For the first time Debattierklub Wien set up a tournament for Novices only: Vienna Freshers’ on 10-11 November 2012. The small competition was organised by Madlen Stottmeyer, a novice herself and teams were allowed to participate if the speakers have not been debating longer than one year. four rounds of five minute speeches with 25 minutes of prep-time gave fresh debaters an easy entry into British Parliamentary debating. A large international adjudication core lead by CAs Julia Mikić and Stefan Zweiker ensured that every participant got excellent feedback and could make the most of the tournament.

Eight Teams from three countries participated in this year’s Vienna Freshers’ and there is good reason to predict that this was not the last Freshers’ but rather the start of a new tradition at DKWien. The tournament set off with fresh bakery in the morning. Afterwards the teams from Budapest, Munich and the 6 teams from Vienna gave their best in the motions set by the CAs. Indeed Freshers’ proved that a Novice competition does not all mean there is a bad standard of debating. On the contrary, most teams improved so much throughout the competition that experienced debaters should be aware that the Vienna Freshers’ do not beat them at some other upcoming competition. This alone is a reason why Freshers’ qualified as a success. Three Vienna teams and the guys from Munich made it into the final on whether national space programs are a waste of money. The win was taken by ‘Coffee Beans’ Julia Rainer and Sophie Hammer from Vienna, who were rewarded with a free card for Vienna IV and the right notepads to start off their debating career.

Since there is more to debating than just competition, Freshers’ introduced novices also to all the other merits of the debating community. Uncreative team names were intentionally screwed up by the CAs and a very enjoyable social (with bartab!) made sure they got the hangover part of debating for the next day. It was not unexpected that the tournament started 30min late the next day. Somehow Freshers’ was endowed with a very pleasant atmosphere that made the tournament a joy for organisers and participants. This is a very promising outlook for the young debating potential in the region. So Debattierklub Wien is looking forward to welcoming even more fresh debaters at the Vienna Freshers’ next year!

Motions:

1 THW ban smoking entirely

2 THBT there should be obligatory equal parental leave for men and women

3 THW prosecute violent fouls as criminal assault

4 THBT testing on animals is immoral

Final THBT state funded space programs are a waste of taxpayers’ money

Stefan Zweiker /msi