Debate Club Overview

Club Fair is coming up on October 7th, so right now is the perfect time to set your clubs for consideration. Whether you’re interested in STEM or the Humanities, parties or study sessions, there’s likely a club that suits you. The sheer scope of offered clubs at LHS is impressive; how proudly Loveland High School has advertised a Batman Club, Marble Club, and a Pizza Club, but has only recently rehashed an attempt at a formal Debate Club. 

The history of this version of Loveland’s Debate Club is a short one. This is its second year in practice, although I understand that one did exist at some point before I was a Freshman in 2022. The older Debate Club’s system eludes me; all of its members have long since graduated by now, but I do have insight into Loveland’s current Debate Club, because I, Ian Dellinger (12), am acting as one of two co-captains alongside Claire Mirkowski-Purdy (12). 

What kind of things do we plan to incorporate, exactly? Well, we’ll have to consider the competitiveness of the club this year. Debate clubs tend to vary in terms of competitiveness, meaning that the difference among them lies in whether or not the group actively competes. It is our intention to keep the average meeting relatively relaxed, where the debate is flexible and unscored beyond a clarification of whichever side performed better, all things considered. If members are interested, however, we are prepared to enter into official statewide contests and launch Loveland’s Debate Club into a more competitive atmosphere.

If you’ve ever wondered how a formal debate is held, this is the structure we’ll be employing at Loveland Debate Club meetings: First, before the debate has started, 5-10 minutes of research and planning time will be provided. Each side (affirmative and opposing) will structure its arguments in the provided time. Each side will use two turns to present its main arguments, beginning with the affirmative. The second of these turns is mostly intended as a time clarification of the main points presented during the first turn. This is not to be confused with the allotted rebuttals, which are presented after a short recess for discussion. Each side is given two rebuttals, starting with the opposing. The second rebuttals are considered closing arguments. As a general rule, every turn and rebuttal should last no longer than five minutes.

This year’s Debate Club is casting a wide net, so to speak. The intention is, officially, to keep this club on the radar of as many people as possible; debates tend to be more captivating when there are lots of students involved, which is to say plenty of rich perspectives to be utilized in conversation. That’s part of the reason I’m writing this article. The jury is still out for a couple of facets of Loveland’s new-ish Debate Club, but we’re excited to get it rolling! The first meeting is Wednesday, October 15th- see you there!