By Emily Williams-Robertshaw
Jane Grey Battle, a senior at Mountain Brook High, is one of 12 debaters in the United States invited to join the 2021-22 USA Debate Team. She is the first student from Alabama to join the team.
Throughout the year, Battle and the team will represent the country in tournaments around the world, including Singapore, Croatia, Germany and Thailand, as well as in the United States.
The mission of the USA Debate Team is to join the global promotion of free and civil discourse, foster international cooperation and education, and demonstrate competitive excellence and national pride, according to the National Speech and Debate Association.
“I’m most excited about debating and engaging with other students with vastly different life experiences and perspectives who are also paying close attention to current events,” Battle said. “I expect the conversations will be complex and we’ll all learn from each other.”
She noted that she’s also excited to be the first person from Alabama to join the team.
“From my experience, we are often underestimated, so I look forward to challenging that perception of Alabamians and Southern accents,” she said.
Battle said she has met some of her new teammates at competitions she has gone to with her school debate teams.
“It’s really nice to be teammates now rather than having to face any of them in a debate round,” she said. “We’ve had several meetings already and everyone seems very intelligent and kind.”
During the course of Battle’s tenure with Mountain Brook’s junior high and high school debate teams, her teams have collected a list of accomplishments at the state and national levels.
In 2018, she brought home a national championship in Middle School Public Forum Debate, earning Mountain Brook its first-ever National Speech and Debate Tournament championship title in this division.
Mountain Brook debate coach Liz Wood-Weas noted that Battle has gone to the state debate tournament three times. She’s also qualified for the national speech and debate tournament three times in Public Forum and Congressional Debate events.
This past summer, Battle and her debate partner, Maggie Doyle, advanced to quarterfinals in the national tournament, placing seventh out of 362 teams in the division.
Battle is ranked as the top debater in the state by the National Speech and Debate Association. She is captain of the Mountain Brook debate team and has received the Outstanding Debate Departmental Award, the Bill Gunn Research Award and the Mountain Brook Debate’s Clinton Taylor Scholarship.
In addition, Battle is a member of the National Forensic League Honor Society and has been named an Academic All-American.
“There are 140,000 student members of the National Speech and Debate Association, and Jane Grey is now one of only twelve of those students to be selected to represent the entire country,” Wood-Weas said. “She’s the first debater from Alabama to be selected, and I do believe she’s the most deserving.”
A Balancing Act
The effort of balancing academics with her time commitment to debate is a struggle to which she is committed. She simply loves debate.
“Each round lasts about an hour and we prep between rounds,” she said. “There have been many times where I’ve debated over seven rounds through a weekend, face a ton of homework and usually a Monday morning math test … and I think I can’t do it.”
She relies on motivation from her coaches and teammates, who have become like a family.
“My debate partner for most of my high school career is also my best friend,” Battle said. “Coach Wood-Weas is like a second mother. I spend an insane amount of time researching with our assistant coach … creating complex arguments.
“They’ve kept me motivated in so many ways and I’m grateful that we have mentorship and team-building programs to return the support for our younger debaters,” she added. “There are some really bright kids and I expect that our team will continue to be very successful.”
With high school graduation looming for Battle, she said she hopes to continue debate at the collegiate level.
“Debate has dominated my high school experience, so it’s definitely influencing how I view college,” Battle said.
She’s focusing on schools that are highly diverse, inspired by the diversity of students in the debate competition circuit.
“The most interesting conversations are with people who have different worldviews, backgrounds and life experiences,” she said.
“I’ll always love debate – the people, the places, the topics and how intensely competitive I can be,” she said. “With every new topic and argument, I continue to grow. Even if I’m not winning, I still feel accomplished.”
