GROTON Conn – On Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, the Fitch Debate Team hosted its second statewide competition with over 20 schools in attendance and almost 150 competitors.
After a successful first year hosting in the fall of 2023, the Fitch Debate Team hosted once again, only this time drawing more from the abundance of schools from Fairfield County for the second Connecticut Debate Association Tournament of the season. Last year, two schools hosted the competition; this year, only Fitch had stepped up to the plate which made for a far larger competition than in 2023, which saw just shy of 100 debaters from 10 schools. Each team of two students debated for four rounds against other teams from another high school, arguing the motion “This House believes that tariffs should be increased.” The initial reaction to the topic from the Fitch team was mixed, but a concise argument was able to be made.
“Our team has grown so much and I was so proud to see the turnout for this year,” said senior and co-captain Olivia Flowers. Flowers and fellow co-captain Fabian Aponte-Flores are both
in their third year of competing in the CDA.
The eight teams from Fitch ended the day with one team going 2-2, five going 1-3, and two teams going 0-4. The qualifiers for the varsity final were the team of Griffin Speck and Cade Fravel, and the team of Luis Diez and Trevor Steinke, both from Joel Barlow High School in Redding.
Members of the National Honors Society, Key Club, and Keyettes also volunteered to assist with welcoming teams and serving both breakfast and lunch.
As a host, Fitch holds several unique distinctions. When hosting in 2023, the distance from the majority of the teams in the league resulted in the first competition to have two host schools since March 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the CDA to compete online for the next two seasons. Upon returning to live competition in 2022, many teams fell apart, resulting in only one host school for each competition for the season. Fitch’s turn at hosting was a return to pre-pandemic debate and opened the door for other new schools to host, including Coginchaug in Durham, Farmington High School, Ridgefield High School, and St. Paul’s in Bristol.
Additionally, Fitch is the northeasternmost team in the league, with the next nearest competitors being the recently formed team from Marine Science Magnet High School, Waterford High School, and Daniel Hand in Madison.
The competition wrapped up a busy fall for the Debate Team, which included attending the NCAA Great Debate in Bloomfield with BSU and More Than Words to observe short rounds of debate between teams from Howard and Yale University. The team also started hosting its first “Fitch or Treat” fundraiser to pay its CDA dues.
The next competition will be on Dec. 7 at Farmington High School.
