Forensics members divide time between linguistic, logistical challenges for State meet
Hosting a family dinner can be a challenge. Imagine if hundreds of guests appeared? On Saturday, April 1, over 1,000 people, including competitors, parents, judges, and volunteers, attended the State Forensics Competition hosted by Oshkosh West and Oshkosh North. The tournament was governed by the Wisconsin Forensics Coaches Association (WFCA). Assistant Coach Mike Wagner revealed that hosting this event has been in the works for a long time.
“The coaches at North and West put forth a bid in 2019 and won the right to host the Wisconsin Forensic Coaches' Association State Tournament in 2021,” he said. “Then COVID hit and Eau Claire, who was supposed to host in 2020, hosted in 2022, and we got the second post-pandemic tournament.”
Forensics, a competitive speaking activity, sends team members to tournaments every Saturday. Containing three rounds and a finale with the best scoring competitors, these tournaments contain many different categories, from acting to putting together a radio report.
Coach Michelle Huettl finds the range of possibilities interesting for not only those participating, but anyone watching.
“I love so many different categories,” she said. “Most of the speech categories mean we learn new information, and the performance categories provide entertainment.”
The first three rounds were held at both schools and were divided by category. There were shuttle buses taking people in between the buildings. After the first rounds, everyone was at West. There was some time for people to buy lunch, while results for who made it to semifinals came out. Then, there were finals and awards were given to the best scoring competitors. Wagner and the other coaches hadn't experienced an event of this size and complexity before.
“North and West have held their own regular season tournaments for years now, with about 25-30 schools attending,” he said. “However, state is a lot bigger than that. We hosted 62 schools and around 700 students for the main event on Saturday.”
With so many people in attendance, many expected it could get chaotic and stressful. Junior Addison Peck was intimidated as the event approached.
“I was a little nervous,” she said. “We have a very small team, so it was a lot of work for the 12 of us to put together a tournament for hundreds of other kids.”
Despite the stress, Peck’s emotions were also balanced with positive vibes.
“I was really excited to be competing at home and seeing all of my forensics friends from all over the state in Oshkosh,” she said.
Despite the competitiveness, Peck experienced a warm environment with all of those present.
“At tournaments, everyone is so nice and friendly to everyone they interact with,” she said.
Huettl gave a lot of credit to the 12 parent volunteers. Students and parents were among the many who pitched in to support the community.
“Parents helped set up hospitality and serve concessions to students,” she said. “Oshkosh West was the lunch site, so we planned lunch as well.”
Peck thinks that the coaches, like Scott Thurwatcher, put in a lot of hard work in setting up, and it showed on the big day.
“Thurwatcher had been working hard for months to make the tournament come together, and we are all incredibly grateful,” she said. “Of course we all had to help set up and take down, but he did all of the heavy lifting behind the scenes.”
As hosts, West showed hospitality for judges, coaches, and bus drivers, providing breakfast, beverages, and snacks. West was also in charge of awards, which were organized on stage in the Alberta Kimball Auditorium. To Huettl, another big part of hosting was preparing every room.
“Our team put up signage for the tournament after school on Friday. This process included taking ‘before’ photos of all rooms, which they use to be sure tables and desks are properly arranged after the tournament ends,” she said. “In fact, the team put up the testing signs for Pre-ACT so that administration didn't have to come in on Sunday or extra-early Monday to do so.”
It is clear that this event took a lot of hard work from the competitors, and Wagner saw that effort pay off.
“West had a remarkable day, nine out of the 12 students on the team reached the state semifinals,” he said. “To give some perspective, most schools do not have a single student reach the semifinal round--five of those Wildcats advanced to the state final.”
Wagner thinks that this event, and forensics as a whole, provides a valuable experience.
“Forensics is a lot of work, but it's a lot of fun and, most importantly, it offers both students and coaches the opportunities to work together to achieve something great,” he said.
Overall, hosting such a big event took a lot of thought, time, and effort, but it was worth every second, according to Wagner.
“We spent a lot of hours planning, setting-up, and then executing the big day. It took a lot of work, but we ran a very successful state tournament,” he said. “We hope that our contributions to the activity inspire the current group of forensics students to give back to forensics wherever life finds them after they graduate.”
By Kora Boese
April 24 2023
Oshkosh West Index Volume 119 Issue VII