Debate forges on after record season
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FAIRMONT - After a record season last year that saw a duo make it to the top eight varsity at state finals and another make the top 16 novices-- the first time two Fairmont teams advanced to the elimination rounds-- Fairmont debate is hitting its stride this year.
The team recently finished up their first three meets of the season, which consisted of their first topic, which was whether or not the United States should make it a goal of our tax policy to eliminate multi-billionaires. This last Saturday, they had their first meet on the second topic, whether or not the United States should recognize Somaliland as an independent country.
This second topic will be the one argued at state debate, where Fairmont had record-breaking success last year. With these two topics, debate head coach Erik Walker said it challenged the 14 debate students on their ability to quickly become experts in these subjects.
"It’s almost like a competitive reading activity," he said. "You have to take a topic, learn about it, make use of that information strategically, and then go and do that better than the kid from Eastview or Mounds Park Academy. There’s no limit. There’s no end. You can always learn more, sharpen an argument, do better. It’s competitive reading and speaking with no ceiling."
So far, Walker said they have had a handful of successful moments. With this new topic, however, it plays into the team's strengths.
"Whenever there’s a topic that has a clear mechanism, like a clear action and a smaller literature base, we tend to do well," he said. "Whenever it has an unclear action of, we should make this a goal or not a goal, we tend to struggle because the literature base is wider, and then we get out-researched."
Leon Yang, who was part of that top eight varsity duo with Bel Lutterman and also won a national title in speech for humorous interpretation, is one of the three seniors and team captains this year alongside fellow seniors Allie Streit and Norah Heille.
While practice is structured during the designated time, outside of the practice room, each individual has different ways of preparing for a debate competition.
"I take 45-minute showers, and part of the reason is I get sidetracked going down cross-examination rabbit holes," Yang said. "How would I respond to this question, and then how would they respond to my answer, and how would I respond to their response? Something that I do mentally, sometimes unconsciously, is just like go down these questions and how to answer them."
"I’ll sort of force my mom or my non-debate friends to talk with me about the topic and let me ramble," Heille said. "They’ll end up asking me questions, and it’s like I would have never thought about that question."
As captains, Yang said the role of captain and succeeding at tournaments are inseparable in his mind.
"You shouldn’t focus on one over the other," he said. "Being on the team itself, you have the duty to look after and help where you can with other teammates and stuff, along with being strong at tournaments."
Regarding this class of seniors, Walker said it has been really nice to see them go from novices to leaders as the program itself has continued to mature since it began in the 2017-18 school year.
"[They can be] like, 'I can explain that,' 'I need our focus to now be on cross-examination techniques,' and they are able to go in the other room and help the younger kids do that," he said. "To see the younger kids also interested in improving, and even older kids join the team as sophomores or juniors. I love that debate has something to offer everybody."
This final stretch is an odd one for debate. Due to the school musical, they are unable to attend the meet this weekend, so they will have to do a scrimmage amongst each other instead. Two weeks later, they will have an online meet, which Walker said can actually play to their advantage since they often have the longest to travel to meets.
On the weekend of January 15-16, Fairmont Debate will wrap up their MSHSL season at the state tournament, the location of which has yet to be determined.
Looking forward, Walker said he is most interested in diving into their current U.S.-Somaliland topic.
"Approaching the topic from a level of deep understanding and having a nuanced approach going into the state tournament, so you can be one layer deeper than your opponents’ arguments, which gives you some flexibility," he said. "I’m really looking forward to building that with the kids. I think we’re off to a good start here, and we have a couple places to go that will be fun."