Medina High School Debate Team -- all 30 of them -- headed to State Tournament in March

MEDINA — The Medina High School Debate Team will have all 30 members competing at the Ohio Speech and Debate Association's State Championship Tournaments during the first two weeks in March, setting a state record for the number of debaters from one team to go to the championship tournament. "For us as a team, it's a record in that we're almost doubling our typical number of state qualifiers," said Scott Quade, high school English teacher and the coach for the debate team. This year's state tournament will look a little different than in past years, splitting into two separate tournaments over a span of two weekends with one in-person and one virtual. The first weekend of the tournament will be in-person in Wooster on March 3-5, with 10 members of the Medina High School Debate Team participating. The second weekend of the tournament will be virtual on March 11-12, allowing for additional divisions including a novice division and an open division. The rest of the Medina team that are not participating the weekend before in the in-person tournament will be pretty evenly divided among the novice and open divisions. "It actually is what's allowing us to get more kids into a state tournament," Quade said. According to Quade, there are two ways to qualify for state tournaments, with some of his team members qualifying under both. There are bids, where team members earn bids from local tournaments and once they reach four, they pre-qualify for states. Then there is the original way to get through which is through the district tournament, which took place at the beginning of February. The weekend after the state tournament, the debate team will then be at their next tournament for the National Speech and Debate Association. According to Quade, the team has had approximately 20 national qualifiers over the years, traveling across the country to compete. Since Quade established the debate team 29 years ago, the team has grown to be one of the largest debate teams in the nation. "We're one of the largest debate programs at least in the state and probably one of the larger ones in the country," Quade said. "That's primarily because we don't also do speech." Quade hopes to change that next school year by adding a speech team to Medina's current debate team. "If we get the speech team going next year, maybe 30 will be the new norm for us," Quade said. In addition to breaking the record for the number of debaters from one team participating, this pushes the number of Medina High School state qualifiers to over 300 students since the team's founding. Quade said that he is proud of that accomplishment, saying that he has had the chance to coach over 300 state qualifiers. Quade plans on retiring next year, with the anticipation that he will come back to the team to help out and hopes to start something up at the middle schools. "When I retire, there's no way I can walk away from debate," Quade said. "I mean, it's defined my career." As the debate team prepares for the state tournaments, Quade hopes that they all work to do their best and that they will be proud of whatever they may accomplish. He said there is no plan to have a state champion, but if it happens, it would be great. "For me, it's about the experience and the education first," Quade said. "First and foremost, I'm a teacher. Secondarily, I'm a coach." Contact reporter Sara Crawford at (330) 721-4063 or scrawford@medina-gazette.com.