The Bridgewater-Raritan High School speech and debate team participated in the New Jersey Districts tournament on March 22 and 23, marking the last tournament and one of the most challenging of the year.
The tournament took place at Delbarton School in Morris Township.
The tournament consisted of speech and debate participants from across New Jersey competing to qualify for the National Speech and Debate Tournament, which will be held from June 16–21 in Des Moines, Iowa.
Four preliminary rounds made up the first part of the competition, two on the first day and two on the second. If a debater or speech competitor won at least three of those four rounds, they would make it to the octofinalist level, a group of the top sixteen students. In order to qualify for the national tournament, students had to place in the top three in any given speech or debate category.
A total of 15 students from Bridgewater-Raritan High School competed in this prestigious event. Out of the 15 who participated, three students qualified for the national tournament.
In the Lincoln-Douglas (LD) debate, junior Riya Shenvi won first place out of a competitive pool of 32 entries. LD is a debate event in which high school students have a one-on-one philosophical debate, taking the affirmative or negative side of a global topic. The LD topic for March–April 2024 was whether the primary objective of the United States criminal justice system ought to be rehabilitation.
Shenvi went through and won the final round with a tournament record of 8-0. She reflected on her experience at the tournament.
“I don’t think I’ll [ever] forget the moment I found out I won the National qualifying round. It validated 2 years of late nights prepping, early Saturday bus-rides to tournaments, and losing my voice every Monday after the tournament. BR Forensics is such a supportive community,” the LD team captain said.
In the Public Forum (PF) debate, juniors Abhay Sankar and Atharva Makode won third place out of a pool of 35 entries. PF is a debate event in which high school students have a two-on-two factual debate, taking the affirmative or negative side of a global topic. The PF topic for March 2024 was whether U.S. collegiate student-athletes should be classified as employees of their educational institution.
Sankar and Makode made it to the semifinals with a record of 6-2. Makode weighed in on their rounds across the whole tournament.
“The tournament experience was amazing. It was a great run, and we are thrilled to represent Bridgewater PF at the NSDA National Tournament,” he said.
Sankar showed his gratitude for his role on the debate team.
“We are very happy to have the opportunity to debate at the Nationals in Iowa this June. We are very grateful to have the support of the debate community throughout the tournament, and we could not have done this without their help,” he said.
Senior Amey Paranjpe, who also attended the tournament as an LD debater, looked back on his debate career.
“My experience as a member of BRHS Forensics has been really rewarding, from starting off as a member to [becoming] the Vice President, and I’m really happy we were able to accomplish so much through cooperation and teamwork,” Paranjpe said.
As the current season has officially concluded, the Bridgewater-Raritan Forensics team now plans to elect officers for next year and host the club’s banquet in the next few months.
