A coin flips a few times in the air before landing on heads. With shoulders back, suit on and chin held high, senior William Salyers looks to his public forum debate partner, senior Ehab El-Ahmad, and nods confidently, ready to argue his position. With countless hours of research turning evidence into muscle memory, Salyers and El-Ahmad won three out of four debates at the Dec. 6 Florida National Speech and Debate Competition in Orlando, resulting in a second-place finish for the public forum team.

“We had a lot of preparation from the tournament earlier in the month,” Salyers said. “By the time this competition came around, we had already spent weeks researching both sides of the topic and preparing responses for almost anything we expected to hear.”

How it started

In 2023, Salyers’ sophomore year, debate was offered as a class for the first time. The course builds the foundation for attending a debate competition, but competing is not a requirement.

“I took it with my friends, thinking it would just be fun,” Salyers said. “My best friend, Ehab, and I stepped up. Although nobody [had any debate experience] except [alumna] Anjani Sharma, who was a senior when we were in debate class, we wanted to try it.”

After learning about the differences between the speech and debate events — which range from a mock congressional debate to reading a speech — Salyers said he found the competition he would grow to love.

“I do public forum, where two teams of two compete against each other,” Salyers said. “One of them supports a resolution; the other one opposes it. The topic will be about domestic or foreign policy, for instance, whether the United States should have more nuclear energy or not.”

How it’s going

Having competed in debate since seventh grade at another school, junior Maggie Qin said the debate class attracted new members, and the club has continued to grow since.

“[Debate has] really exploded recently,” Qin said. “When I started, it was in my eighth-grade year, and it was just me [and Sharma]. After ninth grade, there were a few more people, and then this year, especially, there are a lot of new people who are joining.”

Qin competes in congressional debate, where students discuss bills and question one another in a group of 20 individuals, aiming to stand out among the other congressmen.

“I tell everyone, ‘Join Congress,’” Qin said. “If we do have a tournament soon, we go over prep resources, and we review and do research. If we don’t have a tournament, we may have a scrimmage debate, where we pull out a fun topic and have at each other. You don’t have to just come in and then go straight to debate [competition]. You can experience all the different types of events as well that we have.”

While the Speech and Debate Club members mainly compete in debate competitions, junior Sruthi Sharma solely competes in speech-giving competitions.

“Speech is really different from debate because you’re not arguing against anyone,” Sharma said. “It’s about creating an idea or building on previous ideas and being able to share that with a wider audience.”

Last November, the Speech and Debate Club competed in one of the most prestigious debate competitions: the Florida Blue Key Speech & Debate Tournament. Although none of the debaters placed this year, the club has historically succeeded in high-level competitions.

“Last year, we crushed it,” Salyers said. “Before break, we went eight-oh, meaning we won every single round. We made it to the semifinals and got pretty close to winning; that felt so good. There must have been a hundred public forum teams and more than 200 people in public forum alone … and we got third place.”

Salyers said years of competing have brought him more than just trophies; they’ve brought him lifelong memories.

“There’s a lot of camaraderie and morale,” Salyers said. “We go on road trips together and are stuck in a car for two or three hours. At Blue Key, for example, we’re staying in the same hotel room. I get to know the guys better, and it’s just a lot of fun.”

Looking to the future

With five years of debate experience under her belt, Qin said she recommends debate to anyone willing to put in the time.

“Debate is an essential skill to have for your future, no matter what you do,” Qin said. “It’s really the communication skills that you get from debate, learning how you can get your logic across and get your message out effectively.”

Sruthi Sharma said she considers herself proof of the change speech and debate can make on a personal level.

“Before I joined speech and debate, I was really shy and didn’t talk to people much,” Sruthi Sharma said. “After joining speech and learning how to share my ideas, I became more confident.”

“Obviously, there are the skills that get built into you, like public speaking and being persuasive and research skills,” Salyers said. “But also, defeat happens. While it sucks, it does teach you to be humble.”

Since every tournament is in Orlando or further, Salyers said he hopes to see Brevard County become a debate hotspot in the coming years.

“Recently, we went to Holy Trinity for a scrimmage, and their coach told us that Brevard used to have its own tournaments instead of having to go to Orlando every time,” Salyers said. “But COVID destroyed it. Now we’re seeing that Brevard is growing back, and hopefully we’ll see tournaments by the end of this year, if not next year.”

In the final stretch of his high school debate career, Salyers said he trusts the next generation of Speech and Debate Club to continue succeeding in competition.

“I hope seeing our names called at award shows shows newer members that West Shore can compete at a high level,” Salyers said. “If you put in the effort and care about what you’re doing, it’s possible to win.”

Encouraging the expansion of the Speech and Debate club, Qin said that although debate is a difficult, time-intensive extracurricular activity, it is worth the effort.

“Come to our club meetings, and you will have a feeling or understanding of what we do,” Qin said. “Our club meetings are really chill. You can spectate for the first few tournaments. You don’t have to just come in and then go straight to debate.”