At an upcoming tournament at the end of the month, the Moorpark College Forensics Team hopes to start the year off with a bang.

 After rigorous preparation for the tournaments, they are finally ready to put their skills to the test at their competition. The competition will be a two day event taking place in Pasadena on October 27 and 28. It will be the first of many for the team as explained by Rolland Petrello, the director of the forensics team.

“Our season really gets underway at the Pasadena tournament,” he said.

 Moorpark College has had a reputation for being in the top five for the country during the forensic competition. Last year, forensics went home with the title of number one community college team in the nation. While they were third place in 2011, they were first place in both 2010 and 2012.

“I never start the year expecting to be top five in the nation,” said Petrello.

The team’s public speaking skills will be challenged as they perform and recite their speeches in front of a panel of experts. Petrello talked about how almost all of last year’s reining champ students have transferred and are no longer a part of the group.

“We lost most of the people,” he said. “Almost everyone is new.”

Champions of last year’s forensics left a legacy to be strived by the upcoming year to come. Their next competition will mark the continuation of that legacy by this year’s new forensics team.

The current team consists of about 30 members so far but they are still recruiting new participants in speech classes. If interested in joining the forensics team, students may contact Petrello directly for more information at his office in PA 124.