SOUTH AFRICAN

NATIONAL SCHOOLS
DEBATING
CHAMPIONSHIPS
FUNDING PROPOSAL

The National Schools Debating Championships is an annual competition which brings

together the best high school debaters from each province in South Africa to compete
for the title of national champion. It is a week of engagement, discourse and incredible
insight from the best young minds in the country.
SANSDC Organising Committee 2013
4/22/2013

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CONTENT
1. Executive summary
2. Background information
3. Nationals 2013
4. Expected outcomes
5. Sponsorship packages
6. Event and sponsorship management
7. Budget
8. Provisional programme
9. Contact us

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The National Schools Debating Championships is an annual competition which brings together
the best high school debaters in South Africa to compete for the title of national champion.
Most provinces send several teams to participate in the junior (Grade 7-9) and senior (Grade
10-12) categories.
The purpose of debating as an activity is to promote critical thought, confidence and a focus on
finding solutions. In an attempt to promote this, the debating community of South Africa hosts a
national tournament every year, which acts not only as a medium for school debaters to master
their skills, but also promotes additional engagement within provincial structures.
Our aim this year is to make this annual tournament more accessible than ever before. We will
create an environment that has the highest concentration of experienced judges and speakers in
the country, and from past experiences, the continent. We want to hone participants' debating
skills at this tournament, but also provide them with life skills that will remain useful to them for
the rest of their lives.
As the economic hubs of the country, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape are
always well represented at debating tournaments. A very different story is told by the other six
provinces. The North West Province, Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape have not competed
in many years, if ever; while the Free State, Eastern Cape and Limpopo rarely send competitive
teams. Due to the fact that debating is a labour intensive activity, it requires many hours from
the children as well as their coaches. Most coaches involved with debating are ex-debaters and
their gratitude for the skills they have received is the only driving force behind their
participation. Thus it is no surprise that finding good quality coaches and adjudicators is quite a
struggle. Other than the time involved, one of the biggest drawbacks is that it costs most people
money to be involved with coaching or judging debating. More than just the coaches, 50% of the
participants from each province are development speakers. This means their education and
living circumstances do not give them access to any of the resources available to nondevelopment speakers. It is mandatory that each squad is made up of 50% development
speakers; thus, funding these children often becomes incredibly difficult and causes the burden
to often fall on the coaches or privileged speakers. The cost of being involved in debating often
prohibits more active involvement. Clearly, funding is one of the biggest obstacles that the SA
debating community faces, which is why we would like to invite you to be part of the group of
people seeking to improve school education in this country.
We have three different sponsorship packages to offer, each with its own benefits to sponsors.
Our budget for the entire tournament is R600 000. This will cover food and accommodation for
all participants and adjudicators (about 250 people), as well as allowing us to run a smooth and
memorable tournament.

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BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Debating has a rich history in the world and South Africa. World championships are held
annually at various levels and with several streams. South Africa has one of the strongest
schools debating systems in the world. It produces high quality debaters, who consistently rank
among the best in the world. The most recent Schools Worlds happened in Turkey and South
Africa was ranked 4th in the world. This shows that the way we run debating matches the
standard of the best speakers in the world. It is also incredibly accessible and widespread, and is
an important tool for critical engagement and social discourse among the youth in our country.
Debating is run at a national level by the South African Schools Debating Board, and at a
provincial level by various provincial bodies. The National Championships are run by a delegated
organising committee based in the host province. This year is Gautengs turn.
The first National tournament was held in 2000 but was preceded by provincial structures.
Over the past decade the tournament has been running and expanding successfully.
Debating is incredibly important to the youth in South Africa. It enriches their lives in the
following ways.

General knowledge and engagement with current affairs: students debate social, political
and economic issues at an incredibly high level, and are very engaged thinkers.
Critical thinking and questioning attitude: all propositions and assertions are analysed to
the fullest extent and a stance is taken only once a substantiated argument can be made
for it.
Focus on solutions: if a debate is centred around the implementation of a policy or a
stance (as they most often are), simply picking apart the idea is not enough. An
alternative always has to be offered. This counteracts the resignation that often
accompanies critical thinking and is what our country needs to become part of the first
world.
Persuasiveness and confidence: debating skills give you the edge in business. Pitches and
proposals become strategic and insightful, a notable improvement since most people
worry about their lack of public speaking experience.
Interest in politics, economics, current affairs, the legal system and the environment: in
order to be a successful speaker or adjudicator, you need to have a keen interest in how
the world works and what is currently transpiring in all fields. If engaging with this
information occurs for a significant amount of time, it inspires a passion for knowledge
and encourages debaters to be cognisant of a variety of sectors.
Open-mindedness: debating allows you to see the good and bad in everything. This is the
driving force behind our liberal society and the promotion of what is right rather than
what is merely ordinary.

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The above has been proven by various former debaters excelling in their respective fields.
Eusebius McKaiser, Ingrid Cloete, Emma Webber, Daniel Kaliski, Kameel Premhid, Matthew
Butler-Adams, Joe Roussos, Michael Fargher and many others have attended internationally
acclaimed universities such as Oxford, Cambridge and MIT. There is also a large community of
debaters who are currently employed by McKinsey and an array other reputable companies.
An annual national tournament plays a significant role in making sure that these examples are
the norm and not the exception. It is a place where like-minded people are able to meet and
discuss futures that often pertain to the pursuit of excellence that changes society.
Debating starts at the level of individual schools. A club has to be formed and run, usually by a
teacher. Schools then generally compete in a provincial tournament and after that individuals are
chosen to represent the province. A national tournament promotes this process in three ways:
1. The speakers have something to work towards.
They can see how well they fare against the best that the country can offer. This is in
conjunction with the fact that these tournaments are always a great deal of fun and
inspire students to persevere and hone their skills to the best of their abilities. The
National Championships find and reward the brightest learners we have.
2. Schools and provinces are empowered by a higher structure.
Schools are more likely to provide resources and funding to their students and staff if
they know that it will feed into an established and beneficial structure. Without national
guidance, many provinces and schools would not have the support to develop debating.
This is especially prevalent in the provinces where debating is not accessible. Currently,
there is not enough of a national presence in the debating community. We have the skills
and opportunities to help struggling provinces, but we lack the funds to reach them. It is
of no use to have a national tournament that some provinces cannot attend because
they do not have the financial means for doing so. Schools in these regions are also less
privileged and less likely to invest in debating if they know that it is going to be a huge
burden on their finances.
3. Speakers who have gone to Nationals can return to their homes and spread the
experience they have gained.
Many school societies are run by the students without coaching or teacher involvement.
This remains successful because of the willingness of talented individuals to share their
knowledge and skills with others. Debating is considered a team activity, thus the only
way for speakers to return to tournaments year after year is to work with their less
fortunate peers and teach them as much as they possibly can. In this way, the
tournament caters for a few hundred people, but its benefits reach many more children.
A further element of competition is making a South African team. After every Nationals, trialists
are selected to go to SA trials. There they compete for a spot on the national team. This year
sees a pilot project which stipulates that all trialists will attend an international tournament
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irrespective of whether they make the national team. All the benefits of a national tournament
extend to international tournaments, but without Nationals, the best team cannot be chosen.
In the past, very few development speakers were able to make it to SA trials. A second stream
for participants was therefore created: "development speakers", being underprivileged school
speakers who have low access to debating opportunities. At Nationals, the best development
speakers are chosen to participate in the SASDB Academy. This is a training camp and
tournament meant to provide high quality training and resources to those who cannot afford
them. These speakers are chosen on merit and on leadership their ability to take what they
learn at Nationals and the SASDB Academy back to their schools, and to share their knowledge
and skills with their peers.
Debating at a national level thus plays a crucial role in the development of personal and
professional skills of the children who will probably be the leaders of their generation.

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NATIONALS 2013
Each province will be invited to send 6 teams of 5 speakers to the tournament. 4 of these teams
can be made up of senior speakers (grade 10-12) and the other 2 teams must be made up of
junior speakers (grade 7-9). The tournament will be held from 6 12 December 2013.
One of the most important features of this tournament is that there is a compulsory
development quota: 50% of the speakers sent must be from priority or development
schools. The implementation of this policy lacks the negative connotations normally associated
with quotas. The development speakers are not simply put in one team and forgotten about.
Instead, almost all the provinces participating fully integrate development and non-development
speakers across teams. In 2012, Gauteng won the Best Province award and all 6 of its teams
contained both development and non-development speakers. This is testament to the fact that
integration works and that it is only going to become more of a focus in years to come.
Debating has traditionally been an elite activity, but this has changed in South Africa, for the
better. We aim to make SA debating as accessible, widespread and diverse as possible.
One of our main goals is to have funding available to cover the costs of the adjudicators'
participation at the tournament. Adjudication is incredibly important. We aspire to make sure
the tournament is judged fairly and that speakers can learn from their judges in every debate. As
mentioned before, if professionals are expected to spend their own money to provide a service
to the tournament, there will not be the highest calibre of judging. We aim to fix this by making
Nationals a free tournament and possibly subsidising the travel costs of adjudicators. This is
particularly important because most of the adjudicators are students and thus do not have much
money to spend on these tournaments, even if they are willing to give up their time.

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EXPECTED OUTCOMES
We hope to achieve the following at Nationals 2013:

Set the precedent of hosting affordable, high quality tournaments

Allow for more provinces to be represented (through lower costs, higher accessibility, online
training and SASDB cooperation)
Higher quality of judging
Host a successful tournament in terms of efficiency of organisation
Create an engaging and educational environment for the top debaters in South Africa
Maintain lasting relationships with sponsors to ensure the continuity of the event
Allow for the selection of trialists for the South African team
Allow for the selection of development speakers for the Academy
Create structures, protocols and guides for future Nationals' organising committees

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SPONSORSHIP PACKAGES
This event presents a unique opportunity in two ways:
1) Children and students from all around the country will be gathered here. This allows you to
access a bigger market, as well as a very specific target market, which enhances the chances of
successful advertising.
2) These children and students are some of the most dedicated and intelligent individuals in the
country. Logical and accurate marketing will work perfectly on them and thus it will be easier to
promote a superior product to them.
There are three broad categories of sponsorship for this tournament.
MAJOR AND TITLE SPONSORS
Title or major sponsors are individuals or companies who would fund all or most of the needs of the
tournament. They would be major partners and significantly involved in all aspects of tournament
preparation and the event itself.
Major sponsors would garner the following specific benefits:
Opportunity to speak at the opening and closing ceremonies
Opportunity to provide named trophies or prizes
Invitations and special guest status to all functions
Welcome packages and other distribution of advertising/promotional materials
Branded stationery, lanyards etc.
Prominent brand placement in all media and advertising of the event (title sponsors have
naming rights, for example the X Company NSDC 2013, as well as logo placement on all
materials)
Prominent online logo placement and online ads on all SA debating social networking pages
and websites
Brand exposure to the brightest young minds in the country (including the ability to meet
and canvas for employees/interns/scholars, and access to contact details)
Further CSI opportunities in any of the provinces, or nationally
AREA-SPECIFIC SPONSORSHIP
It is also possible to sponsor a specific event, good or service. For example, you could fund a social or
function, or you could help us fund our stationery and printing costs, or you could help us cover the
registration fees of development speakers. This type of sponsorship is possible through a monetary
donation (covering the costs) or a direct donation (for example, buses, free use of a venue, water
bottles).

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Sponsor a social or function: catering, venues, lighting and sounds etc.

Opportunity to speak at function
Naming rights (The X Company Mayors Cup)
Welcome packages and other distribution of advertising/promotional materials
Branded gifts/stationery/materials/products
Help sponsor a specific need: stationery, printing, accommodation, catering, travel, judge
costs, training costs, venues, prizes and trophies. It is also possible to donate towards covering
the registration fees of development speakers or learners from a specific region.
Major branding in the area of the sponsorship
Further partnership opportunities with SA and Gauteng debating
All
Inclusion in welcome packages and the opportunity to distribute advertising/promotional
materials
Brand placement in media and advertising of the event
Contact details of participants and partners
Online logo placement and online ads on SA debating social networking pages and
websites
Brand exposure to the brightest young minds in the country (including the ability to
meet and canvas for employees/interns/scholars, and access to contact details)
Further CSI opportunities in any of the provinces, or nationally
OTHER SPONSORS
If you are unable to commit to any of the above options, it is still possible to contribute. Every little bit
helps us make this event a reality!
Sponsors can access the following benefits:
Brand exposure to the brightest young minds in the country
Inclusion in welcome packages that can include printed material
Branded stationery/lanyards
Advertising on our social network pages/website
Further CSI opportunities in any of the provinces, or nationally
Opportunity to distribute materials

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EVENT AND SPONSORSHIP MANAGEMENT

There is an organising committee in charge of running the tournament and facilitating all the benefits that
stem from it. As a team, we can provide you with consistent breakdowns and more detailed budgets so
that you can be sure we are using your money in the best possible way.
The team is made up of:
The convenor, in charge of managing the committee and entire event (Debby Nixon)
The director, in charge of the daily running of the event (Jolandi Swanepoel)
Two accommodation and catering officers, in charge of finding and managing hospitality
Two social officers, in charge of running the events
A PR officer, in charge of the website, social media, and media liaison
A contingency officer, in charge of emergencies, logistical problems and safety/security
A chief adjudicator and deputy chief adjudicators, in charge of training, judging, formulating the topics,
and running the debating content
In addition, the committee reports to and is overseen by the South African Schools Debating Board, the
national body overseeing schools' debating. More information about this institution is available at
debate.org.za.
The organising committee will send regular reports and updates to all sponsors, as well as a thorough
evaluation after the event.

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BUDGET
Below we have outlined two possible budgets: a best and a worst case scenario. The worst case scenario
includes funds raised by charging the participants a registration fee. We would particularly like to avoid
this, as registration fees are prohibitive to development speakers' participation, and we would like South
African debating to be progressive and offer equal opportunities.
Best case scenario

Item
Accommodation
and food
Transport at
tournament
Subsidising of
judges transport
where needed
Socials
Printing and
stationery
Contingency
Total

Description
R1500 x 250 people

Expenditure
R375 000

R5000 x 4 busses x 2 R40 000

events
R1 000 x 50 judges
R50 000
2 formal + 4 informal R90 000
Ballots,
rubrics, R10 000
programmes,
welcome packs
Emergencies
and R35 000
breakages
R600 000

Worst case scenario

Item
Accommodation
and food
Transport at
tournament
Subsidising of
judges transport
where needed
Socials
Contingency
Total

Description
R1500 x 250 people

Expenditure
R325 000*

R5000 x 4 busses x 2 R40 000

events
R1 000 x 50 judges
R50 000
2 formal + 4 informal R50 000
Emergencies
and R35 000
breakages
R500 000

*If a R500 per person registration fee is charged then we can raise R125 000,00 for this expense.

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PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME
FRIDAY 6 DECEMBER 2013 ARRIVAL DAY
10.00 16.00: Registration
16.00 18.00: Room allocation and buffer period for unforeseen late comers
18.00 21.30: Opening function with formal dinner and guest speaker
CONCURRENTLY:
17.00 19.30: Adjudicator test
SATURDAY 7 DECEMBER 2013 DEBATING DAY 1
08.00 11.45: Training
11.45 12.15: Lunch
12.15 14.45: Round 1
15.00 17.30: Round 2
18.30 22.00: Social
SUNDAY 8 DECEMBER DEBATING DAY 2
08.00 08.30: Briefing
08.30 11.00: Round 3
11.15 13.45: Round 4
13.45 14.30: Lunch
14.30 17.00: Round 5
18.00 22.00: Social
MONDAY 9 DECEMBER DEBATING DAY 3
08.00 08.30: Briefing
08.30 11.00: Round 6
11.15 13.45: Round 7
13.45 14.30: Lunch
14.30 17.00: Round 8
18.00 22.00: Break Party
TUESDAY 10 DECEMBER BREAK ROUNDS
08.00 08.30: Briefing
08.30 11.00: Senior Quarter Final
11.15 13.45: Junior Semi Final
13.45 14.30: Lunch
14.30 17.00: Senior Semi Final
18.00 22.00: Social
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WEDNESDAY 11 DECEMBER FINALS DAY

08.00 12.00: Educational tour (museum)
12.00 12.30: Lunch
12.30 13.00: Transport participants and spectators to the final venue
13.00 14.00: Junior finalists prepare while spectators go for a tour of the venue
14.00 15.00: Junior Final (senior finalists to prepare)
15.15 16.15: Senior Final
16.15 16.45: Transport to final function
18.00 22.00: Final function (black tie)
THURSDAY 12 DECEMBER DEPARTURE DAY
06.00 10.00: All participants depart

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CONTACT US
Our major form of correspondence is email, as all of us are volunteers and tend to work during
office hours. Our email address is info@sansdc2013.com.
If you need to contact us by phone, you can contact the tournament convenor, Debby Nixon at
0829671734. She is also available via email at debby.nixon747@gmail.com.
The tournament director,
Jolandi.swanepoel@gmail.com.

Jolandi

Swanepoel,

is

available

at

0730637008

and

The South African Schools Debating Board is available at sasdbinfo@gmail.com.

SANSDC 2013 also has a Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/sansdc2013) and a Twitter
account (@SANSDC2013).

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