By Rachel Neglia

“Speech and debate tournaments are the only place where talking to walls is something you commonly see, people wear fedoras, and it is acceptable to drink six cans of Red Bull plus two Starbucks lattes within 24 hours,” says Emma Moriarty, a freshman debater on TPA’s Speech and Debate team. She is one of the resilient dozen which has grown accustomed to attending back-to-back tournaments successfully.

Two weekends ago, the TPA Speech and Debate team participated in its seventh tournament this semester – the Division I Winter Trophy Tournament. Winter Trophy is one of the biggest fall-semester local tournaments, and is analogous to the spring semester’s state tournament. Despite TPA’s small size, the team had a disproportionately large amount of success in Division I.

TPA’s novice debate team had a strong showing. In Lincoln-Douglas Debate – debate that centers on discussing philosophy and morality – Freshman Aimee Cheng progressed to octofinals, and Freshman Lindsay Newfeld won the tournament.

Limited-preparation events require that students write and memorize speeches during a set amount of prep time. TPA usually has a successful turnout in these events, and this tournament was no different. In Impromptu Speaking, junior Elinor Sauer made the cut to semifinals, and senior Yegor Zenkov placed sixth in finals. In Extemporaneous Speaking, junior Enrique Favaro broke to semifinals, and Yegor won the tournament.

Students that compete in platform events memorize and deliver informative or persuasive speeches. In Original Oratory, a persuasive type of platform event, junior Chris Moffitt placed fifth in finals. In Expository Speaking, an informative event, Enrique Favaro placed sixth in finals.

In Interpretation (interp) events, students bring literary works to life by creating characters and acting in front of an audience. In Prose Interpretation, Elinor Sauer progressed to semifinals.

TPA’s congressional debate team was also successful. Junior Erin Guiney placed fifth in her chamber, and Enrique Favaro placed second in his.

For having so few team members, TPA’s Speech and Debate team can definitely hold its own. In fact, the team is usually considered one of the most efficient teams in Arizona; with a small entry, it does well in a wide array of events. This, however, does not change the fact that the team is always open to new participants. “Speech and debate has taught me how to communicate my thoughts more confidently in front of others,” says Abby Everding, a veteran debater.

If you would like to hear about how you can finesse your rhetoric, argumentation, and speaking skills, consider coming to a meeting to see what this activity is about.