Five Qualify For National Speech and Debate Tournament

West Roxbury, Mass. - Five members of the defending state champion Speech & Debate team have booked their tickets to the 2022 National Speech and Debate Tournament in Louisville, KY following a strong season of performances.   

 

Brendan Galvin ‘22, Aidan Healy ‘23, Patrick Blomberg ‘24, Johnny Cardarelli ‘23, and William Masferrer ‘23 will compete at the national level, continuing Catholic Memorial’s tradition of producing elite exponents in speech and debate competitions.  

 

“It feels rewarding. You work the whole season, practice, and to have something that shows your effort is special,” Cardarelli said.  

 

Galvin will compete in the Informative Speaking with a speech on the history of vaccines, the resistance that has come with them, and how people react to vaccines today. The speech is designed to be a neutral pro/con piece that doesn’t take sides.  

 

Healy’s competition is in World Debate where the issue discussed could be anything. He’ll be given a topic on a current event, and he’ll have 30 minutes to research and answer in the form of a speech. According to Healy, it’s a category that requires you to stay up to date on current events and know political theory.  

 

Blomberg’s field is Declamation where the competitor recites a rehearsed speech as though it were given by the original author. Blomberg’s speech is Kevin Briggs’ TED Talk on mental health and suicide awareness in teenage boys.   

 

Cardarelli and Masferrer will enter the duos category in a humorous sketch about an opera performance gone horribly wrong. The two friends say they enjoy the chance to play off each other and combine their abilities to get results. Masferrer plays a bombastic and animated theater promoter who attempts to push his nervous and timid partner, played by Cardarelli, to get on stage when a substitute performer is needed.  

 

The national qualifiers are among the successes the team has seen this season. In December, CM won the prestigious Lincoln-Sudbury Warrior Showdown and 12 members of the team will represent the Archdiocese of Boston at the National Catholic Forensics League Grand National Tournament on Memorial Day Weekend in Washington D.C. The team is also working hard to prepare for this spring’s state championship, where they have won four of the last five titles.  

 

“I think whether early morning in Brother Cavet’s room before school or staying late practicing your debate style or on teams, I think all our guys have done a ton of work and a ton of practice people don’t see. We go in confident and prepared, and we see results,” Healy said.  

 

The National Speech and Debate Tournament takes place June 12-17.