The Weber State University Speech and Debate team has been continuing to turn heads. At the International Public Debate Association nationals, the team placed third in novice teams and also received an award for participation all year round.
The IPDA debate has provided them a one-on-one platform. It is also considered more organized because of this.
Head coach Mark Galaviz said, “With our small team, we’ve been able to still place ourselves with bigger schools and teams in the nation that we haven’t gone up against before.”
Even though this season is wrapped up, the same teammates are returning for next year as well as some newcomers. Galaviz explains that to get involved, he likes students to get in contact with him and to have an open conversation.
He asks the question, “What do you really care about?” This gives him an idea of how students want to project themselves with words or in general. “We recruit students who want to really make a critical impact on the world,” Galaviz says.
Volunteer coach Kayla Griffin, along with Galaviz, wanted to also put emphasis on the team captain, Rebecca Brown. They describe her as someone to look up to and who provides that ground floor of communication and leadership while still learning how to fly.
Brown has been on the team since August. Brown explained that it was fun to travel and have in-person experiences before COVID-19, but that learning how to not only be on a team during the pandemic but to coach during it as well, is a feat.
Virtual tournaments have not only given the team a different competitive perspective but have also allowed them to go against schools they don’t usually compete against.
“The achievements aren’t only academic, but the improvement in the team has been phenomenal,” Brown said.
Being able to help the team adapt and building a base of trust and communication are very important to Brown. Advice from her to an oncoming team member is to sit down and write a paragraph about the things that are most important to you.
“The skills from the team help us pursue things we really care about. The ability to fight and advocate for something applies to any job you can be in. Our coaches make it very important to find what works for us,” Brown said.
