Aside from football, Oratory Prep has all of the sports anyone envisions when speaking about high school sports. From soccer to basketball to track and field and even to fencing, Oratory has it all. But in a world where chess is actually considered a sport, how would you feel if I told you that Oratory’s best sport is not one that anyone typically considers a sport…OP Mock Trial.
One of the criterias for a sport is competition. The OP mock trial team competes in the NJ State Bar Foundation’s High School Mock Trial Competition every year. Like many OP sports, the goal is a state championship, but there are county and regional titles (or conference titles) at stake as well. In fact, the mock trial team has won 16 Union County championships and five regional championships, a feat of titles I’m pretty certain hasn’t been matched by any sport in the school.
Although not physically tasking, like many sports, mock trial is mentally taxing. The mock trial team typically practices 4-5 days a week for two hours every day. Everyone is always contributing towards practice, whether asking questions, answering questions, or just giving suggestions. On the topic of answering questions, that is done by witnesses. Witnesses have the ever-so-hard job of getting out of their skin and acting to the best of their ability, which can be accredited to skill and hard work, similar to how someone might work on their shot.
At the end of the day, doing mock trial is rewarding. The amount of things you take away from just the experience is countless. The conversations you have and the laughs that result are just good times. Times that you’ll remember, especially when you’re on the best sports team at Oratory Prep.
