While the Rim to Rim tournament may not fill bleachers like football or basketball games, speech and debate has become a major force in Idaho schools. The state boasts 42 schools with national rankings in the sport.Idaho News 6 met with the Twin Falls High School Bruins speech and debate team as they practiced for their home tournament, where 18 schools will compete in events ranging from classic debate formats to informative, humorous and interpretive speeches."It's essentially a brain sport. That's what I like to qualify it to, and so yeah, it's a lot of brain calories, a lot of thinking," junior Kenadee Lucas said. Watch how Twin Falls High School's speech and debate team prepares for their annual home tournament Twin Falls speech team preps for 600+ competitor tournamentThe tournaments can run 12 hours or longer, testing competitors' mental stamina throughout the day."It's just great getting together with that like competitive community," said senior Micala Wood.For Wood, speech and debate has transformed how she approaches communication in all aspects of life."I feel like ever since I joined speech and debate, it's given me a much more cutting edge when it comes to speaking," Wood said.The Twin Falls Bruins are the defending state champions, giving them extra motivation as they host competitors on their home turf.Team member Maddux McClymonds has found personal growth through the activity, using speeches about living with Tourette syndrome to help him accept a condition he previously struggled with."I think again, like it's helped me come to terms of who I am," McClymonds said. "Like, I can say 'I have Tourette's' to you and not feel embarrassed."Wood credits speech and debate for developing critical thinking skills that extend far beyond competition."I feel like speech and debate has completely changed how I kind of viewed the world around me," Wood said. "I feel like it's kind of giving me a critical thinking ability I wouldn't have had otherwise if I hadn't joined the club back in freshman year."This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been, in part, converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy. ...read more read less