BY ANDREW MCCARTHY

Mamaroneck High School’s Debate Team is ranked among the top programs in the Northeast and recognized nationwide. The team competes in “policy debate,” a demanding format in which students develop near-expertise in a year-long topic, training to argue its complexities from every angle (in traditionally two-person teams).

This season, debaters are grappling with the pressing subject of U.S. Arctic policy, examining policies across subtopics ranging from international relations to indigenous governance to climate change. The program’s more than 80 students span all four grades and are grouped into three divisions—Novice, Junior Varsity (JV) and Varsity—all coached by MHS math teacher Jake Lee and Chatsworth orchestra teacher Andrew Kromholz. Collectively, the team’s first three months of competition represent a vigorous opening salvo, offering promising signs for the latter half of the year. But first, we turn to a recent home event.

Mamaroneck hosted its highly attended December tournament, a nationally recognized event with nearly 30 schools from across the Northeast. One debater, Iva Mincemoyer (’28), reports that the event saw a bustling “71 teams (142 students) in the varsity division and 20 teams (40 students) in the novice division.” Students from New York, New Jersey, Washington DC, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Maryland all converged at MHS in what Lee aptly calls “their quest” for advancement. For a weekend, classrooms across the math and science wings were transformed into vibrant forums, each managed by volunteering Mamaroneck students. Devoted parent volunteers, whose generous assistance enabled the tournament’s smooth behind-the-scenes operation, were equally involved, facilitating integral tasks like the coordination of food, beverages and seating.

At its core, this high-stakes event was driven by one enticing prospect on the minds of every Varsity team: qualification to the Tournament of Champions (TOC), the national debate tournament held every April in Lexington, Kentucky. Eligibility for this prestigious event, which is generally designed for seniors, requires two “bids” (favorable performances) at major tournaments, one of which can be secured at Mamaroneck.              

One notable Varsity duo, Sahil Gupta and Felix Apfaltrer (’26) has already qualified, with debaters Nolan Smith and Leo Federspiel (’26) following closely behind. Taken together, Lee said, Mamaroneck’s Varsity squad “continues to be a dominant force in the country,” a status forged through years of disciplined work. Their participation in various invitationals in Texas, Illinois and Michigan this year, in particular, has allowed not only memorable individual experiences, but a robust team ethos. Weekly practices, which frequently combine different divisions, are described by coaches as “focused, enthusiastic and engaging,” with what Kromholz considers “a great amount of student-to-student interaction.”

Novice Jeevan Gupta (’29) believes that debate’s innate blend of “individuality and partnership,” together with Mamaroneck’s tight-knit culture, promotes a supportive environment in which students can “thrive while building valuable friendships”. Indeed, as competitive intensity ramps up, that mindset will prove crucial, cultivating what Kromholz describes as “an itch to win more and more.”