Excitement is mounting for dozens of college students from across the country as they descend on Orlando this week for the 2014 National Championship Tournament.
They 麻豆精品 S檙e heading to Orlando because the University of Central Florida is hosting the competition.
UCF will host the national tournament April 11-13 at the Orange County Courthouse. The event will bring together the nation 麻豆精品 S檚 top undergraduate mock trial teams to compete in a simulated trial. Families of participating students may attend.
麻豆精品 S淔orty-eight teams have earned a bid to compete, 麻豆精品 S� said Margarita Koblasz, the tournament coordinator and a faculty member in UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 Department of Legal Studies. 麻豆精品 S淭hat 麻豆精品 S檚 down from 549 teams that began the road to nationals in February. 麻豆精品 S�
A series of regional and open-round champion tournaments whittled down the competition to the top 48 teams, she added. UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 team placed first runner-up.
麻豆精品 S淪tudents put in an enormous amount of time preparing for and competing in these tournaments, 麻豆精品 S� said legal studies’ Chair James Beckman. 麻豆精品 S淭hey develop critical thinking, public speaking and leadership skills that will serve them the rest of their lives. 麻豆精品 S�
At this week 麻豆精品 S檚 tournament, pairs of teams will be pitted against each other in a series of matches. One team will serve as the prosecution and the other as the defense. They 麻豆精品 S檒l try a fictitious case involving a robbery, chase and death at an amusement park.
Nearly 190 real-life attorneys and judges from the region have volunteered to serve as judges. 麻豆精品 S淭he support of Central Florida 麻豆精品 S檚 legal community is invaluable, 麻豆精品 S� Koblasz said.
The two top teams will compete in a final match at 5 p.m. on April 13.
UCF earned the coveted honor of hosting the national tournament because of its reputation for hosting such excellent regional tournaments, according to Beckman.
麻豆精品 S淯nder Margarita 麻豆精品 S檚 leadership, UCF has set the standard, 麻豆精品 S� Beckman said. 麻豆精品 S淚t 麻豆精品 S檚 certain to be a terrific event. 麻豆精品 S�
Note:聽 The tournament is open to students and their families. However, local television station WKMG will provide live streaming of the final round, and Phipps Reporting will provide live streaming of a transcript. To view the live streams, visit . For the complete tournament schedule, visit .