Hart House Invitational – October 16th-18th
The second major tournament of the year is the Hart House Invitational, running from October 16th-18th at the University of Toronto. You can check out the official invitation on CUSIDnet.
The Hart House Invitational is one of the largest British Parlimentary tournaments in North America and attracts teams from Canada, the United States, Great Britain, and Ireland. Hart House is one of the largest and most successful debate societies in Canada. This tournament is renowned for having one of the deepest judging pools, largely because it attracts not only Hart House alumni, but many CUSID alumni working in Toronto. The quality of debate at this tournament is very high because of great teams, great judging and excellent feedback for everyone from novices to teams on track for Worlds. It is considered a vital part of Worlds prep for pretty much any team who can attend, on par with international tournaments like the Oxford and Cambridge IV's.
Hart House is also known for throwing some of the ritziest socials in Canada. The Saturday night banquet and break-announcement in the Great Hall is a black-tie event with live entertainment. The lobster bisque has even attained a cult following among debaters. It's one of the few opportunities outside title tournaments and Worlds to see debaters in formal eveningwear. Ask anyone who was present last year, it was an evening few us will forget.
Western will hopefully be sending a full complement of 6 teams and 2 judges, so get involved early if you want to attend. This tournament is only three weeks after our club starts meeting for the year so we need to fit in alot of practice in a short time!
Here's a picture of last year's banquet.
