Sophomore Joseph Antonelli from the Speech and Debate team has had a record breaking season. Antonelli has put in some hard work, and has won qualifying bids in the Lincoln Douglas Debate for two national Speech and Debate tournaments. Earlier this year he received a national ranking in the Tournament of Champions and will compete at their final National Tournament. 

In addition to these achievements, Antonelli qualified as one of four debaters from Arizona to compete in the National Speech and Debate Association National Tournament final which will be held virtually in June. He will not only be representing Perry, but he will also be representing Arizona. 

Antonelli has been in Speech and Debate for 2 ½ years now and he explains why he wanted to join the Speech and Debate team. “I enjoyed learning about various topics and talking to other people around the nation and other people in Arizona,” he said. Antonelli expressed his excitement for his achievements, and is proud to say that in the National Qualifying Tournament, the team placed first overall. 

The debates have all been online since COVID-19 has impacted competitions. Antonelli explains how competitors get on a Zoom call, and proceed with the debate from there. The National tournament in June will also be online however Antonelli predicts that next school year it will go back to in-person competitions. Another accomplishment he has earned this year was the title of president of Speech and Debate for the 2021-2022 school year. 

Antonelli has plans to continue his speech and debate career into college when discussing his upcoming goals. “I know colleges have a policy team where they travel around the country just doing different events at different colleges, so I think that is something I will look into.” Although Antonelli is only a sophomore, he already has Speech and Debate fit in his future.