After their great success in the 2024-2025 season last year, the Hingham Policy Debate Team had high hopes for their first meet of the 2025-2026 season. Their first debate was on December 3rd at Old Rochester Regional High School in Mattapoisett. After an hour bus ride from the high school, the team was ready to start the season off with success. 

Policy debate is unique because members either choose to agree or disagree with the years assigned resolved. The resolved for this year is, “The U.S. federal government should significantly increase exploration and/or development of the Arctic.” Affirmative teams argue the U.S. federal government should significantly increase exploration and/or development of the Arctic while negatives argue that they shouldn’t. Debate is a fun way for students to showcase their speaking skills and practice crucial research abilities. Currently, the debate team has 28 active members, 20 of which competed at the first debate earlier this month. 

A typical debate meet consists of two debates per team. These debates last from 40 minutes to an hour as teams compete against students from different schools. Hingham competes in a league with Cohasset, Bishop Feehan, Bishop Stang, Hanover, and more. The competition is fierce at every debate, especially at the varsity level. Students showcase their preparation against other teams in front of a judge. The judge then determines the winner of the debate based on which team they believe did a better job of addressing the 5 stock issues: Inherency, Need for Change, Solvency, Topicality, and Disadvantages. Affirmatives have to win all the issues to win the debate, while negative teams only have to win one stock issue to secure success.

Mr. Huntington, even though it is his first year as a debate coach, helped the team secure such a great success. The team practices every Tuesday after school, working to refine affirmative plans and expand negative research to better prepare for future competition.  

Margaret D’Souza, a sophomore affirmative speaker on Hingham Varsity C, shared her experience at the first debate, saying, “The first debate in Mattapoisett went well, and I was happy to hear about so many wins for Hingham debaters. I have high hopes for this season!”

Her teammate, Aria Giardino, echoed this optimism, saying, “I think we will continue to improve as the season goes on and each debater gains more experience. The first meet was very competitive and Hingham showed well!”

Based on the team’s strong  performance earlier this month, the season ahead looks promising for Hingham Policy Debate!