Brief Report on PDSZA'09!

Whew! I just arrived at UMP after traveling from UiTM Dungun & I feel great! :D

We returned to UMP on the 20th of June to start our debate training. We had 3 rounds per day & our experience at previous PDSZA tourneys helped to select topics that might be covered at the tournament. I'm not affliated with UiTM Dungun so I'll try to provide info about the tournament as best as I could.

PDSZA
Pertandingan Debat Sultan Zainal Abidin (PDSZA) was held for the 9th time at UiTM Dungun (the host). It invites IPTA's from the east coast of Malaysia (Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang) & challenges students to participate in English & Malay debates. The main purpose of the tournament is to provide exposure (especially to new teams) to teams & help prepare them for bigger tournaments, plus build bonds within the debating community. 

UMP & PDSZA
UMP entered PDSZA for the 1st time in 2006 & won the competition. UMP won it again in 2007, 2008 & today we made history by having an all-UMP final for the 1st time :) It has become one of the most important tournaments in our calendar & we feel sentimental every time. Sure it has its fall backs but we appreciate the effort put in by UiTM Dungun to try & create as good a tournament as possible. 

Winning PDSZA'06
Now what?
I've no idea if I'll be joining again next yr. We achieved our goal of retaining the cup; we achieved our goal of having an all-UMP finals. We have discussed & UMP may help to organize friendly matches & adjudication training prior to the next PDSZA to clear up any technical difficulties & aid teams to be prepared for the tournament. It hasn't been set in stone yet but we feel we have gained a lot from PDSZA & giving back a little couldn't hurt.

Thanks to my awesome team & our awesome friends for being there with us, for making the experience a great one to remember! :)

Comments

Unknown said…
congratz!!! u guys are awesome!!!
June 29, 2009 at 12:53 PM
Rowan said…
Thanks Fei Fei! Hopefully next yr the tournament's quality will improve & make it more meaningful! :)
June 29, 2009 at 6:51 PM
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