Free State debating runs two separate leagues in conjunction with the South African Council for English Education (SACEE). There is a Bloemfontein league, which runs throughout the year and each event is hosted by a different school. There is also a Goldfield league which caters for the Welkom district.
Both these leagues serve the Free State Schools Debating Board as a point of departure when selecting teams to take to the SASDB National Schools Debating Championships.
Each year in the September holidays we also run a provincial tournament, where 6 teams are selected to represent Free State at the SASDB Nationals. This year we’ll be hosting it with the aim to further our ambitions of spreading debating and developing the youth in under-resourced schools.
The teams selected for nationals undergo exceptional training leading towards the tournament and learn even more from the tournament itself. We then compel them to go back to their schools and teach their fellow debaters what they’ve learned. It is a constant systematic ideal of learning.