2023 UK Season Opener

University of Kentucky

Over the weekend, Vancouver Debate Academy had seven teams competing in Public Forum Debate online at the University of Kentucky National Speech and Debate Season Opener. This tournament is always challenging, as teams come together for the first time of the year after practicing and preparing all summer long.

Please join us in celebrating some of our team’s successes!

In the Middle School Division, the team of Jadon Yao and Marcus Zhang advanced to Quarterfinals, making it to the top 8 in their division! This was a fantastic start of the year! These two have been working hard and they are just getting started!

We also had some notable success in Middle School speaker rankings, with Brianna Tang receiving 4th place speaker and Marcus Zhang receiving 5th place speaker! Great job to these talented competitors!

In Varsity, the team of Aarav Motivala and Sahaj Bhandari competed in Open for the first time and ended their run with a winning record of 4-2. They were very close to advancing and although they didn’t clear, they performed very well and we look forward to their continued success throughout the year! st-Luella-Zhang

VDA Honor

Middle School OpenQuarterfinalist Jadon Yao & Marcus Zhang

Personal Honor

Middle School Novice9th Place Speaker Danny Zhang
Middle School Open4th Place Speaker Brianna Tang
Middle School Open5th Place Speaker Marcus Zhang
Middle School Open8th Place Speaker Luella Zhang
Middle School Open11th Place Speaker Jadon Yao
Middle School Open13th Place Speaker Evan Guo
Middle School Open17th Place Speaker Ethan Zhang