Having never been to the final before we were going in blind and I’d be lying if I said we weren’t scared stiff at the prospect of being totally out of our depth. Preparation was solid from the day we received the motions until we got off the train in London. Whilst other debaters hit the town on the Friday night, Kings Norton didn’t stop working until the early hours of the morning making sure speeches were perfect and arguments were tight.

The next day came and we realised we were as ready as we were going to be, but had mixed feelings about what would happen if we won the debate (would we show ourselves up in the final round?) However, nerves were put aside, free food was eaten and Anna even managed to fit in an interview before heading down to the debate!

After a compelling first round in which Ropa and Anna artfully argued that “Clinical trials in developing countries are exploitative” to great effect, the decision of the judges came as a huge shock to all of us – Kings Norton were not to go through to the semi-finals. It was such a close call and the judges main criticism of the girls was not of their rhetoric skills or subject knowledge, but their style. We realise you can’t please every judge, but we do take it to heart when their criticisms go against the mantra of the competition!

However, ‘Team Geek’ aren’t the type to go down without a good fight and come evening time – we were back for more. United in our snazzy team hoodies, we burst back into the Royal Society of Medicine for ‘Question Time’ singing “I’m a believer” to help lift the spirits. We got a few surprised glances from other students and if there had been a prize for best DM couture clothing/general pizzaz, we’d have defiantly come home in 1st!

The next day we managed to fit in numerous ice creams, a trip to the British Museum and more singing in between the debates – which helped suppress the need to shout “WE WAS ROBBED” during the somewhat frustrating ‘national final’ debate.

As a team we are known for being very active audience members, and we carried on debating from the floor throughout the weekend. Adding to the list of awards received throughout this years’ competition was an honourable mention received by Laura Pritchard for her provoking questions throughout the weekend and the ‘Gina Owens Memorial Prize’ by myself.

Our national final journey may have ended at the quarter-final stage, but considering it’s only our second year in the competition we’re feeling quietly proud of ourselves. Out of 144 schools competing, ‘Team Geek’ rank 1st in the central region, and in the top 8 nationally…

…Next stop: Qualifying rounds 2010/2011

After a good few months of manic preparation, drilling and panicking, ‘Team Geek’ took on three other well established schools in this years’ “Debating MATTERS” central regional final to fight for the chance to make the cut for the prestigous ‘national final’.

In a tentative first round, Laura Pritchard and Grace Barr took to the floor to argue that “There should be NO limits on artistic expression.” Being two of the newest recruits, coming in at this stage was a big ask; especially with so much to play for… However, in true style, they held their own convincing the judges that putting limits on art is not the way to go! Still, the judges weren’t making our lives easy this year and all of us came out feeling slightly dejected at the feedback received.

Even more determined to pull it back, Anna Muncey and Ropa Rusere jumped headlong into their next round, and showed everyone watching that Kings Norton certainly were a force to be reckoned with. By the end of the debate, we were sure that they’d won over the judges and convinced the audience that India and China are wrong “to resist binding Co2 emissions targets” – but as is the nature of the competition, it was then a waiting game to find out if we had won a place in the final debate of the day.

The tea break before the announcement was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster, with all the team members feeling the pressure mount. Having received very mixed feedback from the judges but an audience vote in their favour, the team expected the worst.

The decision then came that Kings Norton had won BOTH of their debates and so were automatically through to the final round. Cue panic!

Though the last round had us all on tenterhooks, we knew that the teams’ fate couldn’t be resting in more capable hands. Anna and Chloe worked seamlessly together throughout, arguing that “Trial by jury is the best guarantor of justice”. They were praised by the judges for their obvious depth of knowledge and confidence. After ten (very long) minutes, the judges emerged, they had made their decision.

The only words that mattered after that were: “we are awarding the win to Kings Norton.” At that point it became obvious how much this meant to the team – emotions ran high as everyone hugged it out and the team collected their well earned prizes.

Five days later and it still hasn’t sunk in, “Team Geek” have lived up to their name and are off to the national finals later on this year to see if they can bump up their title from “top debating team in the central region”, to “national winners”.

Watch this space.

After winning  the debate ‘Copyright Benefits the Arts’, Team Geek were widely congratulated by the judges, academics,  journalists and other attendees. Their performance was described as ‘slick’, ‘incredibly well-researched’ and ‘like politicians’. Some of these things are believed to be compliments.

Cory signed autographs, Sandy Starr was a delight and Marcus Lanyon threw up mid-debate. Afterwards, there was wine and fabulous music provided by of the Royal College of Music. The Leader of the Pirate Party had the cockles of his heart warmed when he saw young people able to debate copyright and piracy in a sophisticated way

Enormous  congratulations to Anna and Isobel  – and thanks also to the Institute of Ideas for their invitation to the debate and their warm hospitality. Thanks, too, for the support of Prof Kathryn Ecclestone,  Anna’s parents and Boots the Chemist for providing Isobel with the performance-enhancing drugs she needed to win.

In a fast-paced first round, Chloe Jones and Hugh Sheehan skilfully convinced not only the judges, but apparently even the proposition that celebrities do have a place in politics. Although both debaters were anxious before the competition, all traces of nerves disappeared the moment they got up there and they were complemented by the judges for their passion, good teamwork and all-round confidence.

After a nervous wait to see who they would be up against in the final debate of the evening -Anna Muncey and Priya Francis took to the floor. Arguing for the motion that we should embrace organic food, they put their arguments forward with utter conviction and held their own through a tough judge and audience questioning session.  The judges awarded the win to Kings Norton and all that worrying, speech writing AND rewriting suddenly felt worthwhile!

Congratulations to Chloe Jones, Anna Muncey, Priya Francis and Hugh Sheehan.

There’ll be 75 debates over the weekend and of all the schools seen in the Regional Finals of Debating Matters the organisers of the Battle of Ideas event were impressed enough with Kings Norton and one other team to invite them to attend the weekend-long event.

Isobel Bates and Anna Muncey will be travelling down to London to argue for the motion ‘copyright benefits the arts’