From Feb. 9-16, 10 students in the Taipei American School debate team traveled to two debate tournaments in the United States with Mr. Chase Williams, the head of the TAS debate program. For the first half of the trip, they attended the 33rd Annual Stanford Invitational at Stanford University, while for the second half of the trip, the team attended the Cal Invitational at the University of California, Berkeley.
The topic for the tournaments, announced in December, is about whether the United States should end its arms sales to Saudi Arabia. During each tournament, the debate team flips a coin to decide whether they will affirm or negate the topic. Many students were excited for what the topic can offer. “Arms sales to Saudi Arabia is such
a contentious issue and there are so many great arguments on both sides,” Shawn K. (‘20), a member of the debate team, said. “I’m already looking forward to debating about the conflict in Yemen, Middle Eastern stability and the War on Terror.”
In preparation, each team wrote their arguments and compiled evidence in support and against the topic. In their biweekly practices, the debaters worked with Mr. Williams to research and hold mock debates. Both tournaments are extremely difficult to win, as both are some of the biggest tournaments in the U.S. “We have started to hold more frequent practices to prepare,” Mr. Williams said. “A lot of our debaters have never been exposed to the high level of competition in the U.S. before so we definitely need a lot of work.”
Results for both competitions can be found on the tabroom.com.