Jul 03, 2023 At 11:14 AM EDT
The National Speech and Debate Association is not affiliated with the National Association for Urban Debate Leagues.
After weeks of preparation and a whole week of competition, thousands of high school debate teams across the country can finally take a breath as the 2023 National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) National Championship Tournament has finally come to an end.
The tournament rounds out the 2022-2023 speech and debate competition season, bringing together over 6,000 students from around the globe.
This year, Westchester Academy for International Studies (WAIS), a public charter school in the Spring Branch Independent School District in greater Houston, fell short of its goal of making it further in the competition than last year.
But the team, comprised of mostly returning debaters, is determined to return next year, armed with the crucial lessons and tricks they learned this year in Phoenix, which hosted the competition.
WAIS is part of the Houston Urban Debate League (HUDL), which includes schools from the Houston Independent School District and others through a partnership with the Harris County Department of Education. Through the county's Center for Afterschool, Summer and Enrichment (CASE), an after-school debate program began in schools, known as CASE Debate.
WAIS qualified for nationals as one of the top two schools in the Houston city championship. The city champ team from Alief Early College finished in the top 16 in World School at nationals.
The WAIS team was comprised of rising juniors Irath Habani and Sofia Barrera, rising senior Jonathan Barnes and recent graduates Nolan Zeng and Helen Gordon, who both competed at nationals last year.
The team made it to the second stage of the elimination rounds, falling in the triple octo round to a team from Southern California.
"We always seem to, excuse my pun, get tripped up in trips—triple octos," coach Alma Villarreal said, adding that it's a difficult round to get past because of the "thornier" motions that are chosen for the debate. It's also the first round with judge panels.
This means there is a larger number of judges required, some of whom may be "lay" judges, like a parent or friends who don't have much debate experience, evaluating very specialized topics.
Gordon was named one of the top speakers of the World School competition. She ended her high school debate career as the fifth top World speaker at the competition.
Last year, she was in the top 20 speakers and was determined to place in the top 10 her second time around, earning her a trophy and more recognition.
The rising freshman at University of Texas, Austin said it was "really exciting" to get the notification that she made the top 14 at the end of the tournament and that she could celebrate that accomplishment with her teammates.
"I got to go onstage with all the other people in the top 14, and then they just like start calling from 14 up," she said. "They just kept calling people and it wasn't me yet, and then we got to five and then it was me, and I was so happy. It was just great to see my goal from last year come to fruition."
HUDL board member Jim Summers said the league is "incredibly proud" of the teams that represented Houston at the NSDA National Tournament.
"These incredible results are a testament to the hard work of the students, teachers, coaches, parents, volunteers and donors that support the efforts of Urban Debate in Houston," he told Newsweek. "They demonstrate that given the proper support, resources and encouragement, our students, regardless of socioeconomic background, can compete and excel at the highest levels."
The WAIS debate team formed five years ago and has only qualified for nationals three times.
It started as an after-school program with three debaters, including Villarreal's son. But each year, the team kept growing and setting larger competition goals.
The COVID pandemic was actually helpful for the team, as debate became one of the only extracurriculars that students could continue remotely.
"You couldn't do sports, you couldn't do theater arts, but you could get on your computer and you could form a team, and you could do debate," Villarreal said.
The influx of newcomers who joined during that time solidified the future of the "scrappy little team" and carried it to a state and national qualification in a highly competitive district.
Villarreal said the team still struggles with funding for tournaments. She said it takes "vast amounts" of money, upward of $13,000, to send students to nationals.
Luckily, she said the team has received sponsors from HUDL, which covered half the costs.
"If it weren't for them, small teams such as ourselves that don't have booster clubs like some other schools would definitely be in trouble," Villarreal said. "It takes money, it takes grit, it takes desire, but it also takes training [to compete]."
But WAIS does not let any obstacle hold them back when going up against wealthier private schools with more resources and time. As Habani said, "What really matters is how determined you are and how much commitment you put into the tournament rather than just, you know, having a class [dedicated to debate]."
The students have competed at the local and state level, but many had never qualified for the state or national championships until this year.
For rising junior Barrera, this was her first year at nationals.
"I thought it was pretty crazy [qualifying for nationals] because last year I didn't even qualify for state," she said. "This year, I went to state and nationals, so I thought that it really showed my improvement in my debate skills."
She added that she was looking forward to meeting other debaters from across the country and learning about their style of debate to possibly incorporate in her own arguments next year.
Each debater said they learned a lot from their participation in the tournament, where there are students with a range of skills and experience levels.
While the ultimate goal is winning, being able to grow as a debater is an important part of getting to nationals. Habani said his main takeaway from nationals was that he has to "step [his] game up."
"I learned a bunch of different people's speaking styles," he said. "So obviously, like when I'm debating someone, I'm always thinking, how can I be as good as them or better than them."
But even all the way in Arizona, the WAIS team was able to find some relief and community among the other Texas teams competing.
Teams that were once fierce opponents weeks earlier were now friends with each other. In between rounds, the Texan teams would hang out, something that would not happen at a state tournament.
"It really brought us together when we were all in Arizona competing at this big tournament," Barnes said. "There was kind of like an alliance going on."
For those students returning to high school debate next year, their experience at nationals has pushed them to set new goals for themselves.
They have their sights set on a city championship and a better run as they plan to return to nationals.
Jimi Morales, the project coordinator for CASE Debates, said just by qualifying, the Houston teams have done a lot of good for the league.
"Across the league, we've had significant success, not only in just bringing students to the league, but also encouraging them to participate outside of that...at the state level and also at the NSDA level," he said. "The more the kids participate, and they participate at this high level, then it creates inspiration for that next generation. And whatever happens, you just got to know that you went in there and gave it your all and left everything on the table."
Correction 07/03/23, 9:44 a.m. ET: This article was updated to correct the total number of WAIS nationals appearances from two to three times.
