ISDA Postseason Report 2023
Captain of Debating
J. G. Nicholas
OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF WEEKS, THE MEN IN GREY AND WHITE HAVE DABBLED IN BOTH THE OCTOS AND QUARTERFINALS IN THEIR QUEST FOR GLORY IN THE POSTSEASON ROUNDS OF ISDA DEBATING; AND WIN OR LOSE, ALL TEAMS HAVE UNDOUBTEDLY ENJOYED THE CHALLENGES OF SOME HIGHER ORDER COMPETITION.
Hot off their success in the latter half of the regular season, our Year 7’s took on the debating juggernaut PLC Sydney in their first taste of win-or-go-home ISDA competition. Affirming the topic ‘That students should be placed in classes based on ability and intelligence rather than age,’ the boys unfortunately hit the blocks running with an overly complicated model that would ultimately spell their downfall. Fred Stewart showed his great improvement in a well-structured outing as first speaker, laying the groundwork for an explosive Eddie Ohlsson speech; brandishing his trademark evocative and effective rhetorical questioning to get the debate back on track. Finishing the debate was the never-short-of-words of wildcard Richard Zhan, who placed a final volley of strongly argued punches to the PLC case in his preferred position of third speaker, wielding his preferred weapon; thematic rebuttal. Despite fourth speaker Daniel Chapman’s supreme confidence in the ability of his team, the boys unfortunately went down to a more cohesive PLC side, who more effectively leveraged real-world examples to bolster their argument. Ultimately, the boys should be proud of the progress they’ve made since the start of the season and have a bright future ahead of them debating for the blue and white.
Suffering the same fate as our Year 7s, our Year 8 men went down to a strong Trinity side, affirming the same topic, ‘That students should be placed in classes based on ability and intelligence rather than age.’ While the debate was close, a testament to their ever-increasing skill, the boys sorely missed star Rian Conners, and despite narrowly winning the first clash on promoting academic success, were unable to mitigate their model’s harms on social development. With the GPS season looming, the boys will be a dangerous force to be reckoned with and should be proud with the progress they made over the season.
The Year 9 team continued their regular season rampage in a dominant Octos win over Trinity, affirming the topic ‘That young Australians should form their own political parties.’ Effectively hinging their argument on the principle that any representation was better than the little granted to young Australians by our existing two-party system, the boys surgically crafted a case impenetrable to their opposition. Weathering questioning as to the quality of representation under their proposed model, the principle that representation was provided ultimately prevailed, seeing our Year 9 men through to a Quarter-Finals matchup with Kings on home turf.
Our Year 9s snag Quarter-Finals victory
Despite strong opposition from impassioned Kings opposition, the boys executed yet another surgically precise victory in their pursuit of ISDA glory. Liam O’Neill set the tone at first affirmative, with a well-structured speech that would ultimately serve to characterise the intellectual rigour of the ensuing debate. Jayden Pan effectively countered the King’s first attempt at repositioning the debate, and Yukai Yan sealed the victory at third. A semi-final against Newington set for this Friday at Joeys, we wish the boys the best of luck on their quest for immortality; just two more.
Yet another interesting topic choice from the ISDA set off an intriguing intellectual exchange between our Year 10s and their Kincoppal opposition, whereby a mutual lack of understanding saw the marginally better-informed side come out victorious, and unfortunately, it was Kincoppal on this occasion. Negating ‘That elected representatives who quit their party must face a by election,’ both sides struggled to grapple with what a by election actually was, and despite a valiant attempt, and at the end of a bit of an up-and-down season for the boys, their ISDA campaign would be cut short with a loss.
The first postseason challenge for the Senior B’s came from a Scots team with an equal five-win record, and they affirmed the topic ‘That we regret the glorification of material wealth in popular culture.’ Able to leverage their experience of the unique ‘that we regret’ topic type, the boys effectively established the counterfactual and presented an ideal world in which material wealth had not been glorified by popular culture. Clinically dismantling their opposition’s thrust, the boys cruised to a convincing victory, setting them up for a Quarter-Final matchup with Wenona.
Confident that they could extend their domination of the ISDA competition on home turf, the Senior B’s were sent into the prep room to construct the affirmative case for ‘That we should introduce a quota on streaming services for locally made content.’ Teacher coach Mr Fitisemanu set the tone with a feast of Korean BBQ for the boys that ultimately allowed spiritual captain Ramon Zhang to gain control of an agitated prep room, the boys centering their case on both the economic and cultural implications of a model designed to precipitate growth in Australia’s film industry. Speakers Max Kim, Daniel Kang and Michael Kwak spoke with their usual flair and poise and the Bs extended their run into a Semi-Finals matchup with a strong Kambala side this Friday.
Affirming the same topic for their Octos matchup against Kincoppal, That we regret the glorification of material wealth in popular culture,’ the Senior A’s cruised to another victory typified by their well organised prep room and broader topical understanding that facilitated a pre-emptive demolition of their opposition. The subject of the teams’ efforts focused on crafting his principled attack, Lachlan Hunt’s speech highlighted the homogenising and divisive nature of popular culture’s traditional presentation of material wealth, effectively manipulating policy debate against their opposition on the left side of the room. Blake Fite spoke with his typical confidence and grace at second, leaving an easy job for Jimmy Nicholas at third, who uneventfully brought the debate to an end; the win setting up a Quarter-Finals matchup with perennial title threat Sydney Grammar.
A nonchalant Senior As following Octos victory
Anticipating the largest crowd of the season so far, the boys were keen to continue their domination of a Grammar side they’d beaten convincingly less than a year previously in the GPS competition. Despite Captain Jimmy Nicholas’ lingering illness and anticipating an MJ-like ‘Flu game’ performance, the boys got to work in the prep room affirming ‘That we should introduce a quota on streaming services for locally made content.’ Angling their case on the implicit cultural deficit symptomatic of increasingly monopolised streaming platforms, the As creating a model that would ultimately inspire natural growth in Australia’s film industry. First speaker Aaron Rucinski effectively outlined the model and the broader culturally focused push, and second speaker Blake Fite continued to add nuance and detail in a well-crafted speech. However, the boys were unable to seal their case from a Grammar team that only had to establish reasonable doubt in the eyes of the adjudicator that streaming platforms would be willing to stay in Australia in light of their model. Ultimately, their season would come to an end in an underwhelming showing that will certainly typify an impassioned start to the GPS season next term.
All smiles at the end of a great season of Debating
Thank you to Ms. Wolsely and Liam for your incredible coaching and dedication to the team this ISDA season, and MIC Ms Melville for the crucial work you continue to do.