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There are several major university debating tournaments that are attended by Australian students. Check out the info for Easters, ADAM, Australs, ANU Mini, Women's, Sydney Mini and Worlds.
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The MAD Army Needs YOU to take over the capital!!!
The first big intervarsity tournament of the BP season, ANU Mini, is to be held in Canberra on 4-6 September. This is an awesome chance for people who've never attended a big tournament before to get involved - from those who couldn't make it to Easters, to seasoned Worlds professionals - we'll all be converging on the capital to party very hard all weekend and get 4 good debating rounds done. This is possibly the cheapest tournament of the year outside of Melbourne - with cheap rego, cheap accomodation and super cheap flights on offer, you'll never experience a great trip away with MADdies for less money! For more information about the tournament, check out spring.anudebating.com. If you have any questions or are interested in coming, email Scott at monash.debaters.externals@gmail.com.
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Australs takes place at the beginning of July. The tournament is comprised of 8 rounds of debating and 4 rounds of finals for those teams that continue to qualify. Australs is held in 3 on 3 style debating with replies.
MAD has a great record at Australs and are regularly finalists. The tournament is the highest level of 3 on 3 debating that MAD participates in as well as once again being a massive social occasion with organised functions most nights. The best speaker award at Australs is named after one of MAD's finest debaters, Martin Sorensen.
MAD has an astounding record at this tournament. We have won Australs 7 times in the last 15 years, have had multiple Best Speakers, and have only failed to "break" once in 18 years. MAD last won Australs in 2006, and hope to bring the winners' trophy, "Troy", to our Clayton office in coming years.
In 2009, Monash will be hosting Australs - so there's no excuse for not attending! Australs at Monash will be the cheapest opportunity to attend a high-class international tournament. Additionally, there will be numerous opportunities to assist in the running of the tournament - stay tuned for details. The Monash Australs website can be viewed here
Past MAD Australs contingents can be found in the History section.
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Easters takes place over Easter weekend each year. It consists of 6 rounds of debating and 4 series of finals. Two members of each team must be 'novices'. A 'novice' for the purpose of this tournament is someone that hasn't debated at a Worlds or Australs, or two Easters.
MAD members that attend Easters are introduced to Intervarsity debating in true MAD style, with a weekend of good spirited debating and well as serious partying. MAD has a proud record of sending massive contingents to Easters as it tries to expose as many of its members as possible to intervarsity debating. MAD especially encourages all of its new members to come in their first year at the club as it is a tremendous learning experience and introduction to the social side of debating.
In 2010, the University of Melbourne will host Easters. Past MAD Easters contingents can be found in the History section.
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Straight after exams, ADAM is an awesome tournament to kick-off your holidays! Held the weekend before Australs, the focus of the tournament is two-fold - preparing Australs teams for the tough competition they'll be facing abroad, and enabling the broader membership of the Victorian debating societies to get together for a good post-exams de-stressing weekend! The tournament is held in 3-on-3 style with Replies - replies are a summary speech at the end of the debate. There'll be training on how to give a reply at the tournament, it's nothing to be scared of, and only one member of the team has to do it.
If you're not coming to Australs, you really must come to ADAM! MAD has a proud history of sending strong teams to ADAM - we've won every edition bar one - but also sending a much broader array of the membership along to compete, giving our members the opportunity to sample the atmosphere, adjudication standards, topic styles and replies that you'd expect at Australs, without forking out $1500 for an air fare! ADAM usually costs around $50, which includes food on all 3 days and drinks all weekend.
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Women's takes place around mid-semester break in second semester. The tournament is open to all women, with a particular focus on encouraging women to debate in British Parliamentary (BP) style, which can be intimidating particularly to younger debaters, and has been traditionally dominated by men.
MAD has a fantastic record at Womens in both promotion and debating. As a leading debating society to enact Affirmative Action rules for women, Monash has led the way, hosting Women's in 2002 and 2004, and co-hosting in 2007. With this progressive attitude throughout the club. it's no surprise that the first all-female team to win Worlds was from Monash.
Past MAD women's contingents can be found in the History section.
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Whether you've never been to an IV before, or you're aiming to be debating on January 3 2010, Sydney Mini is the tournament all of MAD should take on. While in 2006 the soon to be World Champions couldn't even make the break, in 2005 a newcomer to intervarsity debating made the grand final, so the official Australian BP championships regularly throws up interesting results.
MAD aims to make this tournament as cheap and fun as possible, much like an Easters at the end of the year. For the past three years we've crashed at Sydney backpackers for around $30 a night, because the staff tend not to shut down raging room parties at 2am - they come join them!
Finally, the tournament itself is very cheaply priced, usually in the $60 to $80 range. That covers food all weekend, a championship dinner, plus the room hire of some fabulous rooms around the Sydney Uni campus.
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Worlds is the most prestigious of all debating tournaments. 'Worlds' is 9 rounds of preliminary debating rounds followed by 4 rounds of finals. Worlds is held in British Parliamentary style, with four teams of 2 people in each debate.
MAD was the first university to win back to back Worlds in 1999 and 2000 and was the first university to win with an all-female team in 2000. Furthermore MAD has had significant recent success, with a team in the Grand Final for the past two years. MAD continues to send fantastic teams to Worlds, and its inspiration is not the unprecedented success it has enjoyed thus far but the potential success it may enjoy in the future.
In 2010, Koc University in Istanbul, Turkey will be hosting the 30th World Championships. With a strong history of hosting excellent tournaments and a fantastic location, Koc Worlds is shaping up as one of the best Worlds yet! To register to trial for Worlds, fill out the form below.
Past MAD Worlds contingents can be found in the History section.
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