniors like current co-presidents Arie McNeil and Henry Solomon, who’ve been attorneys since 10th grade. Yet with these seniors graduating, it begs the question: what is Mock Trial’s future?
This wouldn’t have been a question in the past. The A-Team– the group that competes in the main competitions– historically prioritizes seniors while mixing in a few juniors, pushing others into the B-Team– the less active understudies to the A-Team. Seasoned seniors in the A-Team then teach and exemplify the skills and qualities to those juniors to continue the legacy of PCS Mock Trial.
This year’s 11th grade members, however, are almost nonexistent. “I think we have a huge gap,” Solomon said. “There are basically no juniors in Mock Trial, so we have a bunch of seniors this year and a bunch of sophomores.” According to McNeil, much of this may be due to the lack of opportunity given to younger students. “Last year… I don’t think a lot of [current] juniors were picked to be on the A team, [so] a lot of people don’t want to be on the B team– they would rather be on the main team– so they don’t come to practice,” she says. “In the past years we’ve prioritized seniors, so there hasn’t been a lot of spots to build retention with the juniors.”
Yet it seems like things may still go Mock Trial’s way next year. Although there are very few juniors, it seems that the sophomores have picked up the slack. Both co-presidents expressed their confidence in the team’s sophomores, especially after their stellar performance during the state competition. “They’re gonna have a full year to practice in [the] role [of attorney], competing at the county level as juniors, and then they’ll all be seniors again. So it’s kinda nice having a bunch of sophomores and… juniors, because that way they have an extra year to train,” Solomon says. The leaders are also optimistic about turnout rates next year. Though she was “a little bit worried about who’s going to be in Mock Trial next year,” Arie asserted, “I think that since we have such a good track record and it’s such a good club just to experience…[and] put on your college resume,” the people will flock to Mock Trial.
