Closing the year with a bang, the 2025 White Station High School (WSHS) debate teams made it to nationals after winning three of the four tournaments they participated in this season. After months of participating in tournaments or spending Thursdays after school checking in with one another, their reward is to be able to debate with other teams around the United States at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga.
This year’s season started with a virtual tournament, followed by three in-person tournaments held at WSHS. Tournaments are divided into three rounds which last usually around an hour and a half. During their debate at Emory, teams will compete against other schools or their own, depending on who is there, in a style similar to the Lincoln-Douglas debate format.
“Every side prepares a speech, and every side writes a rebuttal during the speeches to say against their opponent,” Elizabeth Digmon (10) said. “During a tournament, you’ll probably debate three times against people from other schools, or if there aren’t enough from other schools, people from our own school. Whoever wins the most [rounds], you know, gets the trophy.”
Members of the team are individually scored on a scale of 25 to 30 — 30 being the highest score a debater can get in a round. These do not, however, determine the winner of a debate; instead, they are used to score the individual and their skills. These points depend on how well the debater seems to understand the topic, their delivery of their argument, engagement with the opponent and use of time.
“My strength is that I can write a really good speech,” Molly Mize (11) said. “I feel like I’m better at the writing … the speaking, which is something I’m trying to work on. [I] struggle with just talking about the topic [while] not having anything prepared to say.”
Team members usually get their materials a couple of weeks before the tournament. This allows them to prepare their arguments. Debaters must learn both sides of the argument because they are required to argue both sides, no matter the individual’s opinion. From this, stronger arguments are formed because debaters have a broader understanding of the topic.
“I think I’ve learned a lot about forming a professional argument that is harder to poke holes in,” Digmon said. “I’ve learned a lot about how to convey myself and my beliefs to others in a very stable way.”
All of these skills — writing strong arguments, being able to talk about the information one has learned and time management — are all transferable to academics. Many team members hold themselves to a higher standard when writing, whether for school assignments or in everyday life because it’s a skill they have practiced numerous of times.
“My AP [Advanced Placement] Seminar and AP [English] Lang[uage class] have definitely helped my debate, but also my debate [skills have] helped [with] my public speaking,” Mize said. “I’m a lot better to just [talk about something I know], instead of having something written and prepared.”
Flying to Atlanta on April 3, the debate team will spend the weekend participating at Emory. The teams will be housed in a hotel off-campus, similar to the other hundreds of teams coming to compete. Each of these teams will be bringing their own argument to the table, so there will be a variety of topics covered, some more obscure than others.
“Some of [the teams going to nationals] have different debate formats from each other,” Digmon said. “So every rule of debate is constantly up for debate during the debate, and you’ll have arguments that are completely different [from] each other.”
Getting to nationals was a huge honor for the debate team; however, expectations are low as WSHS hasn’t placed in the top three in the past. The team is looking to have fun with each other and with their debates and take it as it comes. Many also want to take the chance to meet new people, improve and showcase the skills they’ve been working on all year.
“I just enjoy the experience and how you can feel yourself getting better,” Mize said. “But in Memphis — especially if a lot more people join next year, which they should — it’ll be [more] competitive, and it’s really fun to just challenge yourself and see how well you [go up against] other people.”