By Marin Murray.
Last week, the debate team competed at the National Speech & Debate Association’s Tall Cotton District Tournament, where sponsor Benjamin Stephens won the Tall Cotton District New Coach of the Year award.
“It was a really, really exciting moment,” Stephens said. “I knew that getting an award like that means being nominated by people who see the hard work that you do. Getting voted for by the district committee means being recognized by a lot of my peers that I really respect.”
The award recognizes an exemplary high school coach or sponsor who is in their first year of membership with the NDSA.
“I’ve been in debate for three years, which is as long as Mr. Stephens has been the debate coach here,” senior Mo Carroll said. “The first year, we really just didn’t have anything to build off of; there was no existing program. And now in the third year, we’ve grown our class size exponentially and have so many more people competing.”
Over the past three years, the debate program has expanded into its own class period and currently maintains a busy tournament schedule, all thanks to the commitment of Stephens.
“It’s a testament to how dedicated he is,” junior Julia Langkiet said. “He’s always been the first one to support us. It really shows how much he deserves it, because of how much he’s helped us grow in our own skills and how much he’s grown this program.”
Over the past few tournaments that the team has competed in, many members have taken home high places. Most recently, in the Abilene Wylie Valentine Classic, Carroll placed first and freshman Lainey Marz placed second in persuasive extemporaneous speaking, while Langkiet placed first and senior Miles Etter placed second in Lincoln-Douglas (LD) debate.
“He wants us to win, and he wants us to practice and push ourselves to do well,” Carroll said. “But he also knows when to be supportive and let us rest. So, he pushes us, but he also is supportive and patient.”
Even though it is the actions and work ethic of Stephens that earned him the award, he gives all the credit to his students.
“It’s definitely a testament to my students more than anything else,” Stephens said. “They do all of the hard work, I just opened the doors.”
This year was the team’s first year competing at this specific tournament, which is a national qualifying tournament for the Big Country and the Texas Panhandle.
“I spent most of the district national qualifying tournament having Abilene High’s program being complimented by coaches who are much more experienced,” Stephens said. “So three years ago, it never would have crossed my mind that something like this was even possible.”
At the tournament, Langkiet advanced to the octofinals, which is the earliest stage of finals, in LD debate and placed in the top 13. Carroll advanced to the semifinals and placed in the top 17 for extempt, while junior Adene Tilahun had the same results in the U.S. extempt competition.
“I got to compete against someone who has been to nationals,” Langkiet said. “I got to see what someone at that skill level looks like, so I’m going to take that and learn how to critique my own strategies.”
The team members who competed in this tournament participated in events that they don’t typically get the opportunity to do, like U.S. and international extemp, as they are not a part of the UIL-organized events.
“I got to learn more of how those different types of competitions work and I got to see more people at varying skill levels,” Langkiet said. “It was just really crazy because I’m not used to it.”
The team’s next debate tournament will take place on March 23 in Big Spring. Until then, the team will continue to practice and work on their respective events and competitions.
