By Pranathi Chitta
Staff Writer
@prannydacheetah

While students were preparing for the Homecoming game and dance, Coppell High School senior Saman Hemani and junior Sophia Shams were competing at their first debate tournament of the year.

Hemani and Shams are both partners in public forum debate and competed in the Grapevine Classic tournament at Grapevine High School. The Grapevine Classic tournament was a tournament that can qualify a debater for the Tournament of Champions.

“We were the first Coppell team to get a bid for the Tournament of Champions,” Hemani said.

The Tournament of Champions is a national tournament for debaters who get bids from local or out of state tournaments, which decides whether or not you qualify for the national tournament.

“This was a milestone not only for the individuals, but as well as the team,” debate coach Brian Bloss said. “That now puts us in the same realm as a school like [Colleyville Heritage] that is very successful at debate. It was a very big deal as a program for them.”

Out of 67 teams, Hemani and Shams broke to the quarterfinals, making the top eight teams in the tournament.

“This is the farthest any public forum team from Coppell has gone,” Bloss said. “That is a phenomenal accomplishment that really helped put Coppell on the map for this year.”

This is the second tournament that Hemani and Shams have ever competed since they became partners.

“[Hemani and Shams] haven’t competed since December last year,” Bloss said. “To come back and place in the top eight is phenomenal.”

This tournament also included debaters from 13 other states that are also competing for a bid for the Tournament of Champions. Hemani and Shams debated over the topic of the month, United States federal government ought to pay reparations to African Americans.

“The topic was an interesting topic and everyone has their own opinions on it,” Hemani said. “One of the biggest problems is to figure out what side the judges are so we can appeal to them and run the topic properly.”

Hemani and Shams prepared for both sides, the pro and con side of the topic, and researched over the topic.

“The competition was interesting and the teams were decent,” Hemani said. “But there were a lot of problems with the judges at the tournament so some of the rounds that we lost, we should’ve won and some of the rounds we won, we could’ve easily lost. So at this tournament there really was a chance with which judge you got and how you please the judge.”

With this bid, Hemani and Shams have a successful chance to compete at the Tournament of Champions in April 2016 at University of Kentucky.

“[The results] exceeded my wildest expectations,” Bloss said. “I believe this will help them to do well in the future. They are going to be competitive. The sky’s the limit depending on the work they put in.”