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For the first time since 2022, NS Speech and Debate is hosting a home tournament Nov. 2 called ‘The Black Hawk.’ This gives them the opportunity to continue hosting at home in the future.
The previous tournament was hosted at Carbon High School with NS placing with the highest average points for each person finishing with 27.1 total points. Union High School was originally supposed to host the next tournament in November, but after dropping out of hosting, NS stepped up and offered to host.
“I’m hoping that we can generate more interest in speech and debate,” advisor Jan Peterson said, “because it’s a spectacular extracurricular, and it’s so much fun, but people are hesitant to get in front of people and talk, so they just shy away but in reality we can all do it. I’m hoping by hosting, it will generate more interest and more people to give it a shot and try it out.”
The circuit schools attending the tournament are Beaver, Carbon, Gunnison, Manti, Emery, Union, and North Sevier.
“Other schools can come,” speech and debate coach Alex Bailey said. “They don’t have to be in the circuit to come, but usually it is just our circuit.”
NS hosted the region tournament for the 2022-23 circuit at the NS Middle School but hasn’t hosted anything since.
“It’s because I’m scared to host a tournament,” Bailey said. “That’s the honest truth. They had asked me if I had wanted to host before, and I was just afraid but they basically do everything so I don’t know why I was so afraid.”
The club believes that where NS is located is better for every school overall.
“Union is pretty far for people to travel to,” Bailey said. “We’re a little more central than Union is.”
The club also believes that since the size of the team has grown recently it will allow them to be asked more often to host.
“I think that now that we have hosted something at the high school,” president Taylor Timms said, “it’s really showing the people running the speech and debate that we’re ready to be committed and ready to be involved.”
The size of the team this year has also helped the team be recognized more.
“Us growing, getting more numbers and becoming better has made it so people are more aware of us,” Bailey said. “It’s not just because of our numbers that have grown but also the confidence the team has grown too.”
The school itself has to be prepared and ready to host.
“We will probably use most of the classrooms,” Peterson said. “We do stay out of wood shops, welding and classrooms like that but we will use the library, the commons area, the auditorium and anything else like that.”
Each school that hosts is given a “battle name” that matches the theme of the tournament.
“We have a theme for each month,” Bailey said. “It’s for the impromptu speech and debate and the tournament director decided and chose [the name] for us.”
There are a lot of excited feelings about hosting from the team because it’s a new opportunity for them.
“I think because we’re hosting at home a lot of people will be coming,” vice president Sage Ivory said. “I think we’ll do good but I don’t think we’ll take first, second or third place but that’s okay because we’re doing really well overall and that’s what we’re focusing on. Juab probably will win. They win, and that’s just their thing.”
With the feelings of excitement, the team has come together more in preparations to host.
“In some cases, speech and debate programs may feel on their own and not have a lot of support from their administration,” Bailey said, “I don’t think that’s the case with our school. I feel like this is a way for us to support each other.”
