Tiny but mighty: UMKC Debate team takes home three national victories

  UMKC Debate ended its underdog success season with a bang, with three of their four team members, Aria Holmberg, Karlie Benton and Sahid Anzures winning in national tournaments.

  Holmberg took first in the Lincoln-Douglas debate novice bracket at the National Forensic Association (NFA) national tournament in Nashville, and club president Joseph Rice finished in third. Benton and Anzures were co-champions at the Pi Kappa Delta (PKD) national tournament in Springfield, Missouri. 

  The NFA national tournament took place from April 16 to 20, and the PKD national tournament took place over spring break.

  This marks a second major victory in academic competition for UMKC, with the graduate Mock Trial team also winning at nationals. 

  “I’ve got professors from 40 years ago, every college debate coach, every person I know, they’ve never seen a run in any form of debate at the level that we had this year,” said Head Coach Dr. Scott Elliot. “It’s been a truly phenomenal year.” 

  “The fact that UMKC has been so strong in academic competition this year is really awesome,” Holmberg said. “I think we’re showing the school in many ways not to neglect their academic teams.” 

  Holmberg finished the season taking first place in eight of the ten tournaments that she attended.

  The team was overjoyed with their success, but is already thinking of what comes next for the club. For Rice, that means continuing to grow and rebuild into a bigger and better team.

  “It’s very cool to flaunt around trophies, but the trophies get heavier when you have fewer people to carry them,” Rice said. 

  Assistant coach Lauren Woodall felt the team’s success was a result of their hard work and collaboration.

  “Watching these kids help each other has been so incredibly amazing,” said Woodall. 

  Woodall also said that during the national tournament, the team stayed up until 2 or 3 a.m. to prepare.

  While Holmberg had previously stated that the small size of the team gave them more time with the coaches, she also emphasized that it is a major disadvantage as they have considerably fewer resources than other schools.

  UMKC has four debaters and two part-time coaches, while the University of Kansas has a full-time Director of Debate, an Associate Director of Debate, a Director Emeritus, several graduate student coaches and over 80 people on its debate team. 

  The members of the team all stressed that debate is for everyone and teaches essential critical thinking and research skills that make their UMKC courses feel easy. Co-champion Karlie Benton feels that a wide variety of majors and backgrounds only benefits the club and encourages anyone who is interested to give it a chance.