Judging the up-and-coming and be wowed by them and wow them with university debating? Well then, let’s go to the German Schools Debating Championships (GSDC or Germans) in Stuttgart. This is where schools debaters from all over Germany will be competing for the title of German champion from June 2 to 5. Judges from university debating are more than welcome, David Whitehead, president of the Debating Society Germany (DSG) told Achten Minute. He intends to build on the newly made up cooperation between VDCH and DSG.

Language of debate is English while the format of the Germans will be that of World Schools which is based on the Australs format. Registration fees for independent judges are 25 Euros, additional costs may be raised for accommodation. The tournament comprises six prelims, maybe even seven if there will be enough teams, David points out. Of course there will be a break to quarters, semis and the final. More information on the GSDC is available from David and his fellow DSG president Christopher Sanchez thorugh info [at] schoolsdebate [dot] de. The GSDC homepage will be updated soon.

The Debating Society Germany (DSG) was founded in the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg in 1996 and spread from there all over Germany. Today, “schools debating”, English language debating at schools, may be found in Bavaria, Hessen, Saxony, Berlin, Brandenburg and Hamburg. German schools debaters have been taking part at numerous international competitions such as the World Schools Debating Championships (WSDC or Worlds). In 2004, Worlds have been staged by DSG at Stuttgart. On top of that, DSG hosts an annual open for national schools teams from all over the world. This tournament was renamed EurOpen in 2010. David Whitehead and Christopher Sanchez form the DSG executive board. Together with Jana Gilke (president of Debattierclub Mannheim and former schools debater) and VDCH vice-president Marcus Ewald the promoted a cooperation between VDCH and DSG. School students shall be informed about university debating to help them find or found a debating society at their later universities. Moreover, cooperation on a local level between university deb societies and schools debating is more than welcome, for instance with judges helping out at schools tournaments.

apf / glx