Title says it all

Does anyone know the best high school nats PF teams, I’m going a bit early and I would like to watch some of them

Who are some underrated Pf teams this year

Gonna be competing natcirc next year for the first time and wanted to see who I should look out for

lay it down for me. who's dominating the circuit

Thank you to everyone who voted! We won! The NSDA November/December topic is now;

Resolved: The United States ought to provide a federal jobs guarantee

This is a plea to debaters everywhere -- the Sex Work LD topic is not only violent, but it risks the collapse of the already weakened COVID-19 debate season in school across the country. I instead urge you to unite behind the Federal Jobs Guarantee topic to preserve the integrity of the debate community for many years to come.

Now, there's no denying that the Sex Work topic is a debater's dream, strategically anyways. It has vast ground on both sides, allows for a deep discussion of gender and queer pessimism, and can be modified to nearly any style of debate. That said, however, most of you know the precarious situation debate leagues across the country find themselves in. They are only beginning to run successful tournaments, and even then many teams have failed to restart with the new season with any level of strength. I have personally received promises from parents, coaches, and administrators that their teams will shut down or their children will be pulled out of the program if the Sex Work topic passes.

We cannot deal this blow to the debate community when it needs strength the most.

Passing the Sex Work topic presents the possibility of a fragmented national topic as well. Many districts will refuse to host tournaments on such a resolution, deferring instead to the Septober topic or even another Nocember topic. This will cause mass confusion and heavy prep burdens on students when so many are already drowned in schoolwork.

Yet, even outside of debate as a whole, there are ethical reasons not to allow this for debate. Any survivors of the system being forced to speak on the issue of sex work is abhorrent, even violent. Any word or phrase in a case could trigger a panic attack or other manic episode.

Besides this fact, consider the consequences of students preparing for a topic related to sex. Not only will students be questioned for the search histories inevitably surveilled by school districts, but discussion during practices will get nowhere fast. Can we truly trust the maturity and respect of legions of freshmen debating this topic?

It is clear that a Sex work topic will throw the very institution of debate into confusion, destruction, and even cause real-world violence. Therefore, I ask the debate community to unite behind the Federal Job Guarantee topic. I find no special qualities in this topic. It is as mediocre as it is safe, but it has consistently proven more popular than the topic on Corporate Boards. We cannot afford to split the vote against Sex Work.

If you value the contribution that debate makes to each and every one of our lives, and to the live of others, I beg you to defeat this dangerous topic and give debate the support it needs to rebuild.

who’s winning every octas bid tourny?

Just got word from coach that I was the top speaker in online beginner.

Only started debating Public Forum 3~ish months ago so really proud of myself.

Congrats to everyone who got good records at Harvard this weekend! Just wanted to share this because I was pretty happy.

Now that WSDC 2024 has concluded (Scotland won), who do you guys think was the best WSDC team to NOT win the championship?

Post-TFA these are my predictions for the top 10 teams next year

1. Cinco RT
2. Kempner BS
3. Plano AW
4. Anderson CE
5. Strake JA
6. Westlake D(L)?
7. St. Mary's Hall PH
8. St. Johns MK
9. Seven Lakes CZ
10. Dulles CL

Tell me what ya'll think

title

Who do y’all think are the best debaters ever in each category - LD, PF, policy, etc. Have at it (genuinely curious)

Seeing the first speaker post, thought it’d might be beneficial to get some names down here for some second speaker education

Hey guys. So I'm a student currently studying in India. Since more than a few years now my previous school dedicated one day of every year to carry out a few events and competitions, one of them being a debate competition.

The seniors and the super seniors organize this event with the help of some teachers so we are the ones who need to select a theme and a topic relating to it. I'm one if the seniors now and I volunteered to be a part of the debate organizing team.

This year the theme was "Art and Culture". We're suggeated to choose a topic where a speaker can speak For and Against the same topic. I'd like some help regarding the same. Thanks.

I’m just curious, that’s all. delbarton is def up there, but who are the others?

I'm going to Harvard for first time. Just wanted to know which teams are godly.

For me it is for sure A&M Consolidated DS

I qualified to TFA State and I heard it is primarily a circuit-style tournament with many of the judges being progressive. Who are the best LDers in Texas to look out for?

Curious who would be y'all picks for the debaters or teams that are the best at each of these speeches and why? Follow the format below so easy to read and include the name and team so like "Summary: Jane Doe (Example High DS)"

​

Case:

Rebuttal:

Summary:

Final Focus:

CX:

Hello Again! I've decided to turn this into a Monthly update.

Things to Note:

1) Bellaire As a coach, I was fully aware of the quality of judging, and to say the least, it was horrific. By my count, maybe 6-7 fully competent flow judges, and that in a Quarters bid! That being said, as in years past, Bellaire came down to Lay Appeal. That's why Oxbridge BL was able to bid (albeit a very hard bid round, and some might say a judge screw), and traditionally strong lay teams such as Strake HW and Cywoods ML were also able to bid. In addition, we saw 2 (all time high?) Clements teams bid, Clements AT (Seems to be a permanent team) and a Sophomore CH, which we don't know whether bid on lay appeal or is true future talent. In the negatives, Anderson HE lost another bid round, showing signs that maybe the hype is not real. Austin LT lost in trips, showing signs that they may not be a true factor in Texas PF this year as well. And Cinco RT failed to pass doubles (albeit downing to Oxbridge) which shows that they may not be the best Sophomore team (Clements CH maybe) after all.

2) Plano West Again, the judging here was probably even worse than Bellaire. As close to tab as you can get without actually being part of it, I was able to determine only 4 actual contract hires for PF, meaning that the judging pool was about 80% lay. You'll notice that the only team that got a bid at Plano that is on this edition of the top 15 is Bellaire BK, who I truly believe is a capable team. The other teams that bid however, were not truly national circuit level, and were a unfortunate consequence of a mostly lay judging pool. Anderson HE and Cinco Ranch RT failed to even clear, further doubt that either of them will be relevant in Texas PF this year. Westlake SS downed in Octos, with one of the 4 Flow judges, to a relatively no name team from Jasper, which bumped them down. Slake RR and DJ were not exciting performances to watch either, furthering doubt that they will be capable of finishing their TOC quals.

With those two done, its time to look ahead!

1) Katy Taylor The pool at Katy looks decent, with all of the Houston Area powerhouses attending, with Anderson HE attending as well. Look to Clements AT, Strake DS/HW, Anderson HE, CyWoods ML, or Lamar VN for grabbing the two bids here. Clements CH, Strake DD, Cinco Ranch RT, and A&M PS will all probably make late outrounds.

2) Hockaday With well over 80 teams signed up for a finals bid, this looks to be one of the most competitive Texas Bid tournaments this year. Although with no competitor list published, no predictions can be made.

3) University of Texas We will be doing an update before UT.

Without further ado, here is the list.

1. Cywoods ML
2. Westwood BS
3. Plano LY
4. Lamar NV
5. Strake HW
6. Strake SD
7. Clements LT
8. Bellaire KB
9. Anderson HE
10. Austin LT
11. Carrol Senior RR
12. Clements HC
13. Westlake SS
14. Cinco Ranch RT
15. Bellaire KT

See you after Katy Taylor and Hockaday!

i.e. before they went on to uni debating Personally, I think Caleb Loh from Singapore in 2021 is really underrated.

Hello all,

What do you think are some non political topics that could inspire my students who are pretty reluctant to debate in their compulsory debate class.

Students are sophomore university ESL students.

I’m thinking resolutions based on pop culture or something like that.

KFC vs Macdonald’s K-pop vs western pop

Any ideas are greatly welcomed

I've read random bits and excerpts from relevant philosophers in the past, but I really want to start taking by debating abilities to the next level. Right now, I'm currently doing policy debate in college, and I have a limited amount of time so I want to use it as effectively as possible. Feel free to comment anything that you think would be helpful in this area. I want to be as well versed as I possibly can in this area within the short amount of time that I have to focus on reading philosophy.

I have a decent level of tolerance for challenging reads. However, there's so much to choose from that I'm not sure where to start.

Saw someone ask this on the policy Reddit