ABOUT THE STATE TEAM

The South Australian State Debating Team is comprised of South Australian high school students who annually represent the State at the prestigious National Schools' Debating Championships (“NSDC”). Typically composed of 7 members, the squad train weekly from the start of the year for several months, halfway through which 4 members are selected to comprise the speaking team who directly compete at NSDC. The 3 reserve members continue to train and attend NSDC for development purposes. The trialling process consists of several rounds in the last quarter of each year, to select the squad for the following year.
 

Open Trials for the State Team are normally held near the end of the regular SADA Schools’ Competition season. Open triallists participate in half-day sessions, where they will speak in a Secret Topic debate under the Senior A format with randomised teams, receive personalised feedback from an experienced team of coaches and adjudicators, and learn from a high-level education seminar focused on debating theory and fundamentals.

 

The top 18 individual speakers from Open Trials will go on to the next round of trials, followed by a top 12 round which is used to select the final 7 students to make the squad. These later stages of trials, often occurring over multiple full days, provide students with more opportunities to demonstrate their speaking skills in a variety of positions, to learn from advanced seminars, and to have their general knowledge and composure under pressure tested.

 

The final 7 State Team members will be selected in December each year, for trainings to commence in January. If you are interested in trialling for the State Team, please check out the Register for State Team Trials page or fill out the Mailing List below to be notified of when registrations for the next Open Trials commence.