Being a great success, the International Debate Academy Slovenia (IDAS) 2010 showcased what most European debaters will know already: that debating in the Balkans is a force to be reckoned with. Most Slovenes do not consider themselves part of the Balkan, so I hope that they forgive me their temporary inclusion for the sake of alliteration and simplicity. The International Debate Academy Slovenia offered a boot camp with five days of debate trainings in Kransjka Gora (a ski resort in the Alps), and three tournament days in Ljubljana.

IDAS, like Worlds, is one of the few debating events that truly bring together people from all over the world and offer sufficient time and opportunity to interact and learn from each other. The trainers at IDAS were from the United States, Europe and Asia, while participants hailed from all of the former Yugoslav republics including Kosovo, Portugal, Venezuela, the Ukraine, Italy, the US, Lithuania, Finland, Germany, Poland and Romania as well as others. Such diversity makes for fun times, with Venezuelan-led salsa nights, traditional drinks and food from all over the globe and the singing of many karaoke songs.

Thanks to its unique set up, focused on training future trainers as well as debaters and paying equal attention to total beginners, intermediate and advanced speakers, IDAS has grown over its eight years of existence to a program for 120 participants during the training week and a tournament of 60 teams, making it one of the largest international debate competitions on the European continent. In fact it had grown so much this year alone that the participants no longer fit in what was described as “the best two-star hotel in the world” in Ormoz and were forced to move to the significantly more modern, well-equipped Hotel Spik on the other side of Slovenia. Although the pool, great food and much improved bedrooms were well received, the prices set by the hotel bar combined with a ban on drinking alcohol bought elsewhere meant that the parties lost some of their liveliness.

Overall, the IDAS program was packed with lots of useful advice and opportunities to practice for each level. The training program offered content lectures, many on the EU and immigration, but also economics and ecology. Besides that, trainers were introduced to judging, organizing tournaments and setting up debate clubs. There were lectures about style, strategies and argumentation as well. This year’s program additionally had a strong focus on immigration and integration issues with presentations from the US ambassador to Slovenia, Joseph Adamo Mussomeli, and NGOs from Italy, Lithuania, Romania, Macedonia and Poland concerned with immigration issues. Participants discussed their own countries’ situation and exchanged different potential solutions to common problems.

The quick succession of training debates, content and strategy lectures as well as exercises that IDAS provides mean that debaters can see themselves progress during the week and people who were unable to fill a seven-minute speech are capable of ending mid-table by the time the tournament starts. They get feedback from judges from many different backgrounds, which all provide unique insights. In fact, the program is so packed that there are probably too many things to learn at once, which means that participants will see themselves improve even more over the upcoming weeks and months as all their lessons are put into place. And that is one of the many reasons for the recent successes of IDAS participants at World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC), European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC) and World Schools Debating Championsips (WSDC) as well. So if you find yourself with some time off next year in November, be sure to come to the training week, or compete in the tournament, to make this event the largest on the European continent.

Anne Valkering / apf

Anne Valkering from the Netherlands, born in 1980, is known to many as chief convenor of this year’s EUDC in Amsterdam. Anne herself is a remarkably successful debater: She saw so many finals, only the most eminent are listed here: EUDC 2006 finalist (ESL), semi-finalist in 2007, second-best speaker at EUDC 2008 and WUDC 2008 champion (ESL). ESL stands for a category of speakers who are considered to speak “English as a Second Language”. At IDAS 2010, Anne gave workshops as a trainer and chaired the final at Ljubljana.

The International Debate Academy Slovenia (IDAS) 2010 has been held in Slovenia for the eighth time in a row. The program comprises a week of instruction on debating related issues in the Slovenian Alps before staging a major tournament in the Slovenian capital Ljubljana. This year’s competition hosted 60 teams from all over the world. The language of instruction at the workshops as well as of the debates is English, the IDAS tournament is held in the British Parliamentary Style (BPS). In late November, John Sadek and Jessica Bullock from Vermont won the IDAS 2010 tournament.