7th Graders Chop Up Choctaw

Jackson and Justin took on the challenge of the Choctaw High School Swarm Speech and Debate Tournament while the high school was in Austin. Although we were debating in different states, we kept in touch via text message, getting updates on round reports and sending files. We are so proud of the guys for finishing prelims with a 2-2 record and winning semifinalist honors! Great debating, Casady Middle School! Thanks to Ms. Johnson, Ms. Bek-Gran and the Davises for helping coach and manage this tournament.

Rockin' Austin!

We traveled to Austin, Texas to compete in the UT Longhorn Classic this past weekend. In a field of over 120 teams from around the country, the varsity team of Connor Dube' and Olivia Pribich finished with a 3 and 3 record, highlighted by a victory over Kinkaid. In the JV division, among 50 teams, Deja Kirk and Fiona Rendon finished prelims ranked 8th and won octafinalist honors, and Conner Coles and Joey Messick finished prelims ranked 4th and won quarterfinalist honors. Joey Messick won 4th top speaker. Congratulations to the debate team for their excellent achievements in this national competition.

Moore Style

The UD novice girls went 3-1 at Moore, finishing in the top of their bracket. Fiona got 5th top speaker. With final exams looming, they chose not to debate the elims on Saturday. Our newest team, 7th graders Jackson Davis and Justin Schneider, debated their very first tournament, finishing 9th place out of 19 teams with only about four hours of introduction to policy debate. We are proud of our brave boys and look forward to their bright future! Many thanks to Olivia and Natasha for judging at the tournament.

Bringing Home the Eagles from UNT

This year's UNT tournament presented us with a range of challenges and opportunities to develop our skills, and of course many memorable moments and tons of fun. After two full days and late nights of competition, Casady Debate emerged with a range of honors.

The novice team of Fiona and Deja finished prelims with a record of 4-1 and were 5th seed going into elims. They placed as quarterfinalists, dropping to Coppell. The team of Conner and Agnish finished prelims with a record of 5-0 and 3rd seed. They defeated Grapevine in octas, and then Midlothian in quarters, before dropping to Coppell in the semis. Both teams won Golden Eagle trophies. Fiona won 7th top speaker, and Agnish won 15th top speaker out of 118 competitors. This was an excellent showing for our AMAZING novices!!

The varsity team of Olivia and Connor continued steady at 2-3. Sidney and Joey debated at the varsity level for the first time and finished 1-4. Although this may not sound like much, but we are young and learning. With hard work and experience, we will get better.

For the first time, we entered two team members in Extemporaneous Speaking. At the end of the day, Jordan Richards made it to the finals and placed 6th out of 60 competitors. Both Martin and Jordan braved the extemp world basically on their own, as the rest of the team was competing on the other side of campus, and Dr. G was kept very busy judging seven debate rounds from prelims through quarters. We enjoyed getting back together as a team late Saturday to attend the awards ceremony and clap for Jordan when his name was announced.

We greatly appreciate the help and support of our parent sponsors, Mr. Spicer and Mr. and Mrs. Rendon. Thank you for all you did to support the team, from driving to meals and plenty of moral support!! Thanks also go to Dr. Chakraburtty for providing a fabulous birthday dinner party for Agnish and the entire team.

Congratulations, Cyclones!

Hanging in there at the Hoe Down and HOT

The varsity team of Khan-Pribich continued to hold steady at 2 wins, 4 losses as they fought their way through the St. Mark's Heart of Texas Invitational, TOC qualifying tournament. Among the toughest tournaments in the country, the HOT brings together the most competitive teams from coast to coast for three days of debating. Ultimately, Greenhill won in a split decision over Stratford Academy in the final round.

The sophomore varsity team of Connor Dube and Natasha Spicer won 2, tied 2 and lost 3 rounds in the Sophomore Hoe Down. They are to be congratulated for their effort in this very difficult field of competition.

Up Next: UNT!

In the Medals at Edmond North

The sudden cold weather snap must have agreed with the Cyclones, because we took both gold and silver at the Edmond North Iditarod Invitational novice policy division this weekend. Our two teams swept the tournament, winning a total of 13 rounds before having to face each other in the finals. Rather than debate the final round against each other, we opted to take our medals and designate the victors according to their prelim seeding. The team of Deja Kirk and Fiona Rendon were the top-ranked team coming out of prelims, and the team of Conner Coles and Agnish Chakraburtty was ranked seventh out of a field of over 30 teams from around the state of Oklahoma.

This is a terrific start in policy debate for the Class of 2016. Way to go, Cyclone Debate! We look forward to your bright future on the team.

Greenhill....

Ah, Greenhill... well, at least there were peacocks.... and baby peacocks!

Tangled in the Grapevine

Well, at least we can say we survived the Grapevine area Carmageddon -- that logistical nightmare they call a roadway system in  Dallas. Yikes. On a brighter note, our KP team finished with a respectable (though not thrilling) 2-3 record, while our newest varsity team of DS went 1-4. It is good to have this tough TOC-bid tournament out of the way, and more importantly, debating there got us into the topic and into the fray of finding out what everyone is running this year. We tested out the aff and learned what people will run against it, and we tested ourselves and found out areas we need to improve: efficiency, organization, fluency in narrating in the rebuttals, time allocation, and blocks. It is going to be a great year, but we always have to remember to learn from EVERY experience, whether good or bad. Go Cyclones!

Off to Grapevine!

Wish the varsity luck as we travel to Texas this weekend for the first tournament of the year: the Grapevine Classic. Be sure to keep up with the teams' progress on Twitter.

Econ Lecture Link

Click here to see the ENDI camp economy lecture.

On the Road Again....

We are off to a great start with the new transportation topic, and I'm thrilled to have so many new debaters joining the team this year. Special welcome to new members:
Natasha Spicer
Martin Yoder
Conner Coles
Agnish Chakraburtty
Deja Kirk
Fiona Rendon

Welcome back to our returning varsity:
Eihab Khan
Olivia Pribich
Connor Dube
Defne Altan
Salman Hamid
Haris Ijaz
Adam Hassoun
Joey Messick
Sidney Jones

The countdown is on to Grapevine (Sept. 14-15) and Greenhill (Sept. 22-24). Look out Texas, here come the Cyclones!

Emory Camp Videos

Click here to browse and video the Emory National Debate Institute 2012 camp lectures. These will be a great help to those of you who did not make it to camp.

Open Ev is Open!

The Open Evidence project is open for the 2012-13 topic. Click here to start reading files and writing blocks. Remember to check in Lessons and Skills for instructions on proper block writing. Let me know what affirmative angles you might want to take this year.

UTNIF Camp Files/Lectures

Click here to access camp lectures and files from the University of Texas National Institute of Forensics. If you are not attending a camp this summer, you familiarize yourself with the materials provided here in preparation for our preseason camp.

2011-2012 Team Award Winners

Casady Debate is first and foremost a team. We work together, compete together, and share the experiences of winning and losing together. Everyone contributes to the overall effort, and for that reason, every team member is to be congratulated for a great year in debate!

Several awards were given to recognize and honor team members for specific achievements this year:

Debate Team Awards
For leadership and invaluable contributions to the success of the team...
Layne Turci and Catherine White

Most Improved Novice Award
Connor Dube' and Olivia Pribich

Best Varsity Team Record
Defne Altan and Shiva Bhupathiraju

NFL High Point Winner
Eihab Khan

Congratulations to you all!

Casady Debate Camps

Debate Pre-Season Camp (Grades 7-12)
August 6-10, 12:30-4:30 (12:30-2:30 for middle schoolers)
Casady UD -- Hightower 6
For all Casady debaters preparing for the 2012-2013 season. Novices will learn basic skills in small lab group format, while varsity team members will be working on block writing and case writing for the new topic.

Register through Summer by the Lake online at www.casady.org.
Email me at gerardb@casady.org with questions.

UCO Camp Option

The University of Central Oklahoma is offering a policy debate camp this year. Click here for more information. It is really affordable, but the main problem is that it conflicts with our team pre-season camp. I would consider allowing novices to attend this camp, if you are not already attending another camp. Let me know if you are interested.

St. Mark's Novice Round Up Results

Connor and Olivia won their pod with five wins, one tie, no losses, and they earned semifinalist honors, losing in a split decision to Greenhill. Well done, you two! We are very proud!

OU Debate Workshop

The OU Debate team and coaches are hosting their Sooner Debate Workshop August 25-26, 2012 on the OU campus. It is free! Click here to apply. The registration is simple. I think this would be a great opportunity, especially if you are not attending another university camp this summer.

Debate Camps

It is not too early to be submitting applications for summer debate camps. I recommend the camps at UNT, UT, Northwestern, Emory, Michigan, and Dartmouth. There are lots of options. Peruse the websites and ask debaters who have been to the camps. You may need a coach recommendation, so check into that. Most camps require a deposit. You should attend the level of camp that applies to your year in debate, no matter what your year is in school, unless otherwise instructed. The camps are specifically geared toward helping you improve from year to year, so a senior lab will be different in material and skills from a sophomore lab. Let me know if you have questions.

UTNIF Invites You to Summer Debate Camp in Austin

From J.V. Reed...

As the post-season kicks into gear we know that many of you are thinking
about where you will go to camp this summer (while others are thinking
mostly about graduation!)  We want to invite you to join us again in Austin
for another UTNIF.  Or, if you are graduating, please pass on your
recommendation to the up and comers on your team.

Our program information is up on both the speech and debate sites and we
think there is much to be excited about.  Once again UTNIF alum's rocked the
TFA and other state tournaments and are doing the same at NFL qualifiers
across the nation.

Check out our new websites at:

http://www.utspeech.net

and

http://www.utdebatecamp.com

(Debaters take note: Our prices for the Topic Research Intensive have gone
down since last year, making it truly one of the best deals for advanced
debate preparation in the country. )

We look forward to having you here in Austin this summer! It will be an
experience that you will never forget, and that will help you tremendously
in your preparations for the upcoming forensic year!

James V. Reed
Program Coordinator, UTNIF '12

The University of Texas National Institute in Forensics
Department Communication Studies
1 University Station A1105
Austin, TX 78712

Jv.reed@mail.utexas.edu
Phone: (512) 471-5518
Fax: (512) 232-1481

NFL Districts A Strong Showing for Casady

Three of our teams had winning records at the National Forensic League West Oklahoma District Tournament this month. Held at the University of Oklahoma, the tournament was the annual qualifying tournament for the NFL Nationals tournament. Over three days of debating in double-elimination formation, our teams all made it to the third day with 3-1 records. The only other school with three teams left in the tournament by that point was Moore High School. At the end of the day, our teams finished 3-2, 4-2 and 5-2. Congrats, varsity, for making us look so good in this our first year as a varsity squad! Next year, here we come!

Teams:
Layne and Olivia (3-2)
Catherine and Eihab (4-2)
Defne and Shiva (5-2)

Colleyville Adventures

The Colleyville Heritage tournament had its ups and downs, but we made it through and learned many lessons along the way. One is: don't listen to the GPS lady whenever there's road construction! Oh my, did we think we were never going to find this place! But in true Casady debate fashion, we were resourceful and found our way through the Grapevine/Colleyville melee. At the tournament, it was fun to see many friends from summer camp and the debate world in general. Judges told us how much better we are getting, and that was great to hear. We did a much better job explaining the Cap K alt (there are three, to be clear, and it is not a good idea to try to run them all at the same time, ever!). We had fun with Macy's newly written SPS counterplan -- thanks Macy!! Our PTX DA was also awesome -- thanks Danny!! When we lost, we knew why (mostly) and have learned from our mistakes. We learned that sometimes it is strategic to kick an advantage on aff, and sometimes a good link turn comes in handy when you get spread out in the neg block. Overall, we learned that we are right where we should be for our first year in varisty CX -- we beat some teams soundly; we hang right in there with most teams, and some teams, well, let's just say they inspire us to get better (and faster!).

Congrats to Catherine, Grace, Layne and Olivia, and many thanks to our ever faithful Danny for traveling with us and putting up with all of us girls on this long debate weekend. Up next: Norman North and NFL Districts!

In the Medals at Jenks

After fifteen hours of debate rounds, Casady Debate brought home multiple awards from the Jenks High School tournament. In the champs division, which is the highest division consisting of teams who have qualified for the state competition at a previous tournament this year, we had two teams break to out-rounds. The team of Catherine White and Grace Gliva made quarterfinalist, and the team of Defne Altan and Shiva Bhupathiraju finished as finalists and took home second place, dropping to Moore in the finals round.

In the novice division, both of our teams finished with 4-and-1 records and debated against each other in the last round. Congratulations to the teams of Connor Dube and Salman Hamid, and Sidney Jones and Joey Messick.

Congratulations to the entire team for these accomplishments. Next weekend, we head to Heritage Hall to compete in the J.W. Patterson Memorial Tournament of Champions qualifying tournament. Good luck Cyclones!