Written and updated by Floris Holstege
The very day before team the Netherlands would leave for Stuttgart to debate at the Europen, German train drivers decided to strike and turn our trip into an adventure like no other. The rail strike will be the first of our many adventures in Germany, and this blog will do it’s best to keep track of all of them. Tomorrow we will leave our homes for six days of intense debating and cultural exchange. Our big adventure began approximately five months ago when we were selected from the Roosevelt World Schools Academy. After two months of trials our group was formed and slimmed down to nine individuals, and the practice for the European schools debating championships could begin. After hours and hours of debating, researching and writing, the time has come to show what we have learned in the past months at a world class tournament. In this blog I will keep you updated with both the results of all the teams as well as a general report on our adventures in Stuttgart.
Who is the Netherlands actually sending to the Europen? The teams are, in no particular order:
- Team the Netherlands red: David Metz, Jeroen Wijnen, en Jeanice Koorndijk
- Team the Netherlands white: Victor Schippers, Sam Melief, en Simon Martina-Perez
- Team the Netherlands blue: Max Kosian, Urmi Pahladsingh, en Floris Holstege
What is the Europen exactly? the formal name is the European schools debating championships, but It’s called Europen in short. It is an open international high school debating tournament, organized in the world schools format. Because it’s open there are teams participating from all around the world, such as China and Nigeria, but at the same time a few German high schools will attend the tournament. Speeches are eight minutes long. The motions are partly prepared and partly impromptu. Our very own coach Roel Becker is a CA for this years edition, so it also promises to have some great motions. There are eight rounds and a break to the octo-finals. If you want to read more about the Europen check out the following link: http://www.schoolsdebate.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=243:europen-2014&catid=83:europen&Itemid=788&lang=en
There are two prepared motions for this year edition:
Motion A:
THBT national central banks should set limits on governmental spending
Motion B:
THBT the USA should enter a military alliance with Assad to combat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria
Teams will debate both these motions from proposition as well as opposition, which means that half of the rounds are impromptu and the other half are prepared. If you want to find out which teams we will face in Stuttgart, check out the following link: http://www.schoolsdebate.org/images/EurOpen/2014/EurOpen%202014%20Draw.pdf
Your reporter will post results and muses about the tournament here daily. If you want to know what’s going on at the Europen and especially how team the Netherlands is doing, this is the place to be
The team just arrived after what has been a very smooth trip, and is in full swing to prepare for the opening of tomorrow. Team the Netherlands 1 will face Denmark, team the Netherlands 2 will face Romania, and team the Netherlands 3 will face the Czech Republic. After a long day of preparation, good foot and much excitement all the teams seem ready to put up a stellar performance.
Day 1:
Sorry for the late update; but your reporter brings good news! Team the Netherlands 1, 2, and 3 have won all their debates with 3-0 scores with is the maximum score! The results can be found below. Overall the first day has been really exciting, the morning was spent on preparing cases and the afternoon was reserved for debating. The first motion was: TH would ban striking in essential services. The second round motion was a prepared motion: TH would let central banks set a limit on government spending.
Round 1
Netherlands 1 – Mixed team 3-0
Netherlands 2 – Romania ARGO 3-0
Netherlands 3 – Czech white 3-0
Round 2
Netherlands 1 – Denmark 3-0
Netherlands 2 – Romania SAVA 3-0
Netherlands 3 – Romania@British 3-0
Day 2
After an exhausting day all the teams woke up early to prepare themselves for what will be an important day. There are three rounds today of which two will be impromptu and one prepared. Results will be posted below after the debates.
Round 3:
Team Netherlands 1 – Karls gymnasium 2-1
Team Netherlands 2 – Hamburg 3-0
Team Netherlands 3 – Max born gymnasium 3-0
Round 4:
Team Netherlands 1 – Turkey ALCI 3-0
Team Netherlands 2 – Westside 3-0
Team Netherlands 3 – Germany red 3-0
Round five was closed and all the teams have mixed opinions on their results. The results will be posted here after tomorrow. If the teams secure can secure five wins they will all break. Out of the next three rounds the teams have therefore secure one win to all break. Our days are spent eating pizza, preparing motions and debating, in short a debaters dream.
Over de auteur