Eurasian Schools Debating Championships
The Eurasian Schools Debating Championships (ESDC) is an annual open English-language debating tournament for high school-level teams representing different countries. ESDC is open to national and school teams alike, depending on team cap.
The first edition was hosted by the Robert College Debate Society in Istanbul with 50 teams from 20 different countries.
Format
Eurasian Schools Debating Championship debates use a special format known as 'World Schools Style Debating' as most of the teams esteem the tournament as a preparation for WSDC. World Schools Style is a combination of the British Parliamentary and Australian formats. In each debate there are eight speeches delivered by two three-member teams (the Proposition and the Opposition). Each speaker delivers an eight-minute speech; then both teams deliver a "reply speech" lasting four minutes, with the last word being reserved for the Proposition. Between the end of the first and the beginning of the last minute of an eight-minute speech, the opposing party may offer "points of information". The speaker may refuse these, but should take at least one or two points during his or her speech.
Teams in ESDC debate eight rounds before "breaking" into octo-finals. After first round, teams are paired with each other with power pairing. Team with the same number of wins play against each other. If there are more than one teams on the same point, then teams are paired randomly. Top sixteen teams with highest number of wins and speaker points advance into single elimination octo-finals.
The Eurasian Schools Debating Council
During the inaugural ESDC, teams participating decided to form Eurasian Schools Debating Council which will govern the championships in a democratic manner. The formation of the charter is still in process.
Principles of the Eurasian Schools Debating Championships
- Openness: ESDC will remain open to all teams of any formation as long as the space allows
- Flexibility: ESDC will seek to govern itself in a non-bureaucratic way
- Innovation: ESDC will seek to try novel ideas in debating
Past championships
| Year | Champions | Runners-up | ESL Champions | Venue | Convener | Chief Adjudicator |
| 2011 | Team Singapore | Greece C | Greece C | Istanbul, Turkey | Cem Zorlular | Evanthia Giannakouri & Can Talaz |
| 2012 | Anglo Chinese Junior College | Sweden B | Sweden B | Istanbul, Turkey | Kaan Ülgen & Koret Munguldar | Mehvesh Mumtaz Ahmed & Eirianna Kouri |
| 2013 | Team South Africa | Team Canada | Team Romania | Istanbul, Turkey | Ayşenur Biçen (Aisenour Bitsen) & Mert Zorlular | Beth James |
| 2014 | Team Singapore | Gauteng Red | Team Romania | Istanbul, Turkey | Barışcan Göç & Ege Sözgen | Tom McLennan & Kip Oebanda |
| 2015 | Team South Africa | CIS - Hong Kong | Central Romania | Istanbul, Turkey | Deniz Keleş & Tayfun Gür | Kip Oebanda |
| 2016 | Team South Africa | Team Romania Blue | Team Romania Blue | Istanbul, Turkey | Ilayda Orhan & Tolga Ferdi Çalışır | Kip Oebanda & Kallina Basli |
Future championships
- 2016- 31 January- 6 February, Turkey[1]