the WUDL Holiday Classic serves as the last tune-up before national qualifiers start in January. It also serves as a great place to debut for teams who got a late start this fall. 

We were excited to welcome Coaches Cross, Perkins, Cooper / Zucker from Cesar Chavez (Ward 7), Sojourner Truth (Ward 5), and College Track (Ward 8), respectively. We also had observers from Redlands Middle School (MoCo) and School Without Walls Francis Stevens (Ward 1), who are excited to debut in January.  

As always, thank you to DC International School for hosting us in your beautiful school. Principal Nace and Activities Coordinator Session-Levine are always supportive and eager to make it happen youth across the city. 

In Varsity, BASIS DC has officially put the league on notice — they are the team to beat going into national qualifiers. They had 3 undefeated teams, whom I look forward to coaching against in January. 

Highlights: 

In their first local Varsity tournaments, BASIS DC’s Schmidt / Seghal went undefeated, and College Park’s Onyilofor looked like naturals, with BASIS going undefeated, and Onyilofor named top speaker. Eliot Hine’s Young, also new to Varsity, and like Onylifor, debating with a new partner, also did well, finishing with a 2-2 record. 

In JV, Dr. Price and Coach Wilborn clearly have a team on the rise over at DuVal. 1st year debaters Mathew / Esparza went undefeated, winning the division, while teams from Hardy, Alice Deal, Banneker, CMIT North, and hybrids from DCI / Hardy, and Creative Minds / Kettering were right behind them. Capital City’s Alford was the top speaker, her first JV speaker award. 

In Novice, Akanon / Idika from Coach Haffner’s resurgent Charles Flowers took 1st place. Five other teams also went undefeated in this huge division, all of whom are JV bound in the second semester: Thurgood Marshall’s Jones / Simpson, Alice Deal’s Woodings / Ventura, EL Haynes’s Cavanagh / Eddings, Banneker’s O’Malley / Holley-Miers, and Duke Ellington’s Gorman / Horkrader. 

Special shout out to College Track’s Smith / Lee, who went 2-1 in their debut. We’re very excited about this partnership, which is WUDL’s first non-school based partnership. College Track is a national college preparatory organization that helps students build the skills to graduate and succeed in college, and to apply for college. Their D.C. office works with Anacostia, Ballou, Bard, Digital Frontiers, Friendship Tech, and Thurgood Marshall high schools, all in Ward 8. 

We’ll see you in 2024 at Hart Middle School!