The BHS Speech and Debate team has lost multiple seniors since last year, however, the club has grown in numbers due to an influx of novices. The club has roughly twenty members, many of them being new to Speech and Debate as a whole.
Senior Ryan Wilson stepped up to the podium, filling the role of Team Captain, left empty due to Camden Fallon’s departure. Assisted by his Outreach Chairs, Breleigh Moore and Izayah Christopher, Wilson assists the Novices in structured practices, in contrast to the more loose ones the year prior. Wilson starts practices with short announcements often regarding tournaments, before letting members sprout off and work on individual work.
“This year we’ve seen growth from last year, we’re bringing more new people onto the team. […] This first semester we’re seeing a lot of growth and a lot of interest.”
However, Speech and Debate had to figure itself out after its losses last year. “We kinda had to find new footings for the team, but I think it’s worked out great,” said Ryan. “Me and Isayah have been doing a lot of growth for the team and compared to last year I’m feeling really good about the future of the team.”
Speech and Debate’s largest concern from last year was the longevity of the club, but after the start of this first semester, it no longer seems to be an issue. The hardest part for the club in previous years wasn’t gaining members, but rather keeping them. “We’re keeping a lot more retention for members,” said Wilson.
“We’re seeing a lot more success for these members and a lot more community-building, and a lot more excitement about tournaments and stuff.”
It wasn’t only Wilson who noticed the changes from last year, as Assistant Coach Mr. Brian Corrigan had similar comments.
“I feel like last year we were mostly dealing with experienced members that had kept coming back but we had a harder time attracting new members and keeping new members coming back.”
In contrast to previous years, new members weren’t leaving; as Mr. Corrigan states, “We’ve had newer members compete once, and they’re still competing, which is good.”
Zy’erra McClain, a novice currently doing Humorous Interpretation (performing a skit reflecting real-world topics while making sure it stays light-hearted), shared her feelings on Speech and Debate.
“I like it a lot, it’s very fun and it’s a learning experience.”
Although McClain hasn’t necessarily won any tournaments, she’s steadily improved since the start of this year. “My feedbacks gotten a lot better from my ballots.” said McClain. The novice has only been to three tournaments so far, yet hopes to reach semi-finals by the end of the season.
The most important focus of this year in Speech in Debate is laying the groundwork for years to come.
“I’m hoping to build up a good foundation for our team for the next few years. I wanna make sure that we get people in and interested in the team so that once I’m gone and graduated this year our team next year won’t be left in the dust and will have a good foundation to keep succeeding for years afterward,” said Wilson.
Mr. Corrigan added, “We’ve got a really really talented group of upperclassmen so when they graduate I want to make sure that we have some freshman and sophomores that are there to pick up the ropes and help continue to build the club.”
Battle Speech and Debate looks to improve themselves for the remainder of the year, and create the foundations for future years to come.
