NASH Nationals was my worst debate tournament. Trust me, I won.

Kriste Mambo practically gave up on their argument early during the debate…..

 

 While this blog post started off as a rant, I feel it is only fair to get some summary of events by checking out this article by Chronicle on the final debate. I wrote this piece late 2019, probably high on emotion. Have a little mercy.

 Anyone who has had the pleasure of tasting a Bulawayo Debate hosted by universities or some corporate can testify to the intensity of the rounds. By this I don’t mean shouting at the audience in order to deafen them from your opponents’ arguments but the finesse and sheer competitive nature of the debates. I always found pleasure in sneaking out of school to attend a Bulawayo debate, I schooled in Cyrene, a Matebeleland South school.

Come 2019, my final year in High school, also Cyrene’s second time in the National Finals I found myself disappointed. I wondered whether the previous finals team consisting of Solomzi, Mhere and Leeroy also felt the same, whether their defeat was due to expectations not being met. The team, according to club members had imploded in the finals. I may not know what exactly what triggered the implosion but I’d like to think it was a clash of expectations.

I transferred back to Cyrene for my A’ levels in 2018. I remember the first mentions around the school’s national’s loss and how competitive the nationals were. The school had never held that trophy and I wanted it bad. Bad enough to sacrifice my academics, something I still do not regret today. I joined the Bulawayo Debate circuit via The Royalty Pact Debate Academy (Maison’s kids) to get more practice. First attended Open Tourneys just to watch and then participated, taking my losses on the chin proudly. I knew experience would get me that slight advantage going into nationals and the arguments I lost against would be hurled at the school team, to refine and debunk.

2018, we made it to Nationals then Typhoid happened, debate nationals cancelled. 2019 followed the same lines, Thekwane High School gave me the tightest debate of my high school career courtesy of Tariro the then headgirl. We had been primed for 2 years for the one shot at the NASH debate trophy. I was debating in my sleep by the time the school announced our travel schedule.

Now here is a nice titbit. When the group fixtures were announced we realised we had the wrong motions! I laugh now but man was I mad when it dawned on me, we had been practising the wrong motions for 3 months. We only had 2 hours to prepare to debate against national teams that had prepared for 3 months, madness. Fast forward to the next day and you’ll find me head in hands near tears. We were going into a tri-final or three team final for those not familiar and I honestly wanted to quit. It was not worth it. A better part of my A’ level invested into debating, only to face arguments that would crumble after a single rebuttal or question. We knocked out the then champions St Faith without much of a flinch, we actually purposefully made technical mistakes in that debate only to receive rebuttals about how we pronounced Seychelles. I hoped the finals would make it all better, I already knew I was not going to come out of this elated. A better final would at least leave me with a memory.

The finals were against St Columbus and Kriste Mambo. Kriste Mambo practically gave up on their argument early during the debate and had their second speaker run a pure rebuttal case which also fell short of having any plausible impact. It gave me a reason to focus on my leader’s reply which drastically improved in that tri-final. I wish I could have used it elsewhere; I wonder if I’m ever going to debate at university level actually (I know it’s BP format instead). I do not think so but this is a drug. There’s not much use in speaking when you’re not neck deep in it. I digress.

Ntandoyenkosi Mahonde: Grainy image that will make my kids know i am ancient
Grainy image that will make my kids know i am ancient

 

Now St Columbus was a different feel, they were the winners from a province that kept giving me Ls. I honestly was afraid of them. I had only heard of their team captain Rudo and headgirl, she was a living fable at that point. I consider myself lucky the motion was one based more on economics than human rights or ethical elements. Economics is a love and a world for me. St Columbus was the better team in the entire tournament, we consoled ourselves in having better tournaments at home. The trophy was a pre-independence hand-me down that showed times toll. I’m glad we bagged it though. For the sake of debating quality.

You can check out The Royalty Pact Debating Academy’s Facebook page here. NASH Nationals Debate should improve, I’ll be writing on how soon.

1 thought on “NASH Nationals was my worst debate tournament. Trust me, I won.”

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *