After a long and distinguished career, Columbia Falls High School speech and debate coach Tara Norick has announced her retirement.

As both an assistant and head coach, Norick coached the team to an unprecedented 15 straight state A titles.

She began her career as a volunteer for two years and as a paid assistant in 2005 under then coach Michael Christensen. She became the head coach in 2010.

She credits her assistants and the great students she’s had over the years for her success.

“I took over a strong and capable program,” she said. “I didn’t have to start from scratch.”

She said leaving is bittersweet.

“It’s very hard to leave. I love the kids and the program,” she said.

She had a knack for recruiting and retaining students in the program, and just like athletic programs, that often starts in junior high.

“We built it as a place of belonging, a family. With that comes a high work requirement,” she said.

One of the keys to winning state isn’t so much having several state champions, but having a solid team that can get competitors into the semifinals in every category.

This year’s squad, for example, had just one state champion, but had a host of seconds, thirds, fourths and such.

That requires a significant commitment from students. They typically practice at least 10 hours a week and they’re on the road every weekend from October to January.

The team only has one home meet.

It might sound counterintuitive, but students also learn how to lose.

“Every kid did a lot of losing,” she said.

From losing, you get better and learn from your mistakes. Speech is an objective sport. A student is at the mercy of the judges, she noted.

But over time, they learn that they can only control their own work habits and their own performance. At the very worst, they become comfortable speaking in front of people, which is the whole point.

“It’s about preparing students for what they’ll see in real (adult) life,” she said.

And why not learn that in high school, where it really doesn’t matter if you make a mistake.

She recalled her own son, Colin, who was a standout member of the team when he was in high school. In college, he won a significant scholarship from the Elks, and gave a speech in front of 8,000 people.

He could have never done that without competing in speech in high school.

Norick said she plans on spending more time with her family now that’s she’s not coaching. Two of her sons work for Microsoft in Seattle and Colin is a junior at Stanford University.

But she says she’ll also continue to support the program from behind the scenes. A new coach hasn’t been hired yet.