College Forensics = Division 1 Sports? Sure.

As the 2010 National Forensic League National Tournament came to a close last week, the Kansas City Star ran an interesting piece about college forensics.  After all, it makes sense that recruiters from college and universities who have teams and value the co-curricular experience of forensics would be in attendance.  It should come as little surprise that the folks at SpeechGeek are fond of college forensics.  Having been a collegiate competitor and grad assistant, I can assure our audience that it is a worthwhile endeavor.  For many students, it can be a way to afford and receive an outstanding college education at some wonderful institutions of higher learning.

Kris Kracht isn’t a sports guy, but he’s made a habit of describing his life’s work in sports terms.

Kracht coaches the speech team at Gustavus Adolphus College, a private liberal arts school in Minnesota with a former football coach as president. And that president likes it when he can say Gustavus is No. 10 in the nation, just like a Division I football team.

Kracht explains speech recruiting in the terms of football recruiting, and he does it in similar ways as well — calling students he’s interested in, showing up at their tournaments and, most recently, attending the National Forensic League’s national tournament in Kansas City.

Kracht’s parallels between forensics and sports ring true.  At the nation’s most competitive collegiate programs, forensics can take up a large portion of a student’s time.  Many colleges value their forensics programs as hallmarks of student academic and competitive achievement.  While there are many high school coaches who would discourage continued participation in college forensics, I think it is certainly an avenue that more high school competitors should explore.  Membership in the American Forensic Association and National Forensic Association are growing.  You can check out the results from the 2010 NFA National Tournament, which highlights colleges and universities with successful programs.

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