A Heavy Debate

On Saturday morning Dec. 5, while everyone else was having their first cup of coffee at 9:00 a.m., The York School Senior Debating Team was already deep into their ONTARIO STUDENT DEBATING UNION (OSDU) tournament.

This invitational tournament served as good practice for OSDU regionals, for which we have three teams competing this coming weekend. Last year, our famous debate alum, Mia and Ben, qualified for provincials and then nationals through this series of tournaments. As well, last Sunday, we had 16 debaters participate in the UCC Pro-Am, which all allowed our 8 amateur debaters to learn from their 8 pro partners. 

Tournament Format: Each tournament ran with 2 prepared rounds in the morning, on each side of the motion. Two impromptu, bracketed rounds started at 1:00 p.m. and then the top two teams debated in a final round. 

The prepared topics were accessible with limited research required, but nonetheless weighty. Getting into the Finals the resolution was “This House Supports The Right To Repair” (a great topic for The York School which has often hosted Maker Space collaborations organized by design teacher @tcoops). 

Fast forward to the afternoon, and Debate Coach Rob Burkett shared the news we were all waiting for; A win for the debating powerhouse team Stu B. and Dylan B.  Stu and Dylan recently placed 7th at the National British Parliamentary debate competition, earning them a spot to compete with the best debaters in the world at Oxford or Cambridge. Mr. Burkett is disappointed that he won’t be able to take them in person, as he did last year with Mia and Ben who managed to make it to the semi-final round falling to some of the very best in the world. 

Finally, in the world of public speaking, Shoshana I., Ruby G. and Emi D. recently competed in the Senior Provincial Public Speaking Championships. All three placed in the top 8 earning them a spot to Nationals, but due to a cap of two teams per school, Shoshana will be unable to compete. We know she will be there next year!

Congratulations to the whole team for holding The York School debate mantle high! 

Next stop…...

*The tournament used CNDF Format, with senior times modified to 7-7-7-7-3-3 and junior format was 6-6-6-6-3-3.