Wien rockt London – Stefan Zweiker über das SOAS IV 2012
Es ist schon ein ganzer Monat vergangen seit dem SOAS IV 2012 in London. Ihr musstet also lange warten, aber jetzt gibt’s endlich einen Bericht. Der Debattierklub Wien, der höchst erfolgreich war, hat uns diesen englischsprachigen Bericht von Stefan Zweiker zu Verfügung gestellt (Erstveröffentlichung auf der Seite des DKW). Wir gratulieren dem DKW zum hervorragenden Abschneiden!
There is enough to say about SOAS IV 2012 itself. The tournament was outstandingly well organised for a British tournament. That is to say that it would still be considered very badly organised if we were to apply continental European standards. However, there was food and hostel accommodation close to the campus. With 140 teams SOAS IV is one of the largest tournaments on the Island. Because it enjoys a friendlier reputation than Oxford or Cambridge with regards to how it treats participants, about 30 ESL teams traveled to London to debate at SOAS IV. 3 of them were sent from Vienna. We had a hell lot of fun in London and the Vienna contingent also enjoyed the socials excessively. Nonetheless, I dare to say SOAS IV was particularly special. The reason for that is the success of DKWien Teams.
Vienna Teams delivered an outstanding performance at SOAS IV 2012. Jakob Reiter and Mark Etzel broke 5th and won their Semi which let them proceed into the final, Melanie Sindelar and Stefan Zweiker (Vienna X) broke 2nd in the ESL category. On top of that Stefan and Melanie conquered ranks 8th and 10th on the ESL speaker tab.
Success like the one at SOAS IV is new to DK Wien. Out of the more than 70 tournaments teams attended since the first Vienna team appeared internationally in 2009, we only had a small number of breaks on international tournaments. There was one ESL final in Cardiff 2010, a Semi in Athens 2010, a quarter’s break at SOAS IV 2011 and at Sciences Po Le Havre 2012. In my opinion this is not a large number of achievements given the number of tournaments DK Wien teams attended.
The Hard Work Is Paying Off
The breaks at SOAS IV show that hard work pays off. Of course breaking two teams at once at a high rank does not mean we will be able to reproduce this result over the next few tournaments. However, I interpret it as the first pay off of the hard training we pursued over the summer and throughout the past semesters. DK Wien started from a very low point. Most of the speeches we would have considered outstanding in our society two years ago would now be below average. I remember the time we used to classify someone as really good speaker if we thought he could reach a 78 speaker mark. At the preceding EUROS we had two speakers who reached marks in the low 80ies. While struggled to have a full English debate per week 2 years ago, we now meet 3 times a week, we put up internal workshops and tournaments and our teams attend more tournaments around the globe than any other society. As someone who has been part of this development I am very grateful that the hard work slowly starts to pay off with success at tournaments like the one we witnessed at SOAS IV. It is a strongly needed confirmation that we are working towards the right direction and that all the time invested in training was at least not wasted uselessly.
These achievements motivate us to keep up the good work. Breaking two teams is not a mere individual achievement. Teams can break only, if the level inside the entire society is high enough so that they can have the training that will make them break through the glass ceiling of the in-rounds. As such getting our teams to break is a team effort, and SOAS IV shall be a confirmation of their work for all people engaged in DKWien even if they were not part of the actual contingent. Thus, I hope everyone in the society can take the SOAS success as a reason to keep the good work up. So even though I am aware we still have quite a way to go until we will be able to match against the top societies, I am already looking forward to the next break of a DK Wien team. Watch out, DK Wien is approaching to a tournament near you – and we come for the break! Welcome to the new age!
The SOAS IV 2012 was held October 20 and 21 in London, UK. CAs were Leela Koenig and Rosie Unwin. The tournament’s style was BPS, there were 5 prelims and break to ESL Semis and Main Quaters. Congratulation to the winner UCD L&H A (Ireland, main) and Roosevelt Academy A (Netherlands, ESL).
Motions
- ROUND 1 This House regrets the criminalisation of squatting.
- ROUND 2 This House would allow high-ranked army officials, when in agreement, to reverse decisions made by democratic governments regarding military missions.
- ROUND 3 This House would not fund research into the existence of a violent gene.
- ROUND 4 This House believes that LGBTQI activism in countries with strong anti-gay policies does more harm than good.
- ROUND 5 This House would abolish all term-limits on the service of elected heads of state.
- QF OPEN This House believes it is legitimate for states to deny residence or asylum to immigrants who openly contradict their predominant values.
- SF OPEN (1) You are the British government. You have full guarantee that SAS (special air service) can enter the prison which currently holds the Pussy Riot Girls in Russia and you can remove them safely.
- SF OPEN (1) This House would enter Russia and remove the Pussy Riot Girls from their cells.
- ESL SEMI FINAL This House would not allow members of the royal family to serve in active combat.
- ESL FINAL This House believes that European States should end all funding for the arts until everyone lives above the national poverty level.
- OPEN FINAL This House believes the state should actively prosecute sexist and misogynist remarks.
Text: Stefan Zweiker / glx
