March 2nd Debate Tournament: An XIII Recaps Event Results

by Ara T., C&C XIII

As we approach the end of the debate season, C&C debaters have been working hard to fulfill their hopes. C&C traveled to Ethical Culture Fieldston School on Saturday, March 2nd, for a day full of interesting debates from strong speakers. Debaters argued topics including “Only Violent Criminals Should Be Imprisoned,” “This House Regrets the Rise of Fast Fashion,” and the Varsity-Only “United States Supreme Court Justices Should Have Term Limits.”

Two C&C teams went undefeated, winning first and third, four speakers placed in the top speakers of the Varsity division. C&C won the third-place winning percentage as a school. C&C arrived bright and early, with plenty of room to settle. As the day began, the tournament was faced with an issue: multiple schools brought more teams than judges. The rule is that for every two teams you bring, you must bring a judge, too. Many schools were faced with the possibility of having teams sit out due to their lack of judges. Luckily, thanks to our lovely parent volunteers, C&C had a perfect team-to-judge ratio. Thank you to all our C&C judges for supporting us at the tournament and making the tournament possible.

On every Friday before the tournaments, judges go through judge training to make sure that they know the rules of MSPDP debate and that they judge fairly. “I thought that we had a really successful tournament because two of our teams at C&C went 4-0,” said C&C debater Paolo V, XIIIs. “I feel that whenever we go to a tournament, we are successful because we are very supportive of each other.”

As Paolo mentioned, although tournaments are a competitive place with each team and individual having a desire to win, they are also a great place to connect over the common love of debate, and build each other up. “The tournament was so much fun. It was great to connect with debaters from other schools,” added another debater, Vienna V., XIIIs.

Though the C&C team is small, we are stronger than ever. The March 2nd tournament was the last regular tournament of the year. The next tournament will be Championships on April 29th featuring 5 debates and a final round.

This piece originally ran in the sixth issue of The Room-to-Room Report, the XIIIs’ monthly newspaper. Last names were removed for external publishing. 
Learn more about the XIIIs newspaper, a part of C&C’s Jobs Program, here.