SVUDL Teams Shine at the 2025 Urban Debate National Championship!
Top debaters from across the nation come together for the annual Urban Debate National Championship (UDNC), which is organized by the National Association for Urban Debate Leagues (NAUDL). This year, the tournament was held from April 3rd to April 6th at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia with two divisions: Policy Debate and Debate en Español. SVUDL sent four teams to the 2024 UDNC this year: one Debate en Español team from Andrew Hill High School and three Policy debate teams from Independence High School, Yerba Buena High School, and Downtown College Prep El Primero.
Pre-matched rounds of the competition began on Friday, April 4. Students adopted a strong feeling of community from the start. Vu Quang from Yerba Buena High School shared his thoughts, saying, “UDNC was an amazing experience! Having such a big squad at the tournament, I enjoyed the sense of community that we had at UDNC.”
In total, we had nine students representing our schools, including Isaias Plascencia from Yerba Buena, who also proudly qualified for the UDNC. Throughout the tournament, students supported one another, debriefing after rounds and collaborating to prepare for upcoming debates. Angelina Le reflected, “Being able to learn from my fellow debaters was a highlight of the UDNC for me. I learned more in-depth about how the competition works and which strategies were the most helpful.”
Vu Quang and Ryan Nguyen's Yerba Buena team went to the octofinals, competing against the Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy's Dallas Urban Debate League team. The team was happy with their efforts and the support they received from their peers, even if they lost a hard-fought round.
Vu Quang achieved a great feat by placing third overall as one of the top Speakers in the Policy debate division for his amazing performance. At the awards presentation, Chloe Truong was recognized as NAUDL's Debater of the Year, and we were overjoyed to congratulate her.
Our students had the opportunity to tour Georgia and the World of Coca-Cola Museum following the tournament. In addition to learning about the history of the renowned brand, which was established in Georgia, they delighted in trying out various Coca-Cola varieties from around the globe.
The UDNC this year was a celebration of student development, resiliency, and community in addition to being a competition. We are immensely proud of all our students for representing their schools and our league with such passion and dedication. Congratulations to all the teams that participated and NAUDL for hosting such an amazing tournament.
