Incompetence

As many of my readers know, I am a debater. I love debate and it is pretty much the only passion that I have. It gives me motivation to go to school and to actually do something with my life, but that's beside the point. The issue that I will be writing about today, is one of great annoyance to me. It is about the sheer incompetence of people, but not just any people, people who are supposed to be competent in their respective areas of work. I will be using a recent example from my debating life to portray the issue of incompetence, for it struck a chord with me.

Before I go into detail about that, it is important that I explain the circumstances: When I was in grade 8, I was in the debate club at my school. It was, for lack of a better word, good. I had many friends and a sublime coach. In fact, the coach at that school had taught me everything I know about debate in that one year. She was amazing. She organized all the tournaments, and just really cared about our success in debate. Anyways, I transfered schools in grade 9 because the curriculum at my grade 8 school was not up to my parents standards. I transferred to the highest ranked public school in all of the province. It also was said to have a superior debate team. They had achievements to show for it, too. Sadly however, this new school's reign of superiority would end the very year that I show up. Why? Because the school was raking up achievements from two senior students alone. When these senior students left, the achievements and ability to debate, apparently left with them.

I was now stuck in a school, which I had initially thought would have so much to teach me about debate, that had not very many spectacular debaters. So quickly, I became presented, by both fellow debaters and teachers, as "one of the star debaters on the team". Don't get me wrong, it was a title I had long wanted, but not one that I had ever expected to be fathomable. I thought that because I had come from a school that wasn't as great in the debate rankings, that I would have a hard time keeping up with the amazing debating that was supposedly happening in this school. Honestly, I didn't. I even began questioning how in the world they got any debating done, because they didn't have an awesome coach like I had in my old school, they had no coach. The system of coaching at this new school relied, and still relies on, older students with more experience coaching younger students with less experience. This system is simply bound to fail. Just because a student has debated longer, does not mean that they are better than a younger student. Honestly, experience doesn't mean much. You may have gone to a bunch of debates because your parents forced you, and you could have been tuned out for most of the debate. Also, there is a sad reality and it is that, quite frankly, you may just not be that good at debate.

So now, at this new school, I am the star debater. The club expects that I offer some sort of help to younger students, and I do. In fact, I wrote a whole 8 page/3000 word (shown below on my first post) guide on how to debate cross examination style. It sounds like the good life, right? I don't mind the pressure that I have when I go to tournaments - I love the pressure. I want to win and I strongly believe that I could win, on one condition.  A good partner. Sadly, debate requires you to put your trust into a partner. I prefer to do things myself, so that I can control everything, but in debate, I can't. I have to put my shot at a win in the hands of some other kid. Even if I debate fantastically, and get great scores, it doesn't matter. If my partner screws up, it screws me up. Quite a problem for a control freak like myself, right? Wrong. I like to control things, but I am willing to put my trust into a person who earns it. The issue is that, with all these massively important tournaments coming up, there is no partner at my new school that is up to par with me. Thus, I cannot put my trust into anybody. If I want to continue going to tournaments, I have to.

So, in grade 9, I sort of gave up on winning. I told the senior students (who are also the coaches) that I wanted to debate, but I didn't care who my partner was. I payed for that statement because I didn't win much. I got third place at this one tournament, and I was satisfied.

Anyway, now in grade 10, I have decided that enough is enough. It is the last year that I can compete as a junior, and I want to make it count. I want to win something, and I cannot do that with a okay-ish partner. This year, a miracle happened. I was at a big tournament with a nice partner. Seriously, she was awesome. She has a ways to go in debate, but she is a good person. Regardless, during this big tournament, I got to reconnect with some of the debaters from my old school. After talking a bit with them, I realized that their team is still improving, and I was quite frankly envious.

Once that debate was over, I took the initiative and messaged one of the debaters from my old school, who I had talked with. I asked him if he would be willing to be my partner for a big upcoming debate. He told me that he had wanted to ask me the same thing, and so our partnership began! I was really excited, and I finally felt like I could achieve something in debate. The issue is that we would have to be a hybrid team.

Hybrid teams are allowed, but frowned upon. People don't like the idea that you may form a "power team", if you become a hybrid team. Now, my new partner -being the squeamish type that he is- was worried about whether or not we'd be allowed to go as a hybrid team. Hybrid teams had been formed before, so there was no reason that we wouldn't be allowed to go as a hybrid team. Sadly, one tournament organizer -who, quite frankly, had no clue what she was talking about- had tried to tell my partner that hybrid teams weren't allowed. When my partner informed me of this, I told him to use his logic and question why previous teams were allowed to go as hybrids, if we aren't. After much repetition, he believed me, but asked me for proof. Since the tournament organizer had said that hybrids weren't allowed, everyone -including both of our coaches- had believed her. It was now up to me to prove her wrong.

I did this with minimal effort. I simply looked up the the rules of the Debate Society of BC, and there it was. Under section 6.1, there was a rule that clearly stated that hybrid teams are allowed, if permitted by the President and the Regional Coordinator. Regardless, I was appalled by the incompetence of my debating peers. Anyway, now that I had proved that, I requested from the tournament organizer that our team be allowed to compete as a hybrid. She gladly complied, and my partner and I thought that we were on our way to success. We had another small task ahead of us: it was to get permission to compete as a team from the president, in the Regional tournament.

Being the lazy person I am, I requested that my partner do the dirty work. In other words, I asked him to write the letter to President. I however, had missed a small detail. I had forgotten that my partner was/is probably the nicest guy in the world. He gladly accepted the chore, and wrote the nicest request letter in the whole world. It was too kind for the type of woman that this President was. She responded back, telling him that the answer was no, due to the concern of power teams. She also said that the only time a hybrid team can be approved is when one student does not have a debate club at their school. My partner was very sad and genuinely apologized to me, thinking that it was his fault. I told him not to worry and that I'd sort it out. We set up a date to meet, and we wrote a new letter. In this one, we provided proof of precedent and explained that the rule of her association is open to interpretation. She never replied.

Well, I guess she did. Only, she replied after the registration deadline for the tournament. At this point, we had already registered as separate teams and and no chance of going to the tournament. She also did not respond as to why other teams in the past were allowed to compete as hybrids. She basically avoided all the tricky questions. For that, I have a very clear goal set out. Since the tournament that she is organizing is on January 18th, I have decided that I will talk to her face to face. My goal is no longer to become a hybrid team, rather to shame her, for she was a liar and a coward.

I already have in mind what I will say. I have not let my friend from my old school know, as I am sure that he'd be opposed to the idea. He is too nice, and I'm assuming, does not think that she deserves this. I am not on to turn the other cheek. I will have her reprimanded for preventing me from doing something that would almost ensure winning for me, and so that she never has the opportunity to do such a thing again.

Though I had originally intended this post to be about the incompetence and fear that people have about looking into a rule. It turned into a rant about my being prevented from attending a tournament in the fashion I wish. I hope that no one minded too much. Thanks for listening!