Novice debaters find success at first elimination tournament

The+junior+varsity+and+novice+debate+teams+end+their+competition+season+and+work+on+preparing+for+next+years+topic+on+water+resource+protections.+

Charlotte Henderson

The junior varsity and novice debate teams end their competition season and work on preparing for next year’s topic on water resource protections.

Téa Tamburo, Content Manager

Members of the novice debate team made a strong showing at their first elimination tournament, the JW Patterson Debates in Oklahoma City, which was conducted over Zoom Oct. 16-18. Eight of the 35 novice members competed.

Team Mahi Shah and Adam Cheema, ninth graders, finished second seed and advanced to the semifinals. Cyrus Esmailzadeh and Emmett Goolsbee, ninth graders, finished fifth seed and advanced to quarterfinals. Ninth graders Emmanuelle Bal and Celine Derroitte also advanced to the quarterfinals and finished seventh seed. Emmanuelle won fourth best speaker, and Mahi won sixth best speaker. Louis Auxenfans and Anika Gupta, sophomores, finished 11th seed. 

“My first tournament was nerve-wracking but an interesting learning experience. I didn’t know I did that well and felt that others did way better,” Emmanuelle said about winning fourth best speaker. “I was proud but mostly just confused.” 

According to Coach Sonny Patel, this was the first time novice debaters faced elimination after rounds. 

I think it was a really eye-opening experience. It was really stressful but also lively. You’re engrossed in the spirit of the debate, so it’s really, really fun just being given that intensity.

— Louis Auxenfans

“I think they were really excited. Some of them were really nervous,” Dr. Patel said about the demeanor of the team. 

Nervousness was amplified for Louis, since this was the first debate he ever participated in. 

 “I think it was a really eye-opening experience,” Louis said. “It was really stressful but also lively. You’re engrossed in the spirit of the debate, so it’s really, really fun just being given that intensity.”

Despite the team’s successes, Dr. Patel said the novice debaters faced some uncertainty and confusion. 

“I often tell our novice debaters to take these early wins with a grain of salt,” Dr. Patel said. “In these early elimination rounds, it’s not about the teams that are winning. It’s more about who’s losing less because nobody in the room really knows what’s going on.”

Louis said rankings were not at the forefront of his mind, but instead, he was focused on witnessing the team’s performance and learning more about policy debate. 

“I wasn’t really thinking about the ranking. It was nice to learn more about the process of debate, cause I never did this before,” Louis said. “It was a nice experience just to see what we could do as a team.”