On March 23 and 24, De Soto High School’s forensic team competed in one out of the three qualifying tournaments, leading up to the National Forensics League Tournament.

In December, the first qualifying tournament specialized in policy debate. In that tournament, seniors Parker Riley and Philip Kaul placed fifth, making them the second alternate for the National tournament.

“I thought we did really well. We were the only 4A school to make it past the fifth round. We were one win away from qualifying outright,” Kaul said.

On the 23 and 24, students participated in the Student Congress tournament, in which participants got the opportunity to act as representatives and senators. In this tournament, Riley did not place, however he is still qualified for Nationals in debate.

“I did okay. The speeches that I gave were good, but I didn’t give as many as I probably should have if I wanted to place higher,” Riley said.

The Student Congress tournament was crucial for Kaul and Riley, not based on their own performance, but because a team ahead of them decided to go to the National Congressional debate tournament, not policy debate, which is the tournament they wanted to go to.

The National tournament will take place in early June, in Indianapolis. The tournament is a week-long competition against groups not only from the United States, but also against some International teams.

At Nationals, students will be observed, and possibly scouted by colleges. Riley and Kaul will be competing in policy debate. In this part of Nationals, there is $50,000 worth of scholarship money available for the winning team members. The second and third place teams also recieve smaller scholarships.

“We will be researching, organizing and we may have some prep rounds against other schools before Nationals,” Kaul said.

As June approaches, Kaul and Riley will continue to prepare for Nationals. Once there, they will have the honor of being De Soto’s first qualifiers for the National Forensics League Tournament.