After a season filled with miscommunications and uphill battles last year, the Mock Trial team is ready for a fresh start and looking for a new teacher-coach and a new attorney-coach.

After the attorney-coach repeatedly failed to show up to practice and contact the team last year, team members found themselves without a coach halfway through the season. Even so, they persevered through the season with teacher-coaches Jim Chin and Michael Kim and did reasonably well at the county competition last year.

Last spring, the team lost three trials out of four, but their scores were better than expected. The team finished strong, participating against teams who had been training with practiced attorneys the entire season.

This year, the path to success will not be easy. If the team does not find an attorney-coach in time for the season, it will be difficult to keep up with other schools. Senior Max Chang still sees reasons to be hopeful.

“If our team possesses the intellectual thirst it had last year, I believe that this team has the potential,” said Chang.

Chang added that during practices last year, “the engagement of the team was almost tangible, with every member actively contributing to discussions.” He hopes this year will be no different.

Last year’s difficulties inspired a sense of closeness among members and created a sense of community within the club. Practicing at night and traveling to different schools, the county competition also gave members time to bond and create lasting friendships.

Although Mock Trial has lost valuable members such as 2014 alumni Charles Li and Julianne Wey. There are underclassmen ready to take their places, such as sophomores Jessy Liu and Jacqueline Han.

Last year, there were many new participants, many of them freshmen. This allowed the club to create a JV team as well. Although it was difficult helping the new members adjust at first, they grew stronger and more confident, and will be crucial to leading this year’s team to success.

“I have a lot of faith in our seniors and they are really strong leaders both in the club and in the courtroom,” Liu said.

“We have the talent, it all just depends on how much work we put in and how well we discipline ourselves,” Chang said.