At this point Carver has already given you some details
about how we started the year with our debate team at the Kansas City
Parliamentary Debate Cooperative. We
even gave you a preview of the awesome food that we are fortunate enough to
indulge on while we travel. Thankfully,
this was only the beginning for this debate season, one that spans from the
beginning of July to the end of March.
Let me explain what the highlights of this year will be, based on my past
two years of experience from this team.
The year starts with the parliamentary debate coop, in which
we knock off the rust and outline for ourselves how we should improve as the
year commences. We have a little time to
ourselves, and then our mini-camp begins in August, one week before the fall
semester begins. Our mini-camp holds for
the debaters a strange mix of excitement and nervousness. We are always excited to get back to work and
enjoy the activity that we devote our lives to, but then we get nervous when Chuck
(our head coach) divvies out assignments for research.
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| The wonderful William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri |
Following a solid month of hard work and early preparation
for the year, we will travel to Liberty, Missouri for the William Jewell
College Season Opener. This is one of
the most important tournaments of the season, as it sets the framework for what
teams are the most competitive, as well as who we should and should not be
concerned with. Last year, the winner of
both halves of the Jewell tournament went on to win both the NPTE and NPDA
National tournaments, proving how the season opener is a good predictor of how competition will unfold throughout the season.
After more preparation and hard work, we will travel to St.
Louis, Missouri, Topeka, Kansas, and Portland, Oregon for more
tournaments. This will be the agenda for
the fall semester, and will inevitably be challenging, yet rewarding.
 |
| The University of Utah, host of the "Salty Mile High" |
Following winter break (and more topic research), we will
travel to the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah for the Mile High Classic, a traveling tournament
that is consistently tough for its competitors.
Like William Jewell’s tournament, this is a good predictor for how the
national tournaments play out. This
tournament utilizes topic areas; we know what we will be debating prior to the
tournament, rather than having to guess based on current events and
issues. The combination of deep topic
research, along with the teams that consistently enter the tournament makes it
one of the most grueling yearly events for the parliamentary community. Last year, our reigning national champions
made it to semifinals in the first half, and won the second half, proving once
again that if you can tame the Mile High beast, your chances of conquering at
our national tournaments are favorable.
Following Mile High, UT Tyler will host our own tournament
for the second time, followed by a trip to San Diego, California for the Pt.
Loma Round Robin, and then, we begin prep for nationals. Our nationals prep generally runs from the
end of February through Spring Break, and then the tournaments take up a
two-week period leading up to the end of March.
We first have the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence, a
topic research tournament where you must qualify based on your point
accumulation throughout the season from wins and losses. Second is the National Parliamentary Debate
Association’s National Tournament, an open tournament that generally holds over
150 teams. Both are very grueling events, and require massive hours of research and argument preparation. Both tournaments are hosted this year in
Flagstaff, Arizona by Northern Arizona University.
As you can see, this will be a very busy year for the UT Tyler Parliamentary Debate Team. As each
tournament comes and goes, Carver and I will be tweeting and blogging about our
competition and our progress. You will
also get pictures with more food, do not worry.
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