New this year, nine underclassmen have been selected to represent the USA Debate Development Team. This group of students will train and practice with USA Debate coaches and alumni to learn more about World Schools Debate.
Shreya Agarwala Junior
Shreyoshi Das Junior
Piper Doyle Junior
Emily Grantham Sophomore
Jordan Hershman Freshman
Matthew May Junior
Leila Saklou Sophomore
Nicholas Wuthrich Junior
Connor Yu Junior
train in the Headmaster’s Boardroom and to ultimately compete in the tournament. Upon arrival, the nine of us went from strangers to teammates instantly, not hesitating to begin case writing and discuss strategy the first night. Team manager and coach Cindi Timmons also believes that the growth of World Schools in the United States allows for students to have more exposure to the format prior to applying for the team. As we continue to excel at prepared motions, Timmons says that USA Debate will focus primarily on impromptu motion preparation this year. She said broader goals for the year include growing the development team, integrating new coaching staff into the program, and continuing to expand the format in the United States. “Each group has its own personality and dynamic,” Timmons explained. “This year, with six strong women on the team, will likely be very different from last year’s group dominated by young men. I am simultaneously missing last year’s graduates but am excited about working with the new team members.” New member Sarah Lanier, a senior at Northland Christian School in Houston, Texas, and an International Extemporaneous speaker, is eager to begin working with her teammates. She said her experience with Extemp helped her adjust to the 60-minute impromptu preparation sessions in World Schools Debate, although she initially struggled with writing cases as a team. “Going into training, I was expecting to learn as much as I possibly could,” Lanier notes. “I really wanted to learn not only about the
structure and format, but also how to cohesively work with a group I’ve never worked with before. “ Lanier says she most looks forward to learning about new cultures across the globe while working with a team in a competitive environment. New team member and senior Aditya Dhar from Harker School in San Jose, CA also looks forward to competing with debaters from diverse technical backgrounds and styles. He believes his experience with Congressional Debate and Public Forum, while substantially different from World Schools, will help him immensely with argumentation. “The evidentiary standards are very different because World Schools focuses a lot on logical arguments first,” Dhar explains. “I think it’s a really interesting way to do debate. I think the impromptu motions are probably my favorite part because it’s prepping a topic in an hour without any outside sources and with a great group of people.” Like Lanier, he looks forward to new international experiences and competition. “One of the things that attracted me to Team USA in the first place was the knowledge that the people I would be competing with were just phenomenal debaters and people,” Dhar says. “Everyone on the team is absolutely brilliant with super unique styles and ideas, and it’s simply an honor to represent the United States on the international stage.”
Follow the team on social media and at www.speechanddebate.org/usa-debate. 68
Rostrum | FALL 2016