Paly debaters are preparing for an upcoming tournament in Stanford on Feb. 6-9.

The Paly debate team consists of two groups, policy and Lincoln-Douglas. Members of the Lincoln-Douglas team debate as individuals, and debate a different topic for every tournament, while policy teams debate in groups of two, and debate the same issue for the entire year.

The Lincoln-Douglas team will be debating whether or not the United States should submit to the jurisdiction of an international court designed to prosecute crimes against humanity, according to junior team member Nikhil Bhargava. “The policy team will debate whether the United States should substantially increase alternative energy incentives in the United States.”

According to freshman Uma Veerappan, who is on the Lincoln-Douglas team, this Stanford tournament is a valuable opportunity for debaters.

“It attracts debaters from all over the nation and has an excellent judging pool,” Veerappan said. “The tournament is also a great place to network with other schools and meet inspiring debaters and coaches.”

Sophomore team member Chloe Chen is looking forward to attending Stanford because she enjoys debating in tournaments.

“I am excited about Stanford,” Chen said. “The complexity and structure of debate forces teams to develop arguments horizontally and vertically, which isn’t always easy to do under extreme time pressure, but when you are able to pull through with an amazing argument and to give a crushing rebuttal, there is no accomplishment more satisfying for me.”

Many debaters, including Bhargava and Veerappan, have high hopes for Paly’s chances at this tournament.

“Even though the field will be extremely competitive, I expect the Paly debaters to destroy the competition,” Bhargava said.

According to Bhargava, some debaters who may do well are freshman debater Alex Carter who recently shocked the debate world when he nearly made it to elimination rounds at the Alta Silver & Black Invitational in Sandy, Utah in the varsity division; junior captain Jujhaar Singh; and junior Avi Arfin.

“The entire team is excited about Stanford,” Bhargava said. “We’ve been working hard and feel like we have the home-court advantage. We’re gonna take advantage of these opportunities and kick some nerdy debater butt.”