Advanced team takes home gold

With an upgraded coaching staff and group of competitors, the Speech and Debate Team is bringing more to the table, with the medals to prove it.

The group took home three gold medals and a finalist award at the annual advanced-only UC Berkeley Tournament held on Oct. 30, leaving with much more than just tangible success.

The event, which featured other teams from schools such as UC Berkeley, University of the Pacific, San Francisco State and the University of Oregon, has motivated the team for upcoming tournaments pending in the spring, team coach Rachel Dwiggins-Beeler said.

“(The win) made us more confident,” she said. “It’s nice to be recognized by other schools that we have a strong team.”

As an advanced-only tournament, the top three competitors of the team were selected to attend.

Competitor Mahak Hassan, who won two gold medals for her program oral interpretation and dramatic interpretation performances, said the competition contributed to the motivation of the group.

“When you win, you have the drive to win more. When you lose, you are more motivated,” she said. “No matter what the outcome, (we’re) still driven.”

Initially attending the competition solely to provide team members with a valued learning experience, the coaches were “shocked” with the amount of wins, but found it to be a “pleasant surprise,” team coach and Director of Forensics Julie LaBrincha said.

“This shows not only other schools, but our school, that we can do anything if we set our minds to it,” she said.

The wins were not only unexpected, but also had a chance of being nonexistent.

With a lack of funds, the team was unable to participate in the competition, LaBrincha said.

A chance to compete, however, approached the CCC team a week prior at the Santa Rosa Junior College tournament, when a group from Solano Community College recognized its skill and offered to pay its registration fees, LaBrincha said.

“(It was) an impulse decision to go to the tournament, but we did well,” she said. “We have such a good reputation in the forensic community.”

With the amount of success, LaBrincha said the team is currently at a skill level unlike before.

“This is the strongest team we’ve had in a couple of years,” LaBrincha said.

Dwiggins-Beeler said, with new and returning speech team members, the group has a better mix of students of different backgrounds, ages and personal experiences.

“(We had) a good team in the past, (but this time there’s) a sense of diversity and a lot of potential for stories,” Dwiggins-Beeler said. “(There’s) more representation for CCC.”

Members of the team will present their award-winning pieces at the upcoming Speech, Drama and Media Night in the Knox Center Thursday at 7 p.m.

Contact Asia Camagong at acamagong.advocate@gmail.com

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