My kids on the mock trial team have their first round of competition tonight. They are on the prosecution side of this year’s case, against last year’s championship team. The seeding arrangements are quite complex, but the upshot is that they really only have to do about as well as the champs. I think I’ve got the prosecution side of my team in pretty good shape — but it’s hard to say what will happen until you actually go into the trial.
At this point, there’s little I can do other than to show up, give them a last-minute pep talk, and watch them perform. Once they start competing, I can’t communicate with them in any way and I have to sit back in the gallery and watch. I’ll take notes, of course, so they can do better the next round.
Personally, I’m having fun with the whole thing. The kids are, right now, experiencing the strange mix of anxiety and excitement that comes before a big performance. That sort of thrill is long gone for me for a trial, but I can hope that at least one of them realizes that this is fun and maybe explores a career in law further.
I’ll definitely need to work with them over the weekend; next week they are representing the defendant, and that side of their case needs a lot more work. But I’ll worry about that on Saturday. For now, I’ve got only moderate expectations, and I can just look forward to seeing the kids in action.
