MIFA Minute: 27 tournaments in a strange and wonderful year

Jon Becker is the Executive Director of MIFA.

What a strange and wonderful year it has been! After cancelling several of our largest events at the end of the 2019-2020 school year, I never would have predicted where we are today.

In August 2020, as we began planning for the coming year, it was apparent that 100% of our events would need to be held online and that we needed a crash course to help get everyone ready for what hoped to be a one of a kind season. Committee members worked tirelessly to rewrite rules for online versions of Policy, Public Forum and Congressional Debate, the One Act Play Festival as well as Individual Events at both the high school and middle level. Over the following months, we fielded phone calls, responded to emails and led Zoom meetings. Staff held training sessions for tournament directors and delivered countless workshops for coaches, contestants and judges.

In total, MIFA administered 27 tournaments and assisted with another 8. That’s nearly every tournament that ran statewide over the course of the 2020-2021 school year & a substantial increase above the seven events we oversee in a typical year. Seven invitational debate & IE tournaments donated 100% of proceeds to the organization — our sincere gratitude to the directors and debate programs at Detroit Country Day School, West Bloomfield HS and Holt HS as well as the directors and IE programs at Grand Rapids Christian HS, Portage Northern HS, Loy Norrix HS and Portage Central HS. In addition, several tournaments sent contributions in acknowledgement of the support they received — our thanks to Spartan Speech @ MSU, Avondale HS and the Detroit Urban Debate League for their support. Others contributed in their own way, as dozens of alumni turned out to judge debate, theatre and IE tournaments on a volunteer basis.

All of that is to say, we are certainly feeling the love. We hope you know it is reciprocated. This is an amazingly talented, generous community! Our sincere thanks to all of you.

Originally published in the MSCI Year in Review, May 2021.