Concordia’s NPDA parliamentary debate team placed first in their last pre-nationals season tournament from Feb. 18 to Feb. 19 at the Northern California Forensics Association Spring Championship Tournament hosted by Diablo Valley College.

Haidyn Christoffel, debate captain, said, “I am unbelievably proud of this team's success at NCFA! I really think Concordia has shown the NPDA circuit that we are bringing some extremely tough competition in the nationals season.” 

Greta Jones, junior NFA-LD captain, added, “It was good to get a dub going into the championship season. It boosted our confidence and gave us some momentum to build off of.”

Concordia gained valuable experience, which will help them in the national season. “We got a lot of great practice with arguments we haven’t read before - especially in more technical argumentation, which will prepare us for higher level competition moving forward,” said Jones.

Ellie Harris, freshman on the debate team, added, “I encountered several new arguments I'd never hit before and learned how to respond to them. I feel more prepared for the next tournament.”

Concordia forensics has numerous goals throughout the semester. However, nationals season is when Concordia prioritizes winning…and Concordia is setting the bar high. Konrad Hack, director of forensics, said, “At the end of the year, when we go to nationals, that is when we get focused on results.” He added, “My goal is to come home with two national championships.”

Christoffel agreed with Hack. She said, “I think winning first place in every debate event that NCCFI offers and snagging first place in team sweepstakes would be amazing. As far as NPDA, I think we have a chance to win first place in team sweepstakes.”

The NPDA team of Harris and Jones are confident they can do some damage at the national tournaments. “Our success at this tournament was really encouraging! I think we've made a lot of progress since the start of the season and I have high hopes for nationals,” Harris said.

While bringing home the hardware is great, the qualitative wins are just as valuable. Christoffel finds that non-competitive goals are the most important. “Though this season can often feel tiring, I hope everyone knows that what really matters is the memories you will make along the way,” said Christoffel. She added, “To me, that is more valuable than winning will ever be.”

Hack said, “We’ve already had an amazing year, lots of great successes and even if we don’t have the weekend we’d hoped for, the year will still be a success.”

If you have any questions about joining the friendly community that is the debate team, contact Sean Nowlan, director of debate, at sean.nowlan@cui.edu.

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