Team Canada winning as WSDC delays
Tryouts 2021 and WSDC 2020 both paused
Tryouts for 2021 and and WSCD 2020 Championships both suspended
WSDC 2020 has also advised delegates that registration for Mexico 2020 in July has been suspended and teams should cancel their travel plans. Here are highlights of the messaging:
- "On behalf of the WSDC Mexico 2020 Org Comm, the Adjudication Core, and the WSDC Board, we continue to express our heartfelt sympathies to the individuals, communities and nations facing the outbreak of COVID-19. We have been working diligently to respond to this constantly changing situation, doing so by monitoring government and international bodies, and staying in close contact with the relevant authorities in Mexico."
- "We are unanimous in our conclusion that we cannot hold WSDC 2020 Mexico City as planned. We appreciate all the work done by the Convenors and CAP to prepare an outstanding event. We commiserate with all the work done by students, coaches, and team managers to get ready for this summer. We understand the sacrifices of time that have occurred and are as disappointed as you are. At the same time, nothing is more important than the health and safety of our community and we believe this is the most prudent course of action at this time."
- "We are considering several options to share with the community that we will present in approximately a week. Those options cannot replace the experience of being together in Mexico in July, but reflect the desire of this group to show that we are much stronger when we work together towards a common goal."
3rd Team Canada win in a row at Harvard
Harvard College Worlds Schools took place from Friday, March 6th to Sunday, March 8th, 2020 on Harvard’s campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Members of the current Team Canada, who were preparing to compete in Mexico this summer, won the tournament. Our results were as follows:
- The Team Canada 5, including Angela Li, Max Rosen, Matt Anzarouth, Matt Farrell, and Reana Yan were the third Team Canada in a row to win the tournament.
- Angela Li came 5th speaker, Reana Yan came 8th speaker and Isaac Cape came 9th speaker. Max Rosen, Matt Anzarouth, and Matt Farrell also finished in the top 20 speakers
- Alison Lee, Isaac Cape, Angie Lei, Ella Waxman, and Kathryn Pozios, the other Team Canada team competing, made the Octofinals.
The debaters knew some motions in advance, and found out others at the tournament. In the prepared rounds, teams debated both sides. The prepared motions included:
- Rounds 1 and 2: THR the rise of abstract art.
- Rounds 4 and 5: In areas of chronically low academic attainment, THBT the general approach of educational charities should be to focus resources on maximizing the potential of exceptional students, over helping the lowest-achieving.
- Quarterfinals: TH, as Japan, would revoke article 9 of the Japanese constitution.
Coach Jason Xiao said: “Harvard this year was an extremely rewarding experience. In particular, I enjoyed teaching Team Canada philosophy that I’ve learned from my university courses and being able to enrich the knowledge areas that they possess. Coincidentally, the final was about political philosophy that I had taught them. Seeing the students learn more about the world and grow is a huge part of why I continue to coach and I’m glad that Harvard presented that opportunity.”
Team Canada Coach Jason Xiao wins University Worlds
The World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC) is the world’s largest debate tournaments, and this year Team Canada’s coach won. Jason Xiao and Lee Chin Wee, the team from Oxford, were the top team in the world this year, debating in British Parliamentary style (Jason is pictured 4th from the left, and Chin is 5th).
Like World’s Schools Style debate, depth of analysis and strategy are key elements of victory, however, the structure is quite different. World’s schools uses 2 teams of 3, and British Parliamentary features 4 teams of two debaters in each round. Jason was 5th place speaker, and his partner finished 1st. Jason is the first Canadian debater to win in over a decade. Canada’s World’s committee and the student debaters congratulate them both.