The Palo Alto High School Debate Team will send nine competitors to the Alta Silver & Black Invitational held in Sandy, Utah from Dec. 2-4. As a quarterfinal Tournament of Champions qualifier in Lincoln Douglas debate and a semifinal qualifier in policy, the conference is a technical tournament that attracts competition across the country, according to Paly’s Director of Forensics Jennie Savage.
TOC is the most prestigious national tournament for technical debate, Savage said. To qualify, debaters must have attained two bids from TOC qualifying tournaments, but there is no limit to how many bids a debater can accumulate. At Alta, the eight Lincoln Douglas participants who debate in the quarterfinal round will earn one bid each, and the four policy teams that compete in the semifinal round will similarly earn one bid each.
Other key championships are the National Forensic League Championships in June, which is a mix between technical and persuasive debate; and the California State Championships in April, which is mostly persuasive. Debaters compete for invites to these tournaments by succeeding and winning at district qualifying tournaments. Paly’s district is called the Coast Forensic League.
Paly 2010 graduates Avi Arfin, who is now a freshman at Yale University, and Nikhil Bhargava, a freshman at Stanford University, earned two and three bids respectively last year, according to Savage.
“One of my top debaters, Nikhil, earned three bids to the Tournament of Champions,” Savage said. “It’s more than any other debater has earned from Paly in at least six years.”
But Savage emphasizes that winning is not the main goal of this competitive team.
“We don’t focus on winning as much as we focus on doing our best and being good sports,” Savage said. “The more we focus on playing well with integrity and helping each other, the more we indirectly win.”
“I tell the kids that we are 49 percent about winning and 51 percent about everything else,” she added.
Debate teaches lessons and skills that apply beyond argumentation, Savage emphasized.
“Debate teaches you all kinds of stuff like how to win humbly, and how to lose gracefully,” Savage said. “It takes time away that you could be devoting to studying, so these kids learn how to manage their time well.”
“[Winning] is from sheer determination, and analytical skills are only half the game,” Savage adds. “It [The other part of the game] is also the ability to adapt to judges and speak persuasively.”
Savage has high hopes for the team’s success at Alta. Freshmen Parker Devine and Travis Chen, sophomores Ana Carano, Esha Datta and Raymond Li, junior Alex Carter and senior Lucas Chan will represent Paly in Lincoln Douglas debate, and juniors Gregory Dunn and Alex Lenail will compete in the policy division, according to Savage.
“I can see us coming back with a bid or two,” Savage said. “It is really unpredictable. It all depends on judges and competition.”
The Alta tournament is one of the biggest tournaments of the year, according to Savage.
“It not only has local high schools represented, but a lot of different states,” Savage said. “Harvard-Westlake [High School in Los Angeles, Calif.], probably one of the best debate schools in the country, will be there.”
Despite the size and breadth of competition, the tournament makes an effort to keep it intimate and personal, Savage added.
“The conference tries really hard to make it intimate,” Savage said. “It is held in a high school instead of a college, and it makes it a lot less cutthroat and much more friendly.”
Sophomore Ana Carano, who is a Lincoln Douglas debater competing at Alta, added, “It’s supposed to be a really fun tournament.”
Savage said all the kids who do participate have one thing in common: intellectual curiosity.
“Debate is definitely the best platform for them,” Savage said.
Sophomore Esha Datta echoed Savage’s statements about the value of debate.
“It is a really fun activity,” Datta said. “It is intellectually stimulating, but not passive like a lecture is. When you start going to travel tournaments and debate camps, you get introduced to this entire national community. It is a great way to make friends inside and outside your school and it is a great way to make connections.”