(Those of you who are fans of the West Wing will appreciate this title.)
So it’s 8:30 and I just got home from the 2005 Grand CFL Nationals in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and I realized that this forensics season is completely over. In many ways, I will never have a season like this again. CFL won’t be in Milwaukee again anytime soon (it usually takes about five to ten years before a location is even considered again, however, the 2008 CFL Nationals was awarded to Appleton and the CFL Diocese in which competed). I most likely won’t be at the TOC for a long time either.
Attendance at national tournaments though is merely peripheral to the large difference between next year and this past season: I am leaving James Madison Memorial behind and I am going/returning to my alma mater to take their vacant assistant coaching job (but I’m staying at memorial for IE’s). The advantage to this move, aside from more money and a better relationship with my parents, is to be the virtual director of debate. Sure, I probably won’t receive any NFL points for the debate work I’ll do at North and sure, if we manage to win any team awards it will have Chad Soik’s name on it and not mine. But, I will have the knowledge that I helped reconstruct the program that I so dearly wanted rebuilt when I was debating. And that’s my main reason for moving: they have interested kids and now those kids have a new, excited assistant coach.
I am excited because I have never had the opportunity to walk onto a team with two debaters seriously attending policy camp and having a serious commitment to work with each other on policy debate. One of which advanced to the final round of extemp at the Grand Nationals; which was a source of great excitement too, because I can’t remember or think of the last time North had someone in the final round. This may be Sheboygan North’s first time for accomplishing such a feat. A huge congratulations is due to him and his coaches: Jay Johnson, Chris Zoch, Paul Seymour, and Justin Ramm. On top of that, I have another sophomore who’s committed to working only on LD. If you noticed the kid I was talking to in between semi’s and final’s, that’s Jake and he’s my long term project. And like any terrible commercial: BUT THERE’S MORE! I also have ½ of the nationally qualified public forum team returning and I am serious about attempting to make Public Forum a fully sanctioned state event this year, and to have a team…. In addition there are a good number of kids who are going to be learning more advanced policy arguments than ever before and simply doing four-person with a coach that simply has more enthusiasm.
In short, it’s awesome to have more kids to deal with than ever before and an equally high level of interest. This will certainly be a challenge, but I feel I am up to the task. Several changes are going to happen, all of which will be in the positive direction: 1) we will travel out of state, 2) we won’t go to uneducational Wisconsin tournaments, 3) I’ll be available once a week, and more through email and aim for actual coaching. On top of all of that will be efforts to help North and South effectively host the 2005-2006 WDCA TOC and late this summer I’ll unveil “wisconsinforensics.net†or some other name, in accordance with my article “Proposing: Wisconsin-Debate.com.
