Niles Township Invitational Debate Tournament to Draw Top Teams from other States
NILES TOWNSHIP INVITATIONAL DEBATE TOURNAMENT TO DRAW TOP TEAMS FROM OTHER STATES
What is policy debate and why do so many successful leaders in the medical field, the law, the business world and the government credit their success to being involved in policy debate?
That question can be easily answered by Niles West and Niles North Debate teams who had exceptional competitive seasons last year and now look forward to opening the 2012-13 season by hosting the Third annual Niles Township Invitational Debate Tournament. The tournament is a Finals Tournament of Champions (TOC) Bid in Policy Debate which means that in order to qualify for the national policy debate championship, debate teams must receive two TOC bids. The Niles Township Invitational Debate Tournament can be considered one of those bids.
The community is invited to attend the tournament to view the fascinating world of policy debate and watch top high school teams in action on September 14 through 16 at Niles West, 5701 W. Oakton, Skokie. This year’s policy debate topic is: “Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its transportation infrastructure investment in the United States.” Close to 20 schools from five states will participate in the tournament. Round 1 begins at 5 p.m. on Friday. The Final round will begin at 3 p.m. on Sunday, September 16. The tournament schedule can be viewed at www.joyoftournaments.com under Niles Township Invitational.
Niles West Head Debate Coach Eric Oddo encourages the public to watch a few of the debates, not only because the tournament will bring competitive teams but because, “I think it’s important that the community realizes what policy debate is and why it increases academic achievement.”
In addition to the debates, a Novice Workshop held on Saturday will be hosted by Debate Directors Tara Tate of Glenbrook South High School and Josh Brown of Homewood-Flossmoor High School.
The Niles North Debate Team, which capped its inaugural season under Head Coach Katie Gjerpen with trophies like the Novice Policy Debate Championship at the University School Sunvitational and two top 10 speaker awards at the State Debate Tournament, started with an all-freshman team. This year, with an influx of about 12 new debaters plus returning debaters, the Niles North team is ready to build on last year’s successes with an invitation to the St. Mark’s Heart of Texas Tournament for top second-year teams. “We are ready to hit the ground running with a jam-packed schedule, including trips to Winston-Salem, Dallas and West De Moines. The students can’t wait to get out there and put to work the long hours of practice they put in over the summer.” New to North’s roster is Assistant Coach Brian Rubaie, joining other assistant coaches Sarah Smaga, Carly Wunderlich and Katie Klante.
Niles North will also host the Spartan Presidential Debate Series with the Michigan State Debate Team at 7:15 pm on Thursday, October 11 at Niles North, 9800 Lawler Avenue, Skokie. Spartan debaters will present non-partisan analyses of this fall’s Presidential and Vice Presidential debates. For more information, please contact Head Coach Katie Gjerpen at (847) 626-2455.
The Niles West Debate team is ready to begin the new season. Last year, the West Debate team won the Novice Policy Debate championship at the State Debate Tournament at Dundee Crown, the Great Midwestern Novice Championship and was granted a charter membership in the National Forensic League (NFL). The team was included in ESPN The Magazine’s June 25th Debate issue, where the team weighed in on great sports debates such as designated hitters in baseball and the greatest sports movie of all time. With over 20 new debaters this year, West will also attend the Sophomore Hoedown at St. Marks and has been invited to the University of Michigan’s Juniors Round Robin. In addition to Head Coach Oddo, the team is guided by assistants Matt Fahrenbacher, Melanie Johnson, Kevin Bancroft and Val McIntosh.
For questions about the Debate Team or the Niles Township Invitational Debate Tournament, please contact Eric Oddo (Niles West) at (847) 626-2870 or eriodd@d219.org or Katie Gjerpen (Niles North) at (847) 626-2455 or katgje@d219.org.
