WUDL returned to Chicago, the host of the league’s first Urban Debate National Championship in 2016. Back then, we were just glad to be in the competition and win a single round. When Keoni and Noah of Largo High School went 3-3 and almost advanced to elimination rounds, we were over the moon. 

This year, after both Capital City and School Without Walls advanced to elimination rounds last year, optimism abounded, and expectations were higher. While not wanting to put too much pressure on his students, Coach Clarke was definitely aiming for a return to elimination rounds. 

This was the first year that a single school qualified both entries to the Urban Debate National Championship for WUDL, but it was School Without Walls’ goal from the beginning of the season. Coach Clarke and his debaters focused their research on the cases written by students at other schools, and prepared new strategies for the qualifiers that challenged his debaters to get outside their comfort zone. This hard work paid off, as they qualified with the two best records in the national qualifiers. Despite a record number of competitors in the Varsity Division, they were able to carve a path to the UDNC. 

Joining us on the trip were Coach Yigletu of BASIS DC and one of his students, Leah. Leah and Akesh participated in the I-Resolve program last fall, debating about inequality in a showcase at the CATO Institute, and doing live reactions to the GOP Debates earlier this spring. Leah and Coach Yigletu participated in several college tours, and did a scavenger hunt around Chicago to cap off their I-Resolve experience while the rest of us were in round. 

Our two seniors, Akesh and Jener, qualified last year and made it to Octo-Finals. They’ve debated together, or at least on the same team, since 6th grade when both students were at Capital City. They’ve been competing in regional tournaments since 8th grade, pre-pandemic, and are used to rigorous competition. 

William and Zahra are younger, but are also extremely experienced in regional competition. They’ve both been in elimination rounds before, all the way back to when William won Middle School Nationals in 7th grade (the same tournament where Zahra was Top Speaker and a Semi-Finalist). 

WUDL came ready to support our debaters, with David, Mac, and alumna Aisha Bah coming along to assist the teams as well as coach Eric. 

Both teams advanced to elimination rounds, Akesh and Jener facing off against Huntington Beach (Los Angeles), the tournament’s top seed, and William and Zahra facing off against Judge Barefoot Sanders (Dallas). While both teams were defeated, we put up a good show, including winning 1/3 ballots versus Dallas. 

With time to kill on Sunday, Coach Mac took the boys to a Chicago White Sox game, while Coach Yigletu took Leah and Zahra to the Aquarium. As a director, the tournament was a great opportunity to chat and share best practices with my colleagues from around the country. From in depth pedagogical questions about literacy and accessibility to structural conversations about how tournaments are run and programs are designed to exciting updates on the Spanish Language and Elementary School programming in the network, this networking and knowledge sharing was invaluable. 

Per tradition, we made sure to get some local delicacies along the way, including Deep Dish pizza from Lou Malnatti’s, and Chicago dogs at the ballpark. Even better, a storm didn’t strand us (like last year), and we were able to make it back on time.