The Brookline Speech and Debate Team hosted its very first Massachusetts Speech and Debate League Tournament on Saturday, March 7 at the high school. At the event, which was called the Brookline Ball, Brookline Speech and Debate varsity members wore ball gowns during the award ceremony. Some Brookline debate team members competed, including freshmen Amelie Theunissen and Amelia Lo Proto, who placed first in Novice Public Forum Debate and fourth overall, respectively. The rest of the team volunteered for 12 hours to run the Brookline Ball tournament.

Graciela Mohamedi has coached the Speech and Debate team since 2018 and has witnessed the team’s size grow over the years. She said the team’s growth makes the accomplishment of the Brookline Ball tournament even more special.

“The fact that we’re hosting a tournament is just such a massive accomplishment and I’m so proud of all of our kids. Our team basically did not exist about eight or nine years ago, and so to see it grow from one or two people debating and competing to a full-fledged team where we’re able to have so many different schools come to us is really, really gratifying,” Mohamedi said.

Freshman Brielle Geller competes in Speech and Debate and has recently graduated to the varsity Speech team. She said the opportunity to host their own tournament was a meaningful experience for the team.

“We’ve always been to a bunch of different tournaments and I’m sure people in Brookline wish that they could also host a tournament. We were able to operate it so smoothly and I’m really happy that we were because there were almost no complications at this tournament, even though it was our first time hosting,” Geller said.

Freshman Elora Liang has competed in Lincoln-Douglas debate, Original Oratory in Speech and wants to attempt Novice Public Forum Debate next year. She said the team exerted a lot of effort into competing and running in the tournament.

“Everybody prepared really well during the tournament, whether it’s volunteering, selling food, asking any questions or helping at the taproom, which we did a really great job of. Everybody had the passion and the interest to do that,” Liang said.

Mohamedi said there was time and involvement by many people, including Assistant Head of School Hal Mason and the captains, in order for the tournament to happen. She said that due to her leave of absence last year, the captains contributed a lot of effort as well.

“It was literally months of planning, from food orders and negotiating food prices all the way to making sure that parking was available,” Mohamedi said. “I was still working with the team, but I wasn’t a staff member, so they did a lot of that themselves and I cannot minimize the huge contribution that my captains made to getting this tournament to run.”

Geller said the timeliness of the events during the tournament was especially critical, as in her experience, other tournaments often aren’t able to be facilitated quickly.

“Oftentimes award ceremonies are pushed back about an hour because things went so badly people didn’t get to their rounds on time. This time, we actually started the award ceremony early, around 6:10 rather than 6:30 and I think that’s one of the proud moments that we had,” Geller said.

Mohamedi said Speech and Debate build students’ confidence and their ability to present in public. Geller said her experience on the team has taught her these skills.

“I feel like it’s really taught me to grow and kind of get my voice out there. I’ve learned so much and [it’s] even helped me in school with writing essays. It’s a much better way to advocate for myself,” Geller said.

Flo Spunt, a former member of the Speech and Debate team who graduated last year, returned to support the team during the tournament. Mohamedi said she is very proud of the students on her team. She said it will be especially difficult for her to watch her captains graduate as she has watched them grow since they were ninth graders.

“It brings me a lot of joy when I see a kid working on their speech or case for weeks, for days, for months, however long it takes, watching them struggle [with] ‘How do I make this point? How do I bring this in?’ I love watching them build themselves into this version that is eloquent, decisive and strong,” Mohamedi said. “Getting to watch them grow is the best ever and they become like they are genuinely my kids, my captains.”

Mohamedi said her biggest goal is to continue growing the Speech and Debate team.

“It’s so much fun, the amount of community that you get to build in a program like this. We compete all over the state, but the people you’re competing against are probably going to be some of the same people at most tournaments,” Mohamedi said. “I would love to see that grow to more kids at BHS, because we all deserve to find our people and this is a great way to find your people even if they’re not from Brookline.”