Competition Clubs Mythbuster

Ridgewood High School offers various clubs for students to participate in separate from their mandatory school work. At the club fair, there were various types of clubs shown including volunteering, casual, sports, and more.  However, here are some reminders and facts you may have missed about some of the competition clubs at our school.  From the name of it, it might be scary to try, but here are some sources to bust some myths you might have about them and share some more insights to how they work.  

Starting off with the facts, the competition clubs offered at RHS consist of team-based or individual competitions that compete with other schools. Some of these clubs include DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America), HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America), NHD (National History Day), Quizbowl (scholastic/knowledge trivia), Mock Trial (simulated courtroom), Speech and Debate, and MUN (Model United Nations). Some of these clubs require prerequisites such as taking 3 semesters of an eligible business course for DECA, good communications skills, solid presentation skills, etc.  Requirements and preferences of skills vary based on the club, but most skills can be learned and practiced during the competition season.  And of course, all of them require some level of commitment and genuine interest to be successful.  

So, what distinguishes competition clubs from regular clubs?  The typical “regular clubs” are often non-profit organizations, something charitable, or more flexible hobby-related clubs.  Competition clubs, hence the name, tend to be more competitive because you will be going against students regionally, and sometimes nationally. These clubs often push farther than volunteer hours as competition clubs like “DECA [do] have fundraisers and charity each year…but the main purpose of DECA is preparing emerging leaders for the business world and careers,” according to Alexa Katsaros, an 11th grader at RHS and VP of Finance of DECA Ridgewood and VP of Media for New Jersey. This club specifically focuses on professionalism and business skills that can be beneficial in the future for both the business and real world. Other clubs similar to DECA similarly challenge students through competition to gain skills that could benefit them for the future.

Since the competition clubs are for the students who want to participate in a challenging playing-field, there are various impacts on students that have been noted by the club advisors and student members as well.  The first noticeable quality in students is their genuine interest in the subject, since focus and work are required to prepare for competitions.  If you enjoy the subject, the research will be intriguing and come more naturally. As a result, Ms. Moss-Keller, an RHS librarian, explains that “students have a real intrinsic motivation… they really have to want to do this club and succeed at it.”

Rather than “just going to a weekly meeting… not taking action proactively and just kind of following what other people do,” as expressed by Aarav Motivala, 12 grader at RHS and President of Mock trial and Captain of Speech and Debate, he says there is a noticeable difference in the competition club kids who “take the initiative to sign up for tournaments, push advisors to bring [them] to places.”  The students willing to compete at higher levels and put in extra effort outside of school are passionate about doing well in their respective subjects, and this is the driving force behind the success of such competition clubs.  

Competition clubs allow students “to step out of this and try something new, whether it’s uncomfortable to stand in front of a judge and do your skill, or to meet others who have the same passions. It’s a great opportunity, and it’s something that we cannot provide in this building,” Mrs. Gayed describes. Alexa claims that the skills learned and experiences lived through the process of competitions will help you as a student not only academically but socially by learning “different collaboration skills and friendships that people build.”

Finally, Ms. Moss-Keller clarifies that “heightened sense of competition might be stressful… but [the hope is that] students focus on the process of preparing to compete, working collaboratively with other students and getting to know people in the community.” The overall experience of competition clubs is based on what you make out of it, as well as learning to give it your all. Students gain lifelong memories and experiences through these clubs, and they encourage others to join this experience because “unless you explore those ideas, you’re never going to know what you want to and not want to do in life,” as Aarav asserts. So, the next time you come across a flyer or a club fair poster about a competition club, it never hurts to channel your inner competitiveness!