Debate Tournament 2011

Winning team: The International School Nido de Águilas.
Second place: The Grange School 

With great enthusiasm and in an atmosphere of friendship and healthy competition, six teams took part in the first rounds of the 5th ESU Chile Debate Tournament, held on  October 18th at Nido de Águilas and November 3rd at The Grange.  They were from Bradford School, Colegio Cumbres Masculino, The Grange School, Lincoln International School, Nido de Águilas International School and Villa María Academy.  The last four progressed to the semi finals and finals that were held at Villa María Academy on November 22nd. 

On the semifinals Villa Maria Academy lost in the debate against The Grange School; and Nido de Águilas won over Lincoln International. 

On the final round the Grange lost to Nido and Villa Maria won over Lincoln International.

Thus, the final results were:

1st place:  Nido de Aguilas
2nd place: The Grange School
3rd place: Villa Maria Academy
4th place: Lincoln International

During the competition there were a number of judges that were essential for the competition’s success:

Content judges:

• Nicole Hansen and Felipe Ibarra, from UNAB’s Debate Society, both with extensive experience debating, coaching and judging, both in Chile and abroad
• Paulina Valenzuela and Valentina Salvatierra, former debaters in Team Chile, at the 2010 Qatar Worlds School Debate Championship.
• Victor Vidaurre, former debater in Team Chile, at the Dundee 2011 Worlds Schools Debate Championship.

Style Judges:

• Andrea Matta, from Colegio Apoquindo.
• David Stronach, Christine Jeppersen and Gloria Faúndez from ESU
• Juan Pablo Silva, from Silva & Compañía law office.
• Ignacio García, from Baker Mackenzie law office.
• Verónica Stronach, ESU Chairperson
• Drina Rendic, executive member of the Consejo Nacional de la Cultura y las Artes (CNCA)

Ms. Veronica  Stronach, ESU Chile Chairperson, closed the competition with a motivating speech addressed to all the teams, inviting them to keep on participating in the different ESU Chile events.  She congratulated both the students and their coaches for the high spirit of camaraderie and friendship that prevailed throughout the contest. She specially thanked the teachers for the outstanding preparation and research their teams showed and the level of excellency of their arguments. She thanked Libreria Inglesa for sponsoring the competition too. 

Each participant received a diploma and the first, second and third places, along with their coaches, received vouchers from Libreria Inglesa to recognize their efforts.

With great enthusiasm and in an atmosphere of friendship and healthy competition, six teams took part in the first rounds of the 5th ESU Chile Debate Tournament, held on 18 October at Nido de Águilas and 3 November at The Grange. They were from Bradford School, Colegio Cumbres Masculino, The Grange School, Lincoln International School, Nido de Águilas International School and Villa María Academy. The last four named progressed to the next stage.

The competitors and their respective coaches are now fine-tuning their strategies for the Semi-finals and Finals which will take place at Villa María Academy on Tuesday 22 November from 4pm sharp.

If you are interested in watching the event in full swing, you would be very welcome to attend this important occasion.

This is scheduled for 3 days on the following dates:
September 6, October 4 and October 18.

A move has been initiated to hold a 3-tier debate between teams from schools, universities and young executives,
together with Team Chile as the fourth team.
This is scheduled to take place during the second semester of 2011.