This weekend's Roosevelt tournament was a winner not just in our student performances but also in our parents contributions. Thanks to a great group of parents for all you have done quietly in the background from judging to concessions! You make a BIG difference in what our students can accomplish.
Again, I heard nothing but great comments about our concessions and the judges lounges. Whoever had the cafe idea in there was really on the ball. What an inviting atmosphere for visitors to Roosevelt.
Our students performed very well this weekend. I had been concerned that we had hit a wall in November and weren't making progress. That problem was fixed this weekend. 8 new degrees were earned and we still might be able to pick up another 10-15 degrees this season.
We will (for the first time ever) soon post a strength rating of 200 degrees.
We are at 194 right now. This doesn't happen because of any ONE student. A student can only earn 8 NFL degrees. This is everyone together.
A program with 200 plus degrees is in a an elite group of schools. Yes--there are a few schools with 700 plus degrees. But I'll bet not even 10% of NFL member schools ever achieve 200 degrees in their program history. When we get there, Iowa will have 5 schools above 200 degrees this season! This is a challenging state when it comes to high school debate.
So a big thanks to everyone who helped out this weekend and every student who competed. Our kids had a winning record in both Lincoln Douglas Debate and in Public Forum Debate.
Now we will begin to focus on the big tournaments head: National Qualifier, All Iowa Finals and Novice Nationals. It will still take a lot of work hosting and judging for these events but together we have achieved a lot this season with more to come.
Novice, Freshman and Sophomore parents please note: We cannot and will not take every member of our squad to National Qualifier and All Iowa Finals.
There are some pretty strict limits placed on entries for those events. At Nat Quals some younger students will simply be used as "cannon fodder" to help fill slots to help the eventual district team in national tournament slots. Sometimes students don't like being fodder. But it is part of the process and virtually everyone in the program has been fodder at one time or another. And, for the record, fodder students have been know to pull off miracles and qualify--even in our district.
Our goal is to advance students and win state championships. If your student is not part of this scenario--understand they will be as they get older and more experienced. We will be leaving some pretty talented students on the sidelines. There will be a few younger students used but not many.
Since we host this year, we don't have to make Nat Quals travel plans so our entry is likely to be a secret up to the last minute. We will not be giving our opponents much time to prepare for us this year.
If your student isn't competing or once they are eliminated from National Qualifier we will need them at RHS for the rest of the tournament to help run the event.
February 13-14 is National Qualifier. It is a tense tournament. A lot of nerves, a lot of disappointments and only about 28 students from Western Iowa Schools will earn tickets to Birmingham, AL in June.
There are no guarantees any of those students will be ours. We have been very fortunate to have qualified 17 students in 3 years. I hope our good luck goes forward but our kids are going to have to be good when it matters.
Just a bit of Roosevelt history...in 1999 Roosevelt took in the qualifier when another school backed out. It resulted in an eventual National Championship for a Roosevelt Lincoln Douglas debate student. Competing at home paid off that year. That is why we host this event--to compete where we should be comfortable.
If you have Nat Quals questions, feel free to contact either of the coaches.
Thanks for your help and understanding! Coach Harry
