Archive 2013-2014 (in reverse chronological order)

Junior National Championships The Junior Nationals were held in Toronto this year, with a total of 46 teams participating. Participants had four wonderful days in Toronto, and in addition to the debating, got to see a Blue Jays game, the Aquarium, and spend time at many of the prestigious colleges on the U of T campus. Many thanks go out the organizers, especially Aija Zommers, Deirdre Casey, Richard Cook and Santino Bellisario. The winning team was from Ontario consisting of Dasha Metropolitansky and Armin Safavi-Naini from UTS, who defeated a team from British Columbia in the finals. Quebec was represented by 6 teams, 2 from LCC, two from ECS, one from Selwyn and one from St. George's. The top Quebec team was Linda Zhu and Julia Leb from LCC who made it to quarter-finals. The top Quebec speaker was Rachel McKenzie from St. George's. Click here for individual and team results.

Senior National Championships The Senior Nationals were held in Winnipeg this year, with a total of 48 teams participating. Thanks to the wonderful hosts at Balmoral Hall and St. John's-Ravenscourt, and to key organizers Rhonda Smith, Andrew Kaplan and of course John Robinson. The winning team was from British Columbia with the team of Lloyd Lyall and Samantha Starkey ( West Point Grey Academy ) defeating a team from Alberta in the finals. Quebec was represented by a total of 6 teams, two from Selwyn, one from ECS, one from Loyola, one from Kells, and one from LCC. For the first time in three years, Quebec had a team break to quarters, and congratulations are in order to Karl Valentini and Sam Skinner from Selwyn House for this feat. Sam was also the top speaker from Quebec. Click here for individual and team results.

University of Ottawa Tournament Results The University of Ottawa held one of its largest ever high school tournaments, and 17 teams from Quebec were among the 42 in attendance. Thanks to Kathryn LeBlanc and Lucy Ellis for running a great event! Two Quebec teams made semis finals. Eric Schwartz and Phil Dubrofsky from LCC were defeated in semis, and the team of Yasmeen Dajani and Clarisa Rengel from Kells Academy made to the final round! The novice final consisted of two LCC teams, with Riley Cohen and Victoria Kalisky defeating Michael DiGiorgio and Julia Leb. Quebec did very well overall, with more than half of the 20 speakers. Click here for individual and team results.

QSDA Provincial Debating Championships On February 21-22, the QSDA Provincials for the first time were hosted as a two day event, with six rounds of debating, and both the junior and senior provincials were held as one event. This tournament was co-hosted by Selwyn House and Lower Canada College. On Friday, there were two prepared rounds. The seniors debated the topic "This House would abolish the Canadian Senate". We are pleased to have been sponsored in part by "Your Constitution, Your Canada" as a result. The juniors debated about whether politicians private lives should be private. On Saturday, there were four impromptu rounds. The junior champions were the St. George's team of Rachel McKenzie and Noah Taran. The other teams in the top five that qualified for Nationals were from Selwyn House, Lower Canada College, ECS and Vincent Massey. Rachel McKenzie was top speaker. In the senior division, the provincial champions were Karl Valentini and Nikolas de Stefano from Selwyn House, who were the only team with a 6-0 record. The other teams in the top six qualifying for Nationals were Selwyn House, Kells Academy, Loyola, ECS and Lower Canada College. The top speaker was Yasmeen Dajani from Kells Academy. Special thanks to all of the coaches and judges! Click here for the junior division team and individual results. Click here for the senior division team and individual results.

McGill Winter Debating Bonanza About 60 teams attended McGill's second event of the year, held in CP format. Teams came all the way from British Columbia for this event. In the finals, the Bayview - UTS hybrid team ( Dasha Metropolitansky and Jerry Jiang ) defeated a team from Richmond Hill ( Catherine Zheng and Mars He. The top Quebec team was Kells Academy ( Clarisa Rengel and Yasmeen Dajani ) who made it to the semi-finals. Dasha was top speaker, and Yasmeen was second. The junior final was all Quebec with the Royal West team of Logan Stack and Leela Shamash defeating the LCC team of Dylan Theriault-Harris and Linda Zhu. Click here for team and individual results.

Junior Debate Tournament at Kells Academy The fourth junior debating tournament of the year was held at Kells Academy. Thanks to Michael Chung and Sarah Campbell for hosting the first ever tournament at Kells. There were three impromptu rounds. The top team was Dylan Theriault-Harris and Michael DiGiorgio from LCC. Dylan was also the top speaker. Click here for team and individual results.

Queens University Debating Tournament The Queens Tournament took place on the first weekend in January. A total of 106 teams were in attendance from across Canada, with six provinces being represented. For the first time, there was a break to the octo-finals on Sunday. After all was completed, the hybrid team of Benjamin Wang and Jerry Peng ( Bayview SS and Richmond Hill ) won the final over the team from Sacred Heart. The top speaker was Rory Flynn from Sacred Heart. Mattea Roach was the top Under-15 speaker from Sacred Heart. The top junior team was Jeffrey Li and Monica Xu from Bayview SS. They, along with teams from Richmond Hill, Halifax Grammar, UTS and UCC have qualified U-15 teams for the ICYD in the UK later this year. The top Quebec team was Clarissa Rengel and Yasmeen Dajani from Kells. They broke to octo-finals, which they won, before dropping in the quarters and finishing 5th overall. Yasmeen was the top Quebec speaker in 6th. Congratulations to Queen's for running an outstanding event! Click here for the team tab, the individual tab, and the break round results.

Royal West Debating Tournament The last QSDA debate tournament of 2013 took place at Royal West Academy. Special thanks to Catherine Holloway and her team at Royal West for running a great event. This was a senior tournament, with four rounds in National Debate Format, with two rounds on a prepared topic. At the end of the day, the team of Eric Schwartz and Phil Dubrofsky took first place with a 4-0 record. Eric was top speaker. Click here for individual and team results.

QSDA Junior Tournament at Vincent Massey The third junior tournament of the year took place at VMC. A total of 18 teams attended. There were three impromptu rounds of debate. The tournament champions were Jenna Blatt and Sydney Joy from Trafalgar. The top speaker was Tara Mintzberg from ECS. Click here for the team and individual results.

Carleton University Debate Tournament The annual "Xerxes" Cup took place in Ottawa at Carleton University. A record 56 teams attended. Three schools from Quebec participated, with LCC, Selwyn House and Stanstead sending a total of 22 teams. The tournament featured five rounds with hidden-quarters, followed by the semi-finals. In total, 5 Quebec teams made quarters-fianls. Eric Schwartz and Phil Dubrofsky from LCC, Dylan Theriault-Harris and Michael Di Giorgio from LCC, and Victoria Kalisky and Arianna Galbraith from LCC were all quarter-finalists. Two Quebec teams also made it to semi-finals. Nikolas de Stefano and Jamie Denham from Selwyn House, and Riley Cohen and Foster Salpeter from LCC were eliminated in semis. The top team in the tournament was Tasha Saint Macary and Kiana Saint Macary from Lycee Claudel, who defeated Lisgar in the finals. Quebec had 7 speakers in the top 10, with Nikolas de Stefano taking 2nd, and Victoria Kalisky in third. Click here for the results file.

Oxford Cup Debating Tournament The 9th Annual Oxford Cup Debating tournament took place in Vancouver, British Columbia. A total of four teams from Quebec attended: Yasmeen Dajani and Clarissa Rengel from Kells Academy, Sophie Battat and Chloe Shahinian from The Study, Athina Khalid and Maria Zimmermann from ECS, and Sarah Aronovici and Autumn Dwyer from ECS attended. Students debated a total of six rounds in British Parliamentary debate before the semi-finals. The top Quebec team was Athina Khalid and Maria Zimmermann, who in 11th place just missed out on the semi-finals. The top Quebec speaker was Athina Khalid. The tournament champions were Rory Flynn and Mattea Roach from Sacred Heart School of Halifax. The top speaker was Nasra Moumin from Saskatchewan. The teams from Sacred Heart, UCC, and Campbell Collegiate have qualified to represent Canada at the Oxford Schools Competition in the UK next March. Click here for the results file.

The Study Debate Tournament The second QSDA junior tournament was held at The Study. Special thanks go out to Melissa Onofrio for running a great tournament. A total of 22 teams competed with 3 impromptu rounds. The top team in the tournament was Dylan Theriualt-Harris and Linda Zhu from Lower Canada College. Dylan was also the top speaker. Click here for the individual and team results.

McGill High School Debating Tournament The annual McGill tournament drew a record 132 teams. Congratulations to the McGill Debating Union for running an outstanding event! A total of 20 teams from Quebec participated this year. Two Quebec teams made it to the quarter finals: Yasmeen Dajani and Clarissa Rengel from Kells Academy, along with Athina Khalid and Maria Zimmermann from ECS. The top Quebec speaker was Chloe Shahinian from The Study. The tournament was won by Rory Flynn and Mattea Roach from Sacred Heart School of Halifax. Rory Flynn was top speaker. This tournament selected the teams for the Oxford Cup. At the time, the QSDA announced a total of 6 teams that were eligible ( which may or may not be the teams that end up attending ). In addition to the two quarter-finalists, the remaining teams were Chloe Shahinian and Sophie Battat ( The Study ), Eric Schwartz and Phil Dubrofsky ( LCC ), Riley Cohen and Foster Salpeter ( LCC ) and Ashley Gold and Joseph Wiltzer ( LCC ). Click here for the team and individual standings.

Osgoode Debating Tournament The annual Osgoode Debating Tournament was held at York University. A total of 72 teams competed in British Parliamentary Style debate. A total of four Quebec schools traveled to Toronto for this tournament. Three of the four teams in the junior final were from Quebec - 2 from Vincent Massey and one from Stanstead College. The top Quebec team was Yasmeen Dajani and Clarissa Rengel from Kells Academy, and the top Quebec speaker was Andrea Davies from Lower Canada College. The tournament's top speaker was Elliot Kaufman from UCC, and the winning team was from UTS. Click here for the team and individual results.

Marianopolis Debating Tournament The annual "Aristotle Cup" tournament was hosted by Marianopolis on Saturday, October 5. There were a total of 28 teams in attendance, and they debated four impromptu rounds. In the final, the team from Kells Academy of Clarissa Rengel and Yasmeen Dajani defeated the Lower Canada College team of Eric Scwartz and Phil Dubrofsky. The top speaker was Yasmeen Dajani from Kells. Click here for team and individual results.

Loyola Junior Tournament The first junior tournament of the year was held at Loyola, with two prepared rounds and one impromptu. A total of 28 students participated. The top team was Gabriella Martucci and Emily Zemel from Trafalgar. The second place team was from ECS, and the third place team also from Trafalgar. The top speaker was Jessica Marshall from Trafalgar. Click here for team and individual standings.