On Wednesday March 20th Bear River’s FFA Chapter sent both their advanced and novice parliamentary procedure teams to their regional competition at Chico High School.
The advanced team brought home second place and will be headed to the state-wide competition.
Some of the team members didn’t expect to actually make it.
“We went into this competition kind of expecting the worst, than we realized there was only 6 teams there, so we were thinking maybe 4th,” said Sophomore Connor McGehee. “Than when they called us for 2nd we just started laughing”
Others like Junior Becca Reese had more realistic dreams.
“I was expecting to make maybe fourth but second was super crazy to get,” said Reese.
Their adviser, Teacher Steve Paasch, on the other hand had faith that the team would move on.
“Yes (i thought they would move on), but we needed two clean runs,” said Mr. Paasch. “In Parli Pro, as in many aspects of life as well as sports, there are always opportunities for making errors. Creating the mental focus to avoid errors is half the game.”
The team is very excited to be attending state finals
“Going to states, I’m excited to learn more about Parli and to get in lots of practices and bond more with my team and just have fun,” said McGehee.
Others like Sophomore Alyssa Downes agreed with him.
“I’m excited to move on because it shows how hard we worked, especially knowing we are mostly only sophomores,” said Downes.
There’s a lot of hard work lying ahead of the team on the road to state finals.
“In order for us to do well, we have to work very hard in the upcoming weeks,” said McGehee. “Last year, when the novice and advanced teams went to states, we would practice several times a week in and outside of class, and the week of state competition, when we went to Fresno, we spent several days working and studying and trying to get better. We had days where we would be in the hotel room a day or two before competing and be studying for 16 hours with few breaks. This year we have to work very hard again, and we have a lot to study if we want to be successful.”
Reese agreed that the team needs to do a lot of studying.
“Well we all need to get in gear and really get to studying,” said Reese.
Team members hope to live up to the legacy left by last year’s advanced team who took first in the state and went to nationals post graduation.
“Last years team left a really big legacy, winning the state,” said McGehee. “They had lots of practices with several coaches outside of school, and had practiced with them for months. The way I look at it, I’m happy we are competing, and if we get into semi finals, or finals, or place in the top, that’s just icing on the cake.”
Downes agreed that the legacy left is one to live up to.
“I feel like the legacy of previous team is just setting a goal for us,” she said.
Even if the team does not move on to national competition this year they look forward to growing next year.
“We are a super new team and definitely don’t have as much experience as last years team but I think next season we will be a force to be reckoned with just like they were (last years Advanced Parli Pro team),” said Reese. “I think next year we will totally be able to pull through to nationals.”
The novice team, which is made up of entirely freshmen, unfortunately did not place and will not being moving on to state competition.
“It is very sad to have the novice team miss state finals,” said Mr. Paasch. “We’ll be putting a few up to advanced, so they will learn all the advanced motions early, practice with the advanced, and be ahead on their Parli Pro knowledge.”
McGehee was also disappointed to see that the novice did not make it on to state but hoped that they used this as a learning experience.
“The novice team for our Parli Pro worked very hard this year,” said McGehee. “Some of us advanced players worked with them and helped them learn how to effectively play the game, and they learned a lot. The only reason they didn’t make it out is because they went 35 seconds over time. Even though they didn’t make it through, we are still proud of them. They have grown so much this year, and we hope to see them all playing again next year.”
