Princeton High School’s debate team recently finished a strong season that featured lots of growth.

Debate Coach and UIL Coordinator Heather Stringer said she had a younger team compared to the past but her students competed well all season, culminating in a strong performance at the 2022 National Speech and Debate Association National Tournament held from June 12-17 in Louisville, KY.

North Texas is also one of the strongest debate regions in the country, said Stringer, which means Princeton’s debaters are usually facing off against stiff competition. In District 10, Lovejoy High School had two debate teams ranked inside the top 14 nationally and Mt. Pleasant High School had one team inside the top 10.

Stringer said Princeton debaters typically have strong showings in some of their secondary events at the national competition. They also compete well in nationals in debate events against competitors from across the country.

The team set a new team best finish at the national tournament, said Stringer, with one team advancing to the elimination rounds and finishing within the top 40 in the Cross Examination debate event.

“The success at the national competition and over the season drove our juniors to compete even more in the future,” Stringer said.

Cross examination debate –also referred to as policy debate– pits two teams of two against one another and they argue either for or against a resolution determined at the beginning of the year.

At the national competition alone, debaters put in about 60 hours of debate each, said Stringer, adding that time commitment is on top of the 37 total tournaments over the course of the past season.

Stringer said debaters can compete in up to three tournaments per month with each tournament beginning around 8 a.m. and ending at 9 p.m., in some cases, meaning students commit hundreds of hours over the course of the season.

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