The under 19 national team is working to prepare for the next World Schools Debating Championship, which will take place online from 7 to 17 August next.
Waiting to meet on August 5 in Cattolica to complete the training, the debaters meet almost daily online to analyze and prepare the following 4 prepared topics that have been designated by the Organizing Committee of the WSDC22:
Round 1: This House believes that the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue should initiate the creation of a regional defense pact (similar to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) in the Asia Pacific Region.
Round 3: This House would create a global carbon market.
Round 5: This House would implement fairness doctrines on broadcast news media with significant audience reach.
Round 7: This House prefers a world in which postcolonial African states had prioritized achieving economic and land reparations (e.g.: active land redistribution, quotas, cash transfer programs) over enshrining civil and political rights (e.g.: rights to protest, vote, free speech , form associations, etc.)
Team Italy is made up of Marta Citriniti, Giulio Bernasconi, Riccardo Fazzini, Lorenzo Bisceglie, and Federico Monti.
Massimo Leone and Marco Costigliolo (coaches), Giovanna Colombo (team manager), Aurora Varin (judge), and Sara Lawlor (assistant coach) complete the Italian delegation.
Marta Citriniti
Debater
Liceo scientifico "Galileo Galilei", Pescara
My first debate was as far back as 2019 and since then I understood that it was something to sink my teeth into.
At first the purpose of a debate was just the final victory, but then I discovered the beauty of the research and of the knowledge behind it.
The community of debate is the thing that has made me fall in love with this activity: you could be enemies for 50 minutes, but right after the face-off you become fellow students with a common passion again.
In my everyday life you can notice that I always need to have the last word in every discussion: someone call it “vis polemica”, others call it obnoxiousness.
Once a wiseman said “In times of famine, you cut on everything but the seeding”, and from then on it became my motto.
Giulio Bernasconi
Debater
Liceo scientifico G. Ferraris, Varese
Debate is something extremely important to me, as it allows us to actively and constructively confront opinions that differ from our own and, at the same time, explore topics from different points of view.
I started debating in 2018, when I joined my school debate club and then, with time, I started to participate in regional and national competition. After participating in the regional selection of the debate’s Olimpiadi and ranked as the second team in Lombardia, I realised how much the debate was playing a key role in my growth and decided to pursue this path with increasing commitment.
From 2020 I started to coach in the debate club of my school, trying to convey my passion towards younger students.
I strongly believe that debate is a fundamental tool for developing important skills and, for this reason, I tried to spread the debate’s culture in my school, reaching more than 90 students this year.
From last year I joined the italian national debate team that gives me the opportunity to participate in different international tournaments.
The best experience we had was surely the tournament that we attended in may in Houston, fortunately in person after two years of covid.
I am very proud to be able to participate in WDSC and look forward to engaging with students from all over the world!
Riccardo Fazzini
Debater
Liceo linguistico "Mosè Bianchi", Monza
This year I have the great honor and the pleasure to be part again of the Italian delegation that will represent our country at the WSDC.
I can’t wait to face our opponents, putting into practice all the knowledge I’ve learned over the years and giving the best of myself to the team.
Forza Italia!
Lorenzo Bisceglie
Debater
Liceo Scientifico "Giacomo Ulivi", Parma
I got in touch with debating for the first time in 2019. My high school offered an optional course on debating and here I had the opportunity to learn how to play in the WSDC model. In 2020 I entered my school’s senior debating team, which took part, other than in several regional tournaments, in the first edition of the Italian Debate Championship and in the Italian Debating Olympics. After several rounds, we ended up respectively in 12th and 3rd position.
The following year, in 2021, I joined once again the team for the second edition of the Italian Championships, reaching the 2nd place in the final chart. These experiences made my debating style and techniques more refined and structured, and also because of them, I was selected in October 2021 to be part of the National Italian Team, with whom I also played in international tournaments, as the Ljutomer IDT and in the 2022 Bluebonnet WSDT.
I am particularly passionate about ethical and political issues of today’s world.
I love Italian cuisine and my favorite food is, according to tradition, pizza
Federico Monti
Debater
Liceo Scientifico e Linguistico "Paolo Giovio", Como
I began debating during my second year of high school. My Philosophy teacher foresaw the potential of debate, thus deciding to embark with us in the journey that eventually led me here. We started off with the basic rules of debate: Prop and Opp, arguments, refutations, speakers’ roles, etc.; we later delved into more specific aspects: fallacies, POIs, POCs, focusing on the importance of body language and the strategies relying on the tone of voice.
Between 2020 and 2021, some of my classmates and I participated in the Italian Youth Debate Championships, under the name of «Giovianissimi». The more I debated, the more I understood that my role was that of a third speaker. I enjoyed trying to break down the other team’s line, while defending ours by showing its strong points. That experience motivated me to pursue my interest in debating, allowing me to be selected for the Italian National Debate Team. Together with my teammates, during 2022, I debated in the International Debate Tournament Ljutomer and in the Bluebonnet World Schools Debate Tournament.
I am looking forward to participating in the World School Debate Championship, I’ll give my best!
Massimo Leone
Coach
Liceo Scientifico "Pietro Sette", Santeramo
I’m still unsure as to whether I picked the debate in 2016 (which feels like a very long time ago now), or whether the debate chose me.
I feel as though I have been given the gift of belonging and of helping to build a community.
In it, I enjoy my experiences coaching the National Team, serving as a judge and debate coach, competing in five Italian Olympics, two Youth Championships, and three World Championships, feeling the thrill of winning the Italian national championship, and, most importantly, getting to know many young people and many people.
Marco Costigliolo
Coach
Liceo Linguistico "Mosè Bianchi", Monza
As far as Debate and me are concerned, I’d say it was love at first sight in 2013 when I had the occasion to take part into a tuition held by IDEA. The main reason for this is probably the fact that Debate is what, in using language, resembles most showing in Mathematics and Physics, the subjects I love most. Being a co-coach of the Italian National Team is an honor and an occasion for pushing further Debate in Italy.
Giovanna Colombo
Team Manager
Istituto Tecnico Economico "Enrico Tosi" , Busto Arsizio
The debate is one of the most powerful and effective ways to allow young people to give voice to their ideas. This awareness has matured on the occasion of several international forums and meetings in which I saw Italian students fearful of taking the floor and supporting their positions. The debate help quiet team members speak up, and don’t let the talkers dominate; make it safe for people to share risky ideas; take a contrarian view; identify key assumptions and dissect them. Offering young people opportunities for debate is a civic and social duty for me.
Aurora Varin
Judge
Università LIUC, Castellanza
In 2013, when I first started debating, I couldn’t have imagined the role Debate would have had in my life; almost 10 years later, I can’t imagine what my life would have been without it. One of the best feelings for me, now that I rarely have the chance to take the floor as a speaker, is watching kids falling in love with this discipline, learning and getting better at it. Being a judge gives me the chance to listen to their speeches, see their passion and whatch them grow as debaters and as citizens, also thanks to my suggestions. Being a WSDC judge gives me the chance to listen to the best speeches, see not only passion but even professionalism and watch great debaters becoming champions.
Sara Lawlor
Assistant Coach
Università degli Studi di Torino
Both debating and teaching debate have changed the way I approach any discussion, formal or informal alike and changed the way I learn. Finding a space in the debate world means finding a community of people who will challenge you and push you like no other. The buzzing of new ideas, opinions and constructive feedback could reawaken a curiosity for learning in almost anyone, not just students. That’s exactly what had me hooked from 2018 onwards, when I started debating at international tournaments, including WSDC in 2020, and later started coaching the Italian national team and teaching debate to students and adults in a workshop setting.
‘’Once a wiseman said “In times of famine, you cut on everything but the seeding", and from then on it became my motto.’’
Marta Citriniti
Liceo Scientifico "Galileo Galilei", Pescara
‘’I can’t wait to face our opponents, putting into practice all the knowledge I’ve learned over the years and giving the best of myself to the team.’’
Riccardo Fazzini
Liceo Linguistico "Mosè Bianchi", Monza
‘’I am very proud to be able to participate in WDSC and look forward to engaging with students from all over the world!’’
Giulio Bernasconi
Liceo Scientifico "G. Ferraris", Varese
‘’I enjoyed trying to break down the other team’s line, while defending ours by showing its strong points.’’
Federico Monti
Liceo Scientifico "P. Giovio", Como
‘’I am particularly passionate about ethical and political issues of today’s world.’’
Lorenzo Bisceglie
Liceo Scientifico "G. Ulivi", Parma