Exclusive Access To Topic-Specific Prep Written By Our Coaches
Each coach writes major affirmative or negative positions on every topic in their areas of expertise, giving each student on our Teams exclusive access to extensive major positions on the topic that are written by coaches with proven track records of success, in addition to all the other prep produced by students.
Unfiltered Access to Every Team Member's Prep For Each Topic
We only accept debaters to our Club Teams that are serious about competitive success—as a result, every person on the team works hard and produces valuable prep. Instead of having 2-3 teammates that help you prep for a topic, you’ll now have 10+ teammates working in harmony and divvying up the most pressing assignments according to each person’s strengths as a researcher.
“The best part about joining the Club Team was hands down the prep, specifically the diversity of it. The sheer number of good debaters on the team ensures that you have numerous positions from every side of the library (Util, Kritikal, Framework, Theory, etc).” –Parker Whitfill, 2017 TOC Champion, Phoenix Country Day HS ‘17
“The best part about joining the Club Team was hands down the prep, specifically the diversity of it. The sheer number of good debaters on the team ensures that you have numerous positions from every side of the library (Util, Kritikal, Framework, Theory, etc).” –Parker Whitfill, 2017 TOC Champion, Phoenix Country Day HS ‘17
A Community of Teammates Across the Country
Last season our Debate Clubs consisted of coaches and debaters from California, Arizona, Georgia, Texas, New Jersey, North Carolina, Washington D.C, New York, Florida, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Using a messaging application called Slack, the debaters and coaches on our Club Teams sent over 200,000 messages during the season, allowing for regular communication about all things debate. This community facilitates robust organic conversation to develop where students asked questions and received real-time feedback and support throughout the season. Alumni have consistently told us this is one of the best parts of being part of our Club Teams.
“I think the best thing about the Debatedrills Club Team was the community/family I was able to meet. The mix of debaters that included debaters who topped the bid list to debaters who were just trying to get their first bid really motivated me to never stop trying.”–Aisha Sheikh, 9th Place 2017 Harvard Invitational, George Ranch HS ’17
“I think the best thing about the Debatedrills Club Team was the community/family I was able to meet. The mix of debaters that included debaters who topped the bid list to debaters who were just trying to get their first bid really motivated me to never stop trying.”–Aisha Sheikh, 9th Place 2017 Harvard Invitational, George Ranch HS ’17
Weekly Practices
Each week, students have 1 to 2 practices with a similarly skilled group of teammates led by our Coaches. Small group practices help students learn about positions, execute strategies, and make sure they are focused on debate. Practices include coach lectures, drills, practice debates, prep days, and more.
“Having a lot of teammates to do practice rounds with was really helpful…It was great having constant check-ups on preparation and getting easy materials to do redos with – i.e. the rounds.” -Matthew Chen, Champion of 2018 Lexington Invitational + Strake Jesuit RR + Sunvitational RR + TFA State, Strake Jesuit HS ‘18
“Having a lot of teammates to do practice rounds with was really helpful…It was great having constant check-ups on preparation and getting easy materials to do redos with – i.e. the rounds.” -Matthew Chen, Champion of 2018 Lexington Invitational + Strake Jesuit RR + Sunvitational RR + TFA State, Strake Jesuit HS ‘18
High Quality Topic Analyses
Each coach on the Club Team is a subject-matter expert in a different aspect of debate. Within 10 days of the topic being released, we will upload several 20-30-minute topic analyses that discuss a) what we anticipate debates to look like, b) major positions and strategies we have brainstormed, and c) a comprehensive historical analysis of the topic. Additionally, we circulate a reading list of helpful articles to get started on topic research. The coaching staff will also puts out regular topic updates where we discuss trends we are observing as the topic progresses, allowing for us to adjust our strategies as topics progress versus popular arguments.
Weekly Office Hours
We hold open Office Hours weekly. During Office Hours, students get the chance to speak with coaches about their upcoming tournaments. In these sessions, we synthesize all the preparation the team has, discuss strategy vs. common positions, and answer any questions the student has.
Assignment Delegation For Every Topic
Winning major tournaments and qualifying to the TOC requires understanding the topic at a very in-depth level and from multiple perspectives. Doing this work alone is daunting. We assign students tasks to complete based on their strengths as a researcher. This allows us to divvy up the seemingly never-ending amount of work that needs to be done into more bite-sized pieces that allow students to simultaneously thrive in other extra-curricular activities and school while also being nationally competitive in Speech and Debate.
I was apprehensive at first because I wasn’t used to splitting prep work and I was wary of the potential that not everyone may carry their weight. Within the first few weeks, I was proven wrong. My coaches and fellow teammates always produced consistently high quality prep along that was understandable and usable to all styles of debate. For once, I didn’t have to do all the work and I got more free time for non-debate related activities." Amrita Chakladar, TOC Qualifier
I was apprehensive at first because I wasn’t used to splitting prep work and I was wary of the potential that not everyone may carry their weight. Within the first few weeks, I was proven wrong. My coaches and fellow teammates always produced consistently high quality prep along that was understandable and usable to all styles of debate. For once, I didn’t have to do all the work and I got more free time for non-debate related activities." Amrita Chakladar, TOC Qualifier
Comprehensive Backfiles
We have over 250 battle tested, ready to use debate files on every debate topic that regularly comes up in debate rounds. Our files are elite in quality and updated every summer by our Head Coaches. These files were hand-written by our coaches, refined over the years, and have won countless important rounds.
"The amount of backfiles that DebateDrills had was absolutely amazing. The backfiles helped me out in a lot of rounds because I no longer needed to spend time cutting cards on what everybody else thought was generic research. I could focus more energy on cutting cards that were more pertinent to the topic at hand, and that reassurance of having responses to generic positions greatly helped my debating." -Ali Ansari, 3rd Place, 2021 Harvard Westlake Invitational
"The amount of backfiles that DebateDrills had was absolutely amazing. The backfiles helped me out in a lot of rounds because I no longer needed to spend time cutting cards on what everybody else thought was generic research. I could focus more energy on cutting cards that were more pertinent to the topic at hand, and that reassurance of having responses to generic positions greatly helped my debating." -Ali Ansari, 3rd Place, 2021 Harvard Westlake Invitational
Guest Seminars
Throughout the season, we hold optional seminars for our students on a variety of pertinent topics, including how to leverage debate for college, careers debate prepares you for, inclusivity in debate, literature reviews on popular debate philosophies and debate-specific skills like learning how to research more effectively.
Logistical Help (e.g. Tournament Registration)
Navigating high school national circuit debate can be daunting, especially if you are unfamiliar with the procedures used in the community for tournament registration. We will help you through this process and show you how to register for tournaments, in addition to helping you find judges and communicating with the tournament director as necessary.
Coordinating Onsite and Remote Coaching
Over the last 2 years, we have had onsite or remote coaching at over 90% of octofinal and quarterfinal bid tournaments. We coordinate all logistical (e.g. flights, hotels, food) and operational (e.g. communicating with and making sure costs are evenly split) tasks required to fly coaches across the country to help our students compete at the highest level.
Mentorship
From help with college applications to navigating high school, all of our coaches were high-performing students themselves and understand first-hand the rigors involved in being a successful high school debater while balancing schoolwork / other extra-curricular activities. We are constantly available via Slack to help mentor students through the inevitable ups and downs that accompany competitive debate.
Individual Learning Assessments
We help each student understand what their specific weaknesses are and create game-plans to attack those weaknesses relentlessly throughout the course of the season. Regular check-ins during the season help ensure students iteratively improve and have a guided, focused process.
Mutual Judge Preference (MJPs) Help
We provide students customized judge ranking forms based on their individual strengths and weaknesses for all octofinal and quarterfinal bid tournaments. How a debater ranks their judges before a tournament significantly affects chances of success. Some judges are better for certain styles than others, and we’ve mastered the algorithm by which computer software’s assign judges. This allows us to strategically prefer judges we want our students to debate in front of and maximize the probability that we get judges that suit the students’ style in important debates.
“A very underrated part of joining the Club Team is getting help with your MJPs. The coaches help you do prefs strategically which both quickens the process and increases your chance of getting the judges you want in the back of the room.” – Parker Whitfill, 2017 TOC Champion, Phoenix Country Day HS ‘17
“A very underrated part of joining the Club Team is getting help with your MJPs. The coaches help you do prefs strategically which both quickens the process and increases your chance of getting the judges you want in the back of the room.” – Parker Whitfill, 2017 TOC Champion, Phoenix Country Day HS ‘17
