Speech and Debate Districts Tournament

By Carol Li and Anusha Singh

On the weekend of February 18, Vestavia’s Speech & Debate Team competed in the Mockingbird District Tournament hosted by Vestavia Hills High School. This annual district tournament determines the team of competitors that Alabama will send to the National Speech & Debate Tournament. Our team has attended many regional tournaments throughout the year, but Districts is one of the few tournaments that qualifies competitors to Nationals.

Thus, many schools across Alabama, including LAMP High School, Auburn High School, Mountain Brook High School, Montgomery Academy, and many more, sent their best competitors to compete for a small number of spots. Only the top two in Policy Debate, Senate, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Big Questions Debate, and all Speech events; the top three in Public Forum Debate; and the top four in House can qualify for Nationals.

These high stakes meant that our Speech and Debate teams spent hours preparing for Districts. Speech students performed and practiced both new and old speeches, while debaters spent time engaging in practice debates, tuning in to lectures on debate strategies, and even staying after school to practice debate some more.

Despite the fierce competition at this year’s district tournament, the efforts and talents of the Vestavia Hills team meant that ten students from our team qualified for Nationals, and many other students also performed amazingly! Our Speech & Debate Team placed first in Speech Sweepstakes, Debate Sweepstakes, and Overall Sweepstakes. Some of the placements included:

House:

4th - Ellie Hoar (Nationals Qualifier)

Senate:

4th - Edward Pang

Big Questions Debate:

1st - ZhuZhu Wang (Nationals Qualifier)

3rd - Madhumita Ravikumar

4th - Hope Johnson

Lincoln-Douglas Debate:

6th - Emma Wolfe

Policy:

1st - Eddy Pang and Arav Singh (Nationals Qualifier)

3rd - Rishab Samant & Rachel Hu

Public Forum:

5th - Archana Rajasekaran & Reena Ramani

6th - Mina Hu & Aarya Aluri

Dramatic Interpretation:

1st - Rachel Hu (Nationals Qualifier)

4th - Fatima Malik

5th - Ellie Hoar

Duo Interpretation:

5th - Carlin Gregory & Ellie Hoar

Humorous Interpretation:

4th - Mckenzie Ormond

5th - Reva Lingala

Informative Speaking:

1st - Jessica Ma (Nationals Qualifier)

2nd - Carol Li (Nationals Qualifier)

3rd - Vincent Lin

International Extemporaneous:

6th - Luc Slate

Original Oratory:

1st - McKenzie Ormond (Nationals Qualifier)

6th - Vincent Lin

Program Oral Interpretation:

2nd - Fatima Malik (Nationals Qualifier)

US Extemporaneous:

4th - Aarya Aluri (Nationals Qualifier)

Sweepstakes:

Congress - 3rd

Speech - 1st

Debate - 1st

Overall - 1st!!!

Besides the students, immense effort was also put in by coaches, parents, and students who were willing to be volunteers for this event. Parents, former Vestavia students, and coaches alike pitched in to judge rounds that lasted until late Friday night and all day Saturday. Several students not competing in Districts volunteered to help run the tournament, guiding competitors to their rooms, ensuring each round ran smoothly, and making sure that both competitors and judges had a good time throughout the weekend. Thanks to these volunteers and judges, Vestavia Hills High School was able to host an organized and enjoyable tournament!

Lastly, there’s still one more major tournament that the Vestavia Hills Speech and Debate team will be attending. The Alabama State Tournament on March 3-4, hosted by the University of Alabama, is on its way, and students are continuing to prepare. Good luck to our team as they compete this weekend at State!