*** Tournament News ***
Alpharetta Wins Westminster!
Suraj Seghal Wins 1st Speaker
Alpharetta's Novice Raider Debaters had a terrific first tournament with the team of Naveena Karusala & Suraj Seghal winning all four rounds. Their perfect record along with their combined Speaker Points elevated them to the top of the pack winning First Place. Suraj also won the top individual award of the tournament as First Speaker... and there were 189 total debaters from 95 teams competing today! Suraj has the honor of being Alpharetta's first Raider Debater to be awarded 1st Speaker at a tournament. Congratulation to all of our Novice debaters competing at Westminster. Now off to Chattahoochee for our Novice team in three weeks.
Next week, we will be sending 10 teams (5 Varsity and 5 JV) to Wake Forest University, the first national tournament of the season and the first TOC bid tournament. JV'ers will be defending the 1st place trophy we won last year while the Varsity team will be trying to garner an elusive TOC bid. Bids will go to any team reaching the quarterfinal round.
Westminster Scoreboard
Westminster is a learning tournament so the records are not overly important. What IS important is that the debaters learn from each round... what they did right and what they were told by the judge as to what they need to improve. Learning and improving is the key at this tournament. Many 0-4 teams from past years have gone on to excel. Last year an 0-4 team at Westminister broke to the elimination rounds and received an award at the Novice State Championships and did well at the Novice National Championships. One of our 4th year Varsity debaters and the only member on our team with a Tournament of Champions (TOC) bid also went 0-4 at Westminster.
So Why Report Scores?
This was a sanctioned tournament. Parents had to pay to allow their children to compete. There were awards given. There were professional judges. NFL points are awarded for wins and losses. Numerous team coaches tweeted about successes. And most importantly, the teams are told themselves whether they won or lost a round and not simply provided advice (as they typically are in practice rounds). History has shown how little our debaters enjoy communicating with their parents during tournaments, this is the only way to let them know how their children are doing. However, given how little experience, if any, debaters at this tournament have, one should place absolutely 0% concern for losses. They mean very little and say nothing about how good your son or daughter will be as a debater. To be a good debater requires a willingness to learn from adversity, compete as often as possible, and be a team player.
Award information is always posted on the Records section of the website.
Naveena & Suraj receive their 1st Place Award
Suraj also received his 1st Place Speaker Award
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Old Laptops Needed - Free Repairs!
Parents and Raider Debaters are now aware that JV and Varsity teams will be required to bring with them three laptops to their tournaments in lieu of the multiple tubs and carts we brought in past years. While most if not all debaters already have laptops of their own, it is the extra laptop that is most needed. This laptop is the "viewing laptop" and is required for each two person team. It enables our team to provide a vehicle by which their opponents can follow along with the evidence our team is presenting. While we have a few being donated, we need many more. If you have an unused old laptop "full size", broken, chipped, dropped, nearly destroyed laptop, we may be able to salvage it for our needs.
If you have old surge protectors, monitors, wireless adapters and more in stored away, donate those as well. Call Nathaniel Lack on his cell at 770-527-3533 if you need these items picked up or email at CHC@HealthyComputer.com.
Raider Debaters in the AJC
The Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC) reported on Emory's debate camp on July 22, 2010, and managed to quote to two of our Varsity team debaters Chelsea Ashworth and Reuben Lack. You can read the article here:
http://www.ajc.com/news/dekalb/debaters-hone-their-verbal-576458.html
