From Friday, April 12, to Sunday, April 14, Bayport-Blue Point juniors George Rogers and Yuvraj Toor competed against 62 teams to win sixth place at the NYSFL State Championship in JV Public Forum Debate.

Advisor John Limperatos said, “George and Yuvraj worked tirelessly over two days to place in the NYSFL State Tournament. They were “happy warriors” who persisted and persevered while learning and improvising after every round. Their enthusiasm was infectious and inspiring. Coach Sean Meade and I are very proud of them, and George and Yuvraj are an example of how great Bayport-Blue Point is as a school community.”

Rogers said that their use of unique arguments played a key, critical role in their success as other teams struggled to refute their points having prepared for more common points of view.

“A benefit of being a team in a small program is that we have free rein over our arguments; Yuvraj and I, not other team members, create distinctive and individual arguments, which helps deepen our understanding of the topic at hand and give us total control of our path in debate,” said Rogers.

Coaches John Limperator and Sean Meade helped cultivate this unorthodox approach and out-of-the-box thinking for each month’s topic. 

“This was very helpful, especially since our status as a small team didn’t provide us much of an opportunity to practice with other team members.  Our coaches’ support was invaluable in overcoming this obstacle, as they helped us see angles and possible arguments that Yuvraj and I may have initially overlooked,” said Rogers.

Toor said competing at a higher level, “it’s important to refute an opponent’s points, by way of an opposing argument rather than just opposing data.”

He illustrated this point with the debate over plastic straws. “If your opponent were to argue that we need to ban plastic straws because they are bad for the ocean, you shouldn’t only refute their case with data that says these straws are good for/unaffecting the ocean. Instead, you ought to say something such as, that the alternatives to plastic straws are worse environmentally, and hence you should not ban them.”

By utilizing opposing argument over data, Toor said it kept the debate from devolving into an argument over opposing sources/data, “which can really go either way.”

The second strategy utilized by Rogers and Toor was to flow the effects/impacts of their opponent’s case into your own.

“Within debate, you have to provide reasons why a judge should vote in your favor, and list the impacts of if they don’t.  In the plastic straw example, by successfully arguing that the alternatives to plastics are worse for the ocean, you essentially co-opt all of your opponent’s points, regarding the negative effects upon the ocean, into your own argument. This essentially leaves your competitor arguing for you, unless they can prove your aforementioned linkage of their argument’s effects to your own, false,” said Toor.

The third strategy was to balance offensive and defensive points in defending your position or attacking your opponents.

“If you only defend your case, you let your competitor’s case be left undisputed, and if you only attack theirs, their attacks upon your own case are left uncontested. It’s important to have a good mix of both if you want to win a debate,” said Toor.

Finally, good preparation is something paramount in not being caught off guard by unorthodox arguments.

“The best way to combat this is accumulating a wide knowledge base on the relevant topic, prior to competition. This way, even if you are caught off guard, you can understand the most basic substance of your opponent’s argument, and work your way up from there. These strategies and more are tremendously helpful when debating, and can allow you to climb up the ladder in any tournament,” said Toor.

”The skills that competitions such as debate teach students are ones that George and Yuvraj will be able to carry with them throughout their future endeavors. As the district continues to grow into the future, we are always searching for additional ways that students can feel connected to our schools. Along with the debate team, current and future programs such as Science Olympiads, Robotics, and eSports, provide so many more students with a sense of belonging at BBP.” said Superintendent Dr. Tim Hearney.