Debaters Shine in Victoria

6 December 2012Jim Ganley

Four teams of Brentwood debaters recently attended the Newman FISA debate tournament at Glenlyon Norfolk. Despite the power outage upon arrival (including the difficulties using the washroom in the pitch black) the tournament went on as planned and was highly enjoyable. Brentwood demonstrated an outstanding showing in all of their three debates and narrowly missed the finals with a third place victory for Ted S and Sarah M.

After preparing by cellphone light in the cafeteria, debates began with the prepared debate topic of whether bullying should be a crime. Two rounds were included in the morning so that each team was able to argue for both sides. Some interesting points were brought forward, some focusing on suicides such as the recent Amanda Todd tragedy, others more centered on the criminal system and the effectiveness of certain laws compared to others. Overall, the debates were distinct and exciting, and Brentwood teams fought very well.

Debaters enjoyed a pizza lunch before they were presented with their impromptu options. Much confusion understandably accompanied the topics which included: “The U.S. made a mistake”, “Whoever dies with the most toys wins” and the J.K. Rowling’s, “Let us step into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.” To draw for spots, a coin was flipped, and the winner decided who was to pick the topic, and whoever didn’t pick the topic would choose the side.

Unfortunately, many Brentwood teams were unlucky. Some teams from other schools understood “defining” a topic to mean, “changing the prompt completely to suit their side of the argument.” For instance, the topic, “Whoever dies with the most toys wins” was defined by an opposing team as “A nation’s success is defined by their capacity to innovate.” Despite this, many Brentwood teams won their rounds and came out with high individual scores.

In all, the tournament exhibited a high level of debate and was a great experience. The Newman FISA tournament is known for being highly competitive, drawing teams from all over Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland. Brentwood’s debaters displayed wonderful skill in all measures and looks forward to the approaching Golden Gnomes tournament in December.

Sarah M, Alex ‘14

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