We cancelled the MHL blowout this weekend because there weren’t enough
entries. And the MHL
has, at best, been simply limping along this year. I think we can safely
say that the MHL is virtually dead.
The league was originally formed as an educational league,
providing rounds to younger students getting started in debate. In its heyday,
schools from all along the Hudson and down into New Jersey attended in force.
Even Lexington popped into the Monticello event, in aid of getting much desired
rounds. It was a vibrant, lively league fulfilling a need within the community.
The thing is, the need for the MHL doesn’t really exist
anymore. In both New Jersey and New York, UDLs have become the vibrant, lively
leagues fulfilling the need for rounds. One gets out of the habit of going to
MHLs if one is going to UDLs. That's
reasonable. On top of that, there are plenty of novice opportunities these
days at invitationals. Almost every invitational in the region offers novice
LD, most offer novice PF, and some even offer novice Policy. The point is,
students are getting the rounds they need.
A couple of things the MHL does should not go away. The MHL
Workshop early in the season has been a continuous success, and should continue
until people stop coming. The First-Timers’ Event has always drawn a crowd,
either in NY or NJ, and that should continue as well. After that, there might
be a need for “filler” tournaments, like Stuyvesant hosting novice and JV
during the Columbia weekend. But a regular schedule of MHL events simply seems
unnecessary.
I’m recommending that the NYSDCA take on this handful of MHL
events and put them under their umbrella. There’s nothing about them contrary
to the NYSDCA mission, and they would bolster that league. As for the former
MHL debate events, I would recommend that NYSDCA keep them open to the NJ
teams, which has been beneficial to everyone over the years.
And there you are.
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