A new partnership formed in debate this school year and opened the opportunity for two members to travel to Lexington, Kentucky to compete in the Tournament Of Champions this April. Juniors Ellie Kim and Ammara Vadiwala have started the year off strong and need one last bid.  A bid is attained once competitors reach a certain outround (e.g. octafinals, quarterfinals, semifinals, etc.) depending on which tournament they are in. Before Kim and Vadiwala qualify for the tournament, they are putting in the work in hopes of securing another victory.

This is the first time Vadiwala and Kim have worked together as partners; they have competed once before in The Meadows Tournament. Niles West Head Debate Coach Nicholas Jennings acknowledged the hard work the new partnership has put in but is ready for the long process that is to come.

“The Meadows Tournament was Ellie and Ammara’s first tournament together. They had competed with different teams earlier this year, but this was their first time as a partnership. I think their continuity is their greatest strength. As a new partnership, they are developing their style and transitioning roles effectively, though there is still room for further improvement. For the remainder of the season, the goal is to secure another bid and qualify to compete at the Tournament of Champions in Lexington, Kentucky this April,” Jennings said.

Jennings also gave context on what The Tournament of Champions is and recognized how difficult it can be to qualify as a junior.

“The Tournament of Champions is the most challenging tournament in the country to win. Students from across the nation dedicate thousands of hours to prepare for the opportunity to compete, let alone to claim victory. Qualifying alone demands hundreds of hours of effort and years of commitment. The fact that we have two juniors competing at this level is incredibly impressive. Debate, unlike some other activities, requires mastering an entirely new set of skills. While these skills have amazing applications to various academic pursuits, learning them is almost like acquiring a new language,” Jennings said.

Vadiwala has been in debate for three years.  She elaborated on her performance this season and what she and her partner need to accomplish to move on to The Tournament of Champions.

“This season has been good. We’ve been to four tournaments so far and we got our first bid to the TOC [Tournament of Champions]. Our goals are to keep getting better at debate and as a new partnership and get our second bid and go to the Tournament of Champions,” Vadiwala said.

Kim also explained her goals and what she plans to work on with her partner to get their second bid for the season.

“The season has been really good so far.  Ammara and I are partnering and we had our first tournament in Meadows where we got the first bid and recently we came back from Michigan. In terms of the [debate] club, we are working on getting people excited about debate.  We are preparing for UC at Texas which is in a couple of weeks. For our next tournament, we hope to do our best and we are getting excited because it could be our last tournament for the season,” Kim said.