Northview’s speech and debate team shows dramatic improvement with their successful season.

Photo by Jonathan Waters, Special

Megan Serfontein, Staff Writer

At Northview, competition is fueled by passion and determination; the school’s award-winning speech and debate team is no exception. This year has proved especially successful for the team, likely because they adopted new practice methods, attended more tournaments, and changed coaching staff.

Northview’s debate team competes in four different events: Lincoln-Douglas debate, public forum debate, policy debate, and speech. Between the four divisions, there are eight captains and two additional leadership members. The captains try to provide the debaters in their division with support, encouragement, and resources. 

“Though speech and debate can seem like an individual activity, the most important thing is being there for the rest of your team,” Speech Captain Kristin Hsu said.

Although debate is traditionally individual or pair work, team members find that working collaboratively brings the best results. All of the divisions work together, which provides the team with insight into why one team may need extra practice or why what works for one division may not work for the other.

Much of the team’s success this year can be attributed to more frequent practice sessions and improving techniques through trial and error. Unlike in previous years, practice time is now dedicated to not only learning how to research but how to speak during debates. After former debate coach Jordan Kohanim left Northview last year, coach Jonathan Waters recruited Matthew Cekanor, another language arts teacher, to be the new debate coach. By joining the team, he has provided debaters with additional support. Upperclassmen also help underclassmen, providing them with advice on their respective divisions. In addition, team members have learned to be very flexible, allowing them to adapt to new arguments quickly and come up with responses on the spot. The team benefits from its ability to come together and celebrate the achievements of all individuals on the team, engaging in fun traditions such as playing music before tournaments or treating stuffed animals as the team mascots. Even when debaters get discouraged, they try to focus on the debates ahead instead of dwelling on what happened in the last round. 

“[The debaters] can’t really focus too much on the past and the last debate. They need to start thinking about the next one,” Cekanor said. “They need to go in like they are starting zero and zero like at the beginning of the tournament.”

Comfort and support from other team members provide an encouraging environment, especially for new debaters. If the coaches notice that the team is discouraged, they check in with the captains to fix the issue.

The school also does its part to encourage the debate team. Principal Brian Downey always makes sure the team has a practice space and any other necessary resources so it can be as successful as possible. 

“They need resources to be as successful as possible and it’s my job to provide that,” Downey said.

 The team had one of their most successful seasons in a long time, especially in policy debate and speech, with many individual debaters coming in top five positions at tournaments and the team itself winning five sweepstakes awards. Team members hope that as they become even closer in the future, they may be able to qualify for a national debate tournament.

“I hope that next year that we continue to grow in members, abilities, and as friends,” Hsu said.