I just finished directing my first debate tournament and let me tell you – directing an entire tourament is way more work than helping tab. I am very glad its over, and I don’t think that I’ll do it again. I simply don’t have a team, coaching staff, or an alumni base large enough to ensure a smooth tournament operation. As a result, I’m doing things like copying ballots – making it harder for me to resolve big issues and hoping that the people that I rely on for help are doing things the way I want them to be done. Thankfully – there are some really helpful, generous, and smart coaches around the state who did help and did things “my way” most of the time.
I think too that this is the beginning of the end of my involvement in debate. At the end of the tournament on Saturday I noticed that I am not having as much fun as I did when I worked with Memorial – which makes it harder to justify spending a significant amount of time doing this activity, especially now that I have less time to devote to non-school related activities. Specifically – my best PF team doesn’t care about winning and my best policy team doesn’t care to come talk to me about anything. This makes me want to stop participating in the activity. I come from a long distance to help these kids, and they don’t want any help. Part of the fun of being a coach is helping kids make blocks and arguments. Neither things can occur if kids don’t come to me or want to win.
