The “Tournament of Champions” conjures images of august Ivy League education. Most qualifiers are hosted on college campuses or the leafy acres of private schools or prominent suburban schools with long histories of debate. Many of these tournaments aren’t very diverse (students or judges) and don’t have any participants from majority – minority or Title 1 schools. 

The Urban Debate Dragon Invitational, however, not only has a majority of its participants representing Urban Debate Leagues, but has rotated among public, often Title 1 schools. This is a substantial part of the debate community that deserves representation, and we are proud to diversify the schools that host these competitions and make sure it’s clear that their students belong in these spaces as well. 

Originally scheduled for McKinley Tech, bureaucratic hurdles left the tournament without a home heading into the weekend. We’d like to give a big shout-out to BASIS DC for hosting us this past weekend on short notice, especially Principal Cooper and Coach Yigletu. They made a great weekend possible for several hundred debaters. Many coaches and parents came up to us telling us that this was the best tournament they’d been to, and that was only possible due to your support. 

The Results: 

For the first time, WUDL was able to claim one of the bids to the ToC at the tournament it hosted, as BASIS DC’s Jack and Margaret claimed their 2nd bid, writing their ticket to Kentucky this spring. 

Beyond the home team, friends from the Boston Urban Debate League also claimed a bid (Boston Latin’s Alana / Ava) which makes this a rare ToC qualifier that gave out half of its bids to Urban Debate League students. Coached by WUDL Alum Liv Birnstad and BDL Alum Mosie Burke, the BDL has been a regular guest at the Dragon, and we celebrate their success as well as our own. Also claiming bids were Strath Haven YZ (PA) and Georgetown Day (NK) from the greater NE / Mid-Atlantic region. 

WUDL had lots of other teams in elimination rounds, including BASIS DC’s Sitara / Daniella (Quarters), and Alex / Royana (Octo-Finals),  Academy of Health Sciences / Duke Ellington Ayisha / Victoria, Banneker’s Rohan / Henry, and School Without Wall’s Simone / Amelia. 

Sitara was the 7th overall individual speaker, with Jack (12th), Margaret (13th), Ella (DC International, 14th), and Daniella (16th). 

In JV,  Chloe (Stuart Hobson) and Atrayu (Thurgood Marshall) went undefeated, advancing to Semi-Finals, along with Eliot Hine’s Louise / Eliza, before being defeated by division champs Sidwell AH. 

Atrayu (2nd), Berrin (Oyster Adams, 10th), Xander (Oyster Adams, 13th), Chloe (16th), Annika (Oyster Adams, 17th), Kai (School Without Walls, 18th), Yakin (John Francis, 19th), and Leah (Banneker, 20th) also among the outstanding individual performances. 

This enormous event wasn’t possible without the WUDL community. All told, 40(!) volunteers judged over the three days of the competition. 

• Connor Akiyama (Asst. Coach, Eliot Hine MS)
• Greg Almeida, Jess Berenson, Alan Coverstone, Kellen Grode, June Jack, Patrick McMullen, Adam White, Tony Wyatt (Volunteers)
• Aisha Bah (Alum, Coach, Eleanor Roosevelt)
• Jokim Bryant (LAMDL Alum, Coach, Richard Wright)
• Jose Cantu (HUDL Alum, WUDL Advisory Board)
• Eric Clarke (Alum, Coach, School Without Walls, WUDL Advisory Board)
• Katy Corcoran (Coach, Mary Bethune)
• Clarke Dickens, Eric Esparza, Michelle Njoku, Kailey Ramlal, Aisha Taylor (Alums)
• Darin Eberhardt (Coach, Eastern HS)
• Forest Gertin, Amanda Kenn (Coaches, Forest Park) 
• Marc Goldman, Allison Pickett, Kit Pierson, Linda Solomon (WUDL Board)
• Jonathan Gonzalez, Ohm Gore, Jessica Moore, Linda Oyolu, (WUDL Advisory Board)
• Cody Gustafson (Coach, Charles Flowers)
• Sangeeth Mathew (Alum, Coach, College Park Academy)
• Parker McCauley (Alum, Coach, Creative Minds)
• Christine Miller (Coach, Oyster Adams)
• Alex Montgomery (Alum, Coach, KIPP Shaw / Digital Pioneers)
• Matt Morrison (Parent, Eliot Hine, WUDL PTA)
• Omar Price (Coach, DuVal High School)
• Amanda Worsley (Parent, DC International, Sojourner Truth, WUDL PTA)

Special shout outs to all the volunteers who judged a full commitment or more into elimination rounds: Darin, Eric, Greg, (8), Tony and Alex (7), Cody, Aisha, Kellen, Alan, Alex, and Jonathan (6)

We sincerely appreciate your weekend time to support our students! From covering a few rounds on Friday when we needed it most, to cutting a few cards, everyone played a huge role in a machine that produced some phenomenal results. This is what a village can do together. 

See you Nov. 22nd @ Teddy Roosevelt for the WUDL Thanksgiving Throwdown!