Debate Camps

Our online and in-person debate camps provide a great opportunity to learn the core skills of debate in a supportive environment led by an expert coach! Camps meet from Monday to Friday, four hours each day, with separate morning and afternoon sessions, and are geared toward students aged 10-17, although capable younger students are considered on a case-by-case basis (contact us to discuss this).

The camp experience

Students of all experience levels are welcome in our camps, which provide a fun and collaborative environment where students can learn the basics or build on their existing skills. Camps begin by developing the core concepts and skills of debate through a series of engaging activities, which may include evaluating demonstration debates done by more experienced students. Once newer students are comfortable with the basics, they begin to apply those skills in practice debates using a popular high school debate format. Along the way, students receive personalized feedback from our team of nationally ranked former college debaters.

Beyond meetings, some light homework (approximately 1-2 hours per day) is assigned to help reinforce what’s been learned. All students receive a Ready Set Debate Member Handbook, along with learning plans that are customized to their individual proficiencies and areas for improvement.

Comparing popular debate formats

To understand the differences between debate formats (e.g. Public Forum, Team Policy), it’s helpful to compare them to goal sports such as football and hockey. This is because debate formats, like goal sports, have the same core objectives and strategies, but differ in specific rules and style. We teach in a way that starts with the core skills, then applies those within the specifics of a particular format. In our experience, this approach means each format is equally easy to learn, and allows students to develop strong cross-format literacy and adaptability.

In Summer 2024, we are teaching 5 popular formats that are currently practiced in various major debate leagues:

Lincoln-Douglas

Lincoln-Douglas uses teams of 1 debater on each side, and typically focuses on applying moral value frameworks to questions about philosophy and ethics.

World Schools

World Schools uses teams of 3-5 debaters on each side, and typically focuses on questions that might be considered by legislators in a contemporary parliament. Debates are conducted using elements of parliamentary procedure, such as point-of-information requests during speeches.

Public Forum

Public Forum uses teams of 2 debaters on each side, and typically focuses on applying cost-benefit analysis to questions about government policy. It is distinct from Team Policy due to its substantially different match structure (e.g. speech order, cross-examination format).

Team Policy

Team Policy uses teams of 2 debaters on each side, and typically focuses on applying cost-benefit analysis to questions about government policy. It is distinct from Public Forum due to its substantially different match structure (e.g. speech order, cross-examination format).

Congressional

Congressional models a legislative session in the U.S. Congress, and does not have a traditional match structure with set team sizes and length. Competitors may present and argue in favor of their own legislation and argue in favor of or against others’ legislation, during moderated debate segments of varying lengths. Debate segments typically focus on applying cost-benefit analysis to questions about government policy.

Camp tuition schedule

Whether you are registering multiple students, registering for multiple camps, or both, you’ll have access to the discounts listed here.

Number of registrations	Tuition per in-person camp session (USD)	Tuition per online camp session (USD)
One	$345	$295
Two	$325	$275
Three	$300	$250
Four	$275	$225
Five or more	$250	$200

Camp policies

Refund policy

Ready Set Debate will provide a full refund for camp/workshop tuition until 30 days before the first session, and a refund less $100 until 72 hours before the first session. Ready Set Debate will provide no refunds within 72 hours of the first session.

Transfer policy

Transfers between camps are permitted if there is space available. If you wish to transfer from one camp to another, there is a $25 fee to cover administrative costs. Please contact us to arrange the transfer.

Financial aid

Partial scholarships may be available when a financial hardship exists. Click here for more information.

Summer 2024 camp schedule

Our camps run from Monday to Friday, with separate sessions during the morning (8:30am-12:30pm Central Time) and afternoon (1:30pm-5:30pm Central Time). All scheduled weeks include in-person camps at STEAM Learning Club, 8750 Collin McKinney Pkwy, McKinney TX. Some weeks, noted on the chart below, also include online camps.

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Week	Format focus	In-person (morning)	In-person (afternoon)	Online (morning)	Online (afternoon)
June 3-7	Lincoln-Douglas	COMPLETED	SOLD OUT	n/a	n/a
June 10-14	World Schools	COMPLETED	COMPLETED	n/a	n/a
June 24-28	Public Forum	COMPLETED	SOLD OUT	SOLD OUT	COMPLETED
July 15-19	Lincoln-Douglas	Available	Available	Available	Available
July 22-26	Team Policy	Available	Available	Available	Available
July 29-August 2	Congressional	Available	Available	n/a	n/a