Mock Trial Team Sees Continued Success

 

Mock Trial Team
Mock Trial Team

From the March 2018 Desktop News | The University of Alabama Mock Trial Team recently earned two advancing bids at the American Mock Trial Association Regional Tournament, only a month after hosting the successful Second Annual Crimson Classic Mock Trial Tournament on campus. Despite being a young program, the Mock Trial Team has already experienced quite a bit of success as they push into the heat of the season.

“Even though we had a really difficult schedule at the tournament, everyone really rallied together, never lost confidence, and was able to perform under the high expectation,” said senior Chance­­ Sturup, the president of the Mock Trial Association..

In addition to advancing to the next competition, the team earned the Spirit of American Mock Trial Association Award (AMTA) for the team that best represents justice, civility, and fair play.

“That combination of success and the Spirit of AMTA award is rare,” said faculty coach Allen Linken. “Plainly put, to succeed, and to be recognized by the teams that you succeeded against as the team that best represents the ideals of the organization, is rare.”

As the team prepares to compete against nationally recognized programs in the next level of competition, they are also revamping details and strategies within their case in response to logistical changes made to the case that were released in late February.

“The strength of this program has been in our ability to adapt and react well,” said Sturup. “The case changes give us a really great opportunity to showcase that.”

In addition to the program’s innate ability to react successfully to adversity in the competition, each level of the team carries a strong sense of perseverance as they strive for success at the national level. According to Linken, this is the very essence of the program.

“A lot of the skills that we’re talking about translate to a lot of aspects of life: being able to communicate effectively, team work, and resilience.”