COMMUNITY
DEBATE
USA DEBATE: Tips and Teamwork in Thailand by Anh Cao
(left to right) Co-Head Coach Aaron Timmons, Emily Grantham, Elyse Dewbre, Luke Tillitski, Ishan Bhatt, Leila Saklou, Anh Cao, Assistant Coach Danny DeBois, and Co-Head Coach and Team Manager Cindi Timmons.
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his July, more than 60 countries sent delegations to Bangkok, Thailand, for the WSDC World Championship. The United States was represented by six members of the USA Debate Team, each of whom dedicated their summer to two weeks of high-pressure competition at the World Schools Debating Championship, in addition to intense training beforehand in Colorado. In Colorado, Team USA was given invaluable insights through countless impromptu rounds, hours of prepared motion work, and groupbased content discussions. Under instruction of USA Debate alumni Jasper Primack and Aditya Dhar, the team grew and flourished.
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Once the team arrived in Bangkok, they got straight to work, attempting to balance prep with 12-hour jet lag. After spar rounds against the national teams of Singapore, Pakistan, England, Slovenia, Mexico, the Netherlands, and the Czech Republic, Team USA was fired up. In the preliminary rounds, the team went 7-1 with 18 ballots. After defeating teams from Scotland, Indonesia, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Malaysia, Korea, and Mexico, the USA Debate Team was the second seed heading into the elimination rounds, our best performance to date. In elims the team defeated a skilled team from New Zealand before losing to Canada on a 3-2 decision in quarterfinals.
ROSTRUM | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019
Motions ranged from prepared topics on gentrification, payroll loans, breaking up Amazon, and NSA use of zero-day vulnerabilities to impromptu rounds on parliamentary systems, the practice of “importing brides,� whether or not elderly parents should live with their adult children, and minority representation in films. In quarterfinals, Team USA lost to Team Canada in a debate about the rise of China. This is the third year in a row that the USA team has made the top six. Three members won individual speaker awards: Luke Tillitski (senior) placed 11th after debating in every round; Anh Cao (junior) was the highest ranking female debater of the tournament, placing 9th; and Ishan Bhatt (senior) won 5th
place speaker, making him the highest placing American debater in recent history. None of these results would have been possible without the training and support of the coaches that accompanied Team USA in Thailand. Cindi Timmons, Aaron Timmons, and Danny DeBois each put in countless hours to challenge and improve the team on an individual and collective level. With a successful tournament to end the competitive season, another class of the USA Debate Team returned home with fond memories and lasting friendships.
Anh Cao is a senior at Bentonville High School in Arkansas. She currently serves as a publications intern for the NSDA.