ISDA Debating Report Round 7 vs Kincoppal
M. D. Kwak
IN THE LAST WEEKS OF TERM 1, SHORE WAS AWAY against Kincoppal, debating motions of environmental issues. Displaying pure and unmatched dominance, Shore finished the season with an impeccable performance – chalking up wins across EVERY SINGLE TEAM from Year 7 to 12 and for the first time in many, many years, have all teams THROUGH TO THE OCTOS.
Our Primary teams negated ‘That we should ban tourism to Antarctica’, unfortunately going down in both debates. Shout out to Joe and Charlie for their impressive thematic rebuttal.
Our Year 7 LND teams unfortunately went down negating ‘That we should ban animal testing. Despite a decent case, repetitive rebuttal was their downfall. Congrats to Will McCowan for his great focus in training.
Year 7 ISDA have rounded off an UNDEFEATED preliminary season (a feat I have yet to achieve) with a decisive win negating ‘That we should ban fast fashion’. Personally, if I had to defend Shein in Year 7, I would have probably burst into tears in the prep room and resigned to my fate. Well it’s clear that this Year 7 team has all the answers and ultimately their comparatively robust mechanisation won them over in the debate. They’ve proven they can do the impossible… Good luck for the outround boys – my gut tells me you’ll go far (dare I say even a trophy) as long as you keep on the grindset and replicate your amazing successes so far.
An undefeated Year 7 team defending the bridge
Year 8 ISDA negated the same topic, and came away with a convincing W. Congratulations on the clutch performance and good luck for the octos.
Year 9 ISDA also pulled off the impossible, defending fast fashion. Despite a challenging topic, Shore did well to secure a win and put up some masterclass performances. The team spoke with clarity and confidence – shoutout to debater of the week Lucas Zhou!
Year 10 and Senior teams all negated the topic ‘That the environmental movement should take more radical actions in the fight against climate change, e.g. blocking roads, vandalism.’
A note before you read Will Nicholas’ thrilling debating report. The nicknames “Mogger, yapper, etc” are my additions to Will’s write-up. Will would never engage such silly and childish monikers (his generation is the last to escape the insatiable and all-consuming brain-rot).
“Year 10’s sixth-straight win completed a redemption arc which began in Round 1. After an irritating defeat to Kambala, they vowed not to be bested again, and now find themselves, hopefully, atop their table. Though Shore argued the side of restraint, peaceful protest and climate activism, you might have been fooled by Jayden ‘Diagram’ Pan breathing fire at first Neg. Henry ‘Mogger’ Marshall had a twinkle in his eye while dancing semantic circles around the affirmative, and Yukai ‘yapper’ Yan prised Kincoppal’s mechanisms and impacts apart like he was carving a turkey. The team had set the table, and feasted on victory. This was a season in which gluttony counted, because Year 10’s ranking will probably depend on margins of victory. Shore will hope to have left nothing on their plate for their opponents to gobble up.”
Will Nicholas really pulled out everything in his arsenal for the last write-up of the term (reminiscent of his glory days as SWR Insights Editor…). Reading through his report, I saw:
- An redemption narrative arc with allusions to previous results and opponents
- A clever antithetical contrast ironically juxtaposing the team’s defence of peaceful protest with their fierce rhetoric and debating prowess (dragon metaphors too!)
- SEMANTIC CIRCLES (how does one even come up with that…).
An extended metaphor/semantic field with similes about “turkeys”, mentions of “gluttony” and metaphors about “opponents gobbling” up the left-overs of Year 10’s immaculate season.
The Senior Bs (as expected) clutched up in their debate with a crucial W that has hopefully secured their place in the outrounds. While both sides could have provided stronger characterisation, the team was able to convincingly argue that radical action would turn public opinion against the environmental movement. Congrats to my pookie bear Rizzy Ramon for mogging to get the team over the line. Shoutout to Callum for killing it as usual in his public speaking comps.
A nonchalant Senior Bs post-victory
Your Senior As also won in convincing fashion, explaining a healthy optimism in the ability of environmentalists to convince politicians and corporations to take meaningful action on climate change. Much thanks to Jimmy for coming out on a Friday arvo during his break from uni and getting around the debating lads. Your presence was much appreciated.
The Senior As wrapping up the season with 6/7 wins.
As we enter the first round of octos, let’s all be inspired by Ryan Kwok’s quote that he says before every debate:
“Failure is not acceptable. Therefore it will not happen.”