On December 5, 2020, the Orange County Debate League [OCDL] held its annual Holiday Tournament on the video communication platform, Zoom.
Over two hundred students from different schools competed in four rounds of debate on the following topics:
- Defund the police
- People should not eat meat.
- Requiring video to be on during distance learning does more good than harm.
This was the second tournament of the school year that was moved to an online platform due to a consistent rise in COVID-19 cases in the Orange County area.
Prior to the day of the tournament, all judges, coaches, and students were sent a “live” document that included any necessary Zoom links, all online debate rules, and naming conventions. Judges were also sent a separate guide with all policies and rules that they would need to familiarize themselves with before judging.
Easy accessibility to all necessary information allowed the tournament to run very smoothly. We experienced little to no delays and very few technical issues.
Winners of the tournament, for both the novice and open division, were announced the following Monday through an email from OCDL Treasurer Ben Hughes.
The winners included:
OPEN DIVISION
Team Awards
1. Fairmont HAC Red LTK
2. Fairmont AH Stripes NLS
3. Pegasus Senior QDS
4. New England Academy NHP
5. Pegasus Senior STY
6. Pegasus Junior PSY
7. Heritage Oak PQ
8. Fairmont HAC Red SCK
9. Fairmont AH Stripes TSS
10. Fairmont AH Stripes CAP
11. Pegasus Senior PSY
12. Pegasus Senior ZSM
13. Pegasus Senior PJL
14. Fairmont HAC Red HS
15. Heritage Oak HTV
Distinguished Teams (alphabetical order): Fairmont North Tustin ABH, Fairmont North Tustin JGA, Heritage Oak DGL, Pegasus Junior TWE, Pegasus Junior YKL
Speaker Awards
1. Noelle K
2. Everett Y
3. CJ S
4. Naomi T
5. Grace Y
6. Lance Y
7. Chloette H
8. Saara D
9. Ella T
10. Christian J
11. Rohan S
12. Tegan W
13. Bea E-C
14. Dillan S
15. Shaurya M
16. Courtney T-M
17. Olivia T
18. Ella W
19. Karan S
20. Willie T
21. Stavan S
22. Christina V
23. Jinyu Z
24. Alisha Z
25. Rachel N
26. Austin K
27. Aashna S
28. Suraj S
29. Leo A
30. Alexis K
Top Speakers by Grade Level:
8th-grade Noelle K
7th-grade Everett Y
6th-grade Alexis K
5th-grade Arham S
Distinguished Speakers (alphabetical order): Sherine A, Sahiba C, Arjun G, Andrew H, Matthew H, Lance J-N, Roy K, Milania K, Dharma L, Ryan L, Joshua L, Jacob L, Krishna P, Nathan P, Justin P, Sascha P, Kayla R, Arjun S, Seleen S, Arham S
Squad Awards
Overall Squad Award :
1. Pegasus Senior
2. Pegasus Junior
3. Fairmont Historic Anaheim
4. Fairmont Anaheim Hills Stripes
5. Heritage Oak
Tournament Award (Percentage of Wins by Squad)
1. Pegasus Senior
2. Fairmont Anaheim Hills Stripes
3. Fairmont Historic Anaheim Red
4. Fairmont North Tustin/Pegasus Junior
NOVICE DIVISION
Team Awards:
1. Fairmont AH Solids GLC
2. Cogito CHS
3. Fairmont AH Solids THP
4. New England Academy GPS
5. New England Academy HL
6. Beatty Middle School LWG
7. Fairmont AH Solids GPW
8. St. Francis AFW
9. Fairmont AH Solids GSN
10. Fairmont AH Solids SKW
Speaker Awards:
1. Olivia W
2. Sophia W
3. Maya G
4. Shriya G
5. Ben H
6. Kingston H
7. Neil G
8. Akshna G
9. Baylen S
10. Jase P
11. Eva C
12. Lydia L
13. Adit S
14. Eli C
15. Kiera K
16. Nick C
17. Jordan D
18. Micah H
19. Sidney S
20. Aaron L
All in all, this was a highly successful tournament and we at the O absolutely cannot wait to see what is in store for this upcoming year.