UW Debate is announcing a new debate opportunity for the 2024-25 season, “Nationals at UW.”
Starting in the 2024-25 season, UW would like to invite the Wyoming high school debate community to attend online national tournaments at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. We know online tournaments aren’t the biggest draw, but we also believe the Wyoming students benefit from facing national competition more often. Debating online makes those tournaments more accessible and affordable, and we believe that multiple schools coming together to do it at UW can create the atmosphere of an in-person tournament. Our aim is to make those tournaments maximally accessible in a more collective space.
UW will provide:
For now, we can only promise to cover costs (hotel rooms, entry fees, and judging) for policy and LD competitors. We have limited resources, and the national circuit offers a unique experience for policy and LD in a way that is substantially different from other events. We can however provide competition rooms for all interested competitors, including PF and speech. Please note that if there is sufficient interest, we may need to place a cap on financial assistance.
We believe Wyoming Debate benefits tremendously from facing out-of-state competition more, and we will back that with resources to whatever extent we can. We also believe Wyoming Debate benefits by working together to beat out-of-state competition, and will continue to strive to do our part to contribute to Team Wyoming.
What follows is a tentative schedule. We plan to adjust it by the fall coaches conference based on the WY high school schedule, the national circuit schedule, and the college schedule. We definitely don’t want to pull participation away from Wyoming high school tournaments, and will be conscious of that in our scheduling. We also believe that national circuit tournaments might be most useful for a smaller group of more experienced students, which lessens a trade-off effect.
Tentative 2024-25 “National at UW” Schedule
Finally, we would love to make it easier for folks to attend the Alta tournament (12/6-8), in Utah (right near SLC). Alta hosts an excellent tournament that draws a very competitive national crowd. To that extent, we will also book a block of hotel rooms for Wyoming debaters for the Alta tournament the first weekend of December. We’re interested in exploring other ways we can support Wyoming teams at the Alta tournament as well. Please reach out to me if you are interested in this opportunity.
We ran a few pilot projects for this this semester, and we were joined by Riverton, Laramie High School, Cheyenne Central, Cheyenne East, and Wyoming Virtual. I think all our participants would vouch that it was an excellent experience.
We hope you’ll consider joining us for one or more national tournaments at UW, in the spirit of Wyoming vs the World!
Starting in the 2024-25 season, UW would like to invite the Wyoming high school debate community to attend online national tournaments at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. We know online tournaments aren’t the biggest draw, but we also believe the Wyoming students benefit from facing national competition more often. Debating online makes those tournaments more accessible and affordable, and we believe that multiple schools coming together to do it at UW can create the atmosphere of an in-person tournament. Our aim is to make those tournaments maximally accessible in a more collective space.
UW will provide:
- Competition rooms and in-person vibes
- All entry fees fully covered
- All meals fully covered
- Hotel rooms fully covered
- We will aim to cover judging obligations
- UW coaching resources for anyone who wants it (shared preparation, pre-round coaching, etc)
For now, we can only promise to cover costs (hotel rooms, entry fees, and judging) for policy and LD competitors. We have limited resources, and the national circuit offers a unique experience for policy and LD in a way that is substantially different from other events. We can however provide competition rooms for all interested competitors, including PF and speech. Please note that if there is sufficient interest, we may need to place a cap on financial assistance.
We believe Wyoming Debate benefits tremendously from facing out-of-state competition more, and we will back that with resources to whatever extent we can. We also believe Wyoming Debate benefits by working together to beat out-of-state competition, and will continue to strive to do our part to contribute to Team Wyoming.
What follows is a tentative schedule. We plan to adjust it by the fall coaches conference based on the WY high school schedule, the national circuit schedule, and the college schedule. We definitely don’t want to pull participation away from Wyoming high school tournaments, and will be conscious of that in our scheduling. We also believe that national circuit tournaments might be most useful for a smaller group of more experienced students, which lessens a trade-off effect.
Tentative 2024-25 “National at UW” Schedule
- NSDA Season Opener (9/13-15) - Policy, LD [PF, Congress, & Speech offered but not covered by UW]
- Westminster (10/18-20) - Policy Only
- John Lewis (11/15-17) - Policy, LD [PF, Congress, & Speech offered but not covered by UW]
- Gonzaga (1/3-5) – Policy, LD [Congress offered but not covered by UW]
- Stanford (2/7-9) - Policy, LD [PF, Congress, & Speech offered but not covered by UW]
- Tournament of Champions Digital Series #2 (2/21-23) - Policy, LD [PF, Congress, & Speech offered but not covered by UW]
- Tournament of Champions Digital Series #2 (3/7-9) - Policy, LD [PF, Congress, & Speech offered but not covered by UW]
Finally, we would love to make it easier for folks to attend the Alta tournament (12/6-8), in Utah (right near SLC). Alta hosts an excellent tournament that draws a very competitive national crowd. To that extent, we will also book a block of hotel rooms for Wyoming debaters for the Alta tournament the first weekend of December. We’re interested in exploring other ways we can support Wyoming teams at the Alta tournament as well. Please reach out to me if you are interested in this opportunity.
We ran a few pilot projects for this this semester, and we were joined by Riverton, Laramie High School, Cheyenne Central, Cheyenne East, and Wyoming Virtual. I think all our participants would vouch that it was an excellent experience.
We hope you’ll consider joining us for one or more national tournaments at UW, in the spirit of Wyoming vs the World!