Debate Clubs

Our clubs are designed to accommodate new members joining anytime throughout the year. There is no difference in experience joining in September or any other month, and we routinely have new members join year-round.

Yes. Please contact us to arrange this. For clubs hosted by Ready Set Debate, a student who simultaneously joins multiple clubs receives the same discounts as if that student were multiple siblings joining a single club.

Upon joining, new members receive a short series of emails that will help them prepare for their first meeting. A member handbook will be provided by mail or at their first meeting, and the new member will be added to the club schedule.

New members, regardless of their level of debate experience, are given a set of training materials (including videos, quizzes, and other items) that will catch them up on the basics of our debate format and club structure prior to their first meeting. At their first meeting, they observe debates between experienced members, listen to coach feedback for the debates, and judge the debates. (As is the case in many high school and college debate leagues, no prior experience is required for judging.) For the following 1-2 meetings, new members are assigned to work with experienced members to prepare for and compete in one or more debates as a team. At this point, the coach begins to give feedback to the new member to address specific areas for improvement, which vary widely between new members. After this onboarding period, the new member is considered an ongoing member, and they cycle through roles as a judge and debater, typically doing both in different hours of the same meeting. Our coaches adapt to each member’s skill level when creating matchups and providing feedback. 

Yes, you are welcome to visit the group as a trial. Guests are often given the option to participate in some of the meeting’s activities, which we will generally advise you of prior to the meeting. To arrange for a visit, contact us.

Yes. Our clubs focus on practice and detailed coach feedback, and many of our club members use their Ready Set Debate club to get extra practice outside of their debate team practices. Our coaches typically try to maximize the value of this practice by having the club use whichever topic(s) that members who are also on outside debate teams are currently preparing for.

Our members run the gamut from recreational debaters whose goal is to improve their public speaking and critical thinking skills, to competitive debaters who devote much of their free time to their work on nationally prominent high school debate teams. Here are some characteristics that most of our members have in common:

• Ability to pay attention, process verbal information quickly, and to pick up the meaning of words from context.
• Strong handwriting skills (or use of a device with strong keyboarding skills).
• An expressed interest in debate, preferably with an interest in, or curiosity about, world and political affairs.
• Responsible, self-starter mentality.
• Good public speaking skills, or the willingness to put in the work to learn them.
• Has a competitive streak.
• Works well with others.
• Capability and access to do independent research.

For the average student, club membership involves a total monthly time commitment of well under ten hours (including meetings) for clubs that meet twice per month, and well under twenty hours for clubs that meet weekly. However, some students choose to invest more or less time in preparing for debates. 

No. However, we request that you notify your coach ahead of time if you will be missing a meeting. For more information, please see our member expectations and Code of Conduct.

Yes. Please arrange with the coach of your student’s club if you would like to observe a meeting. 

Club members prepare to compete in Ready Set Debate tournaments and outside tournaments. For more information, please see our tournaments page.

Contact us for rates.

Clubs primarily debate in our own format, which is closest to IPDA and Lincoln-Douglas. However, we often conduct practice debates in other popular formats to broaden members’ knowledge of debate. 

These fees cover the costs of running a debate activity, such as coaches’ wages, software subscriptions, website management, space rentals or mortgage payments, payment processor fees, physical awards, insurance, and printed supplies.

Yes. Please contact us to arrange the transfer.