Teenagers wearing suits, people talking to walls, the sound of guitars, teams playing Cards Against Humanity… these are just some of the things the Northland Christian School Debate Team experienced at their first team tournament at Montgomery High School two weekends ago. They placed 1st place overall against 21 other schools, including Cypress Creek, Klein Oak and Concordia Lutheran.

Along with getting first, we had many Northland students place in their events. Allie Pennington finished her state qualification in Domestic Extemp, earning her a spot at the Texas Forensic Association State Tournament in Pflugerville, Texas, which is right outside Austin. We had five students place first in their events, three second places, five third places, four fourth places, one fifth place, two sixth places, two seventh places, and one eighth place, and we had ten semi-finalists and two quarter finalists.

But the first tournament of the season is always one of the most stressful. Going from sitting in your bed all day during the summer binge-watching Grey’s Anatomy, to spending your whole weekend at a debate tournament can be nerve-wracking! I spoke to one of the debate team captains, Kelsey England, a senior here at Northland, and she told me what kind of effort goes into preparing for a debate tournament. She explained that “to prepare for the first debate tournament of the season, it’s important to practice your events and get back into the swing of things for the tournament season!”

The coach, Courtney Coffman, also told me about what we should expect from the team this upcoming season. She said that since the debate season has already had a lot of success, she is “hopeful that it will continue through the rest of the season!” The team also has a ton of new team members this year and a lot of varsity team members that have already been raking in a ton of state points and trophies. Coach Court also told me that their “season is essentially all year. We start in early September and complete our season with the National Tournament in June–so if you wonder why debaters miss school throughout the year, that’s why.” She also wanted to thank the school for supporting the team through their endeavors!

Since the team now has some wins and state points under their belts, they will be able to take on the year and keep making a name for themselves, as Northland continues to have one of the top ranked debate teams in our district! So make sure when you see someone on the team, give them a pat on the back, and wish them good luck as they keep giving their best effort during the 2015-2016 debate season!