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  • THR the rise of franchise sports leagues at the expense of bilateral/multilateral sports series.

    Infoslide

    Historically, international sports was played between sports-playing nations around the world in bilateral ('between two countries') or multilateral ('between multiple countries') series. Under a bilateral/multilateral system, sports-playing nations would invite teams from other nations to compete for a particular title, league, friendly match, and so on. Examples include the Lansdowne Cup between the national rugby teams of Ireland and Australia, or invitational games between the national cricket teams of India, Pakistan, Australia, and so on. Each country's representative sports team is owned and managed by the government, where all players on the team must hold citizenship in that country. On the other hand, in franchise leagues, sports teams are privately owned and managed. Franchise teams can consist of a mix of players from different nationalities, and often play in extensive seasons. Examples of franchise leagues are the Indian Premier League for cricket and the English Premier League for football. Recently, the rise in franchise sporting leagues has come at the expense of bilateral/multilateral sports series due to complications in scheduling and resource management.

    Singapore International Schools Debating Championships 2025 · Round 4 · 2025-11-16

  • This house prefers a world in which all world religions codified the doctrine of the "Protestant work ethic".

    Infoslide

    The "Protestant work ethic" refers to the notion that work is a spiritually noble vocation. As such, individuals who adopt the Protestant work ethic believe ordinary labor (e.g. farming, business) are not just economic necessities, but active callings from God, and that traits in the pursuit of hard work (e.g. diligence, perseverance) are signs of spiritual strength.

    Singapore International Schools Debating Championships 2025 · Grand Final · 2025-11-16

  • This house, as the Catholic Church, supports the growing number of conversions inspired by right-wing online “Trad Cath” communities

    Infoslide

    The "Trad Cath" movement refers to an online subculture based on Catholic traditionalism. Trad Caths lean heavily on Catholic aesthetics (e.g. chants, gothic architecture and saints' quotes) and also support traditional social values (e.g. support for traditional gender norms).

    ANU Spring 2025 · Round 3 · 2025-11-15

  • This house supports the academisation of creative arts

    Infoslide

    The academisation of the creative arts refers to an increase in the proportion of workers in creative art fields (television, films, publishing etc) who hold university degrees in the creative arts (e.g. Masters of Fine Arts), as well as an increase in people holding such degrees more generally.

    ANU Spring 2025 · Round 4 · 2025-11-15

  • This house regrets the shift from imaginative play to goal-oriented play

    Infoslide

    Imaginative play refers to open-ended activities that encourage creativity and self-directed exploration - for instance building freely with LEGO, playing pretend, or creating original stories and worlds. Goal-oriented play refers to structured activities with pre-set objectives, narratives, or progression systems - for instance, story-driven video games, franchise-based toys (like Marvel or Star Wars sets), or games where success is measured by winning or completing specific missions.

    Hart House Autumn Split 2025 · Round 3 · 2025-11-15

  • This house believes that history is thick rather than thin

    Infoslide

    A thick view of history holds that that the macro state of society at a given point is largely determined by overwhelming structural forces which made that state close to inevitable. A thin view of history holds that it is largely as a result of a small number of factors (e.g. events, people or processes) which could easily have been different and lead to different outcomes, making that state subject to a substantial degree of randomness.

    ANU Spring 2025 · Novice Final · 2025-11-15

  • This house regrets the dominance of spectacle in contemporary art

    Infoslide

    In recent decades, contemporary art has increasingly challenged conventional ideas of what constitutes "art" and often prioritized provocation, novelty, or conceptual shock — broadly, spectacle — over traditional skills or aesthetics. Examples include "America" by Maurizio Cattelan (top left), "Erased de Kooning Drawing" by Robert Rauschenberg (top right), "Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn" by Ai Weiwei (bottom left), and "Balloon Dog" by Jeff Koons (bottom left). ![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/rd-d/ALs6j_FVa2RC_r5bGrgQNKYtK5TXo2Tje_zEakt0bm_OwJX9kvZaOLeCuN60PhKhwsbb4dP9jkxlere7-Hy_xgGMlfZaBhfMAReQC3mz- zQNBMCHavFIDNHeLZ7JLFGMx9-bE64kj5yJDep6mXMdRy5R0vsCCZbCt46j8kD01Zb6yRi57c9DCYlBDFKhtVqnOnjB1HEUe1CvGxiiY4waz_AId-6EFfL_YAh45fN8djLt-e2aiOjoveom5YCoau5W_Km7hE24mMe1oUq_8VQ6cQLzu1S1dD9NcTTnSgM3fYYUz7BHj- kisT8BZ3LHYJJYvyzbev217gy6-rpA88fmo2YilQjQZjEbt_m4yRdsAtwtV_6omcQ4re5N2baaOVXDE5CvK5wh6FT54kP7FtKpQ15w9WIbkxC74R1nOSA10_mRv- duMUPQAMw5k5ukaI8C2w7Vpi0A1gU4wGAuhEmWxvALgM-8oTZC- AffUtDksTTMngwvKjlql5xl0_qUBLdrO3u8DkjfUZC47fk_gwDW- wpCptsWklJKYJ9GTJ-54jfTOHIhHPLzakLYLqSx6NN9XYCuhcMPrdrVj3TUcx- OiIVU7PkOBsV0Q5gYlSNVbwSWZPRrYyePV7psjXen2IQHUDqSZGC7dozB9iI5OYOs- Nj32YC9CnpgbFfO__x0Ffs3FkfSKJr6arODB11VQQTHzkDbFNQqeVz8Vi0Km0z7Fp9s0tg08Fz0_5anC8ZJp18N4lSZ_vWmzdkmZp0QocvtAMUmoSkJX7dBajvRR4lYGwwRqNnIKYc_anZGbZwbTnFKZUjMHgd2zVW39pmBuYk2mN9J8uB9Zd62mP0TynWM54wSp840yQNvF1ZQpN2OTARiLrirG56BOfV59rjMk2FKg3Lnll4OFHacjjUWyrHKyi7zaB8vaII5-7sU9NsQj0ZE9jAaK58SBPUfpwq6O4uGBUOptuwvGxXbUrgfIRVmr5baycdRE_PGIdWOwbwR_Wv6toyVg5OJd9Dqn62I4eAExw2cLTODzj6J_A=w2940-h1594)

    Hart House Autumn Split 2025 · Round 2 · 2025-11-15

  • This House Would Choose to be born on North Sentinel Island over being born randomly somewhere else in the world

    Infoslide

    North Sentinel Island, part of the Andaman archipelago in the Bay of Bengal, houses the Sentinelese, an isolated indigenous tribe that vigorously defends its seclusion from outsiders. For the purposes of this debate, if you are born on the North Sentinel Island, basic food security is guaranteed and no climate-change-related disasters will occur during your lifetime.

    Ecuadorian National Schools Debating Championship 2025 · Round 4 · 2025-11-14

  • This house prefers for a society to have British humour rather than American humour

    Infoslide

    British style humour tends to be subtle, dead-pan and self-depricating often mocking the authorities and societal norms finding the humour in darkness. American style humour tends to be direct and upbeat often jokes are around big personalities and the comedians’ use of body language.

    Norwich Mini 2025 · Round 3 · 2025-11-14

  • This house believes that the representation of nihilism in art does more harm than good.

    Infoslide

    Nihilism is the belief that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated. It is often associated with extreme pessimism and a radical skepticism that condemns existence. A true nihilist would believe in nothing, have no loyalties, and no purpose other than, perhaps, an impulse to destroy.

    LUMS Asians x OPFDC 2025 · Round 2 · 2025-11-10

  • This House prefers a world in which oracles exist.

    Infoslide

    An oracle is someone capable of providing prophecies. These prophecies are expressed vaguely, in poems or riddles, but they are always accurate. Oracles cannot choose what they prophesy about and only see very limited parts of the future—fixed points that cannot be changed. Oracles are rare: only a few hundred exist at the same time, distributed proportionally to the population around the world.

    LUMS Asians x OPFDC 2025 · Grand Final · 2025-11-10

  • This house regrets the dominant narrative that 'a friend in need is a friend indeed'

    Infoslide

    The phrase "a friend in need is a friend indeed" means that a true friend is someone who helps you when you are in trouble, rather than abandoning you.

    LUMS Asians x OPFDC 2025 · U-19 Quarterfinals · 2025-11-10

  • This house believes that individual awards should carry greater weight than team championships when evaluating all-time great athletes.

    Infoslide

    In competitive sports, an all time great athlete's legacy includes both individual awards (MVPs, Scoring Records, Ballon d'Ors) and team championships (NBA Championship, Stanley Cup, World Cup, World Series).

    LUMS Asians x OPFDC 2025 · Round 4 · 2025-11-10

  • This house regrets the rise of the 24 hours news cycle

    Infoslide

    News used to be reported and updated more infrequently twice-daily broadcasts by news networks. The 24-hour news cycle is the 24-hour investigation and reporting of news.

    LUMS Asians x OPFDC 2025 · Round 1 · 2025-11-10

  • In rapidly-developing megacities, This house prefers the "chaotic warm approach" in urban planning as opposed to Le Corbusier’s approach

    Infoslide

    A megacity is defined as a very large urban area, usually a metropolis, consisting of a main city supported by several satellite cities. Le Corbusier's concept of urban planning envisions polished infrastructures (wide roads, clear sidewalks, spacious public facilities etc.) within cities with well-defined sectors (clear separation of residential and commercial areas). A 'chaotic warm' approach is a city that looks “messy” from up above but feels 'warm' to its inhabitants: for example the presence of urban villages, city alleyways scattered with street food hawkers and hole-in-the-wall establishments. For the purpose of this debate, both approaches would also aim for cleanliness, relative law and order and security albeit in different ways of delivering/implementing them.

    LUMS Asians x OPFDC 2025 · Quarterfinals · 2025-11-10