Team Canada 2023 development squad was selected following an online qualifying tournament in May 2022.  Participants debated in all six speaker places and were ranked based on tournament performance, past competition success, and an interview. The team’s season started with an in-person training camp in Toronto, Ontario from August to September 2022.

EurOpens which is typically our first international event has been cancelled for this year. Thanks to Brent Schmidt and Arsalan Ghaemi we were able to partake in a North American Spar between Mexico, USA and Canada.  The team will be heading to Mexico City for October 12th to the 17th, 2022. 

Our team in alphabetical order by last name …

Returning Members from the 2022 Team

• Annushka Agarwal (BC) 
• Randy Chang (ON)
• Angela Lu (BC)
• Alice Xu (BC)
• Maria Xu(ON)

• Tanush Agarwal (ON)
• Jonathan Chu  (BC)
• Barry Gu (AB)
• Summit Kawakami (AB)

• Eric Li (BC)
• Rally Lin (ON)
• Hao Ni (ON)

 

Team Co-Coaches – Brent Schmidt and Arsalan Ghaemi

From the small lakeside town of Goderich Ontario, Brent is a history graduate from the University of Toronto/Western, and has been coaching debate of all levels for nearly 10 years. As a debater, Brent was a national top speaker, and champion of numerous university tournaments.

Brent’s main interests outside of debating surround history of all kinds (though a particular focus on the Cold War), as well as fealty to almost exclusively terrible sports franchises.

 

An Iranian immigrant, raised in Coquitlam British Columbia, Arsalan is an alumnus of the University of British Columbia, where he studied Political Science.

Arsalan has been involved in the Canadian debate circuit for nearly 11 years, and as a coach for more than 6 years.

He is an often disappointed fan of the Vancouver Canucks, while probably not as much a fan of the Maple Leafs.   Arsalan’s excited to work with, teach, and learn from some of the brightest young minds on the planet.

 

Sponsorship

Team Canada would not be able to represent Canada without the generous support of the community. We would like to thank our generous sponsors, who help make it possible for the Team to compete around the world.

Team Payments

If you are a team member, you can make payments by E-transfer.

Contact treasurer@csdf-fcde.ca to set up an E-Transfer payment.