World Schools Debate Competition Team

About this program

The Competition Team is a year-round World Schools squad for students actively competing at local tournaments, state championships, and NSDA district qualifiers. Every week is a two-hour class plus a full practice debate, split into Junior and Senior squads. Training runs on a real competitive cycle: structured prep on live tournament motions, impromptu drills under the one-hour clock, and round-by-round adjudication from coaches who have judged at the international level.

Class schedule

Two age groups, each with two weekly time-slot options. Pick a group by age; a coach confirms the slot when you enroll. Times show in your timezone by default, and you can switch it below.

What students achieve

• ✓Run full impromptu prep cycles inside the one-hour window
• ✓Master second- and third-speaker responsibilities: extension, comparison, and crystallization
• ✓Develop reply speeches that win close rounds
• ✓Build a season-long motion knowledge base across recurring themes
• ✓Compete with confidence at district, state, and national-circuit tournaments

What a session looks like

Every class runs the same loop, so students always know the shape of the hour.

1. 0:00

   Round debrief

   The coach walks back through the week’s practice debate: what the adjudication rewarded, where rounds were won and lost, and the one habit to fix before the next one.

2. 0:15

   Motion breakdown

   A live tournament motion goes on the table. The squad maps the burdens, the strongest ground for each side, and where the real clash sits.

3. 0:45

   Case cycle

   Teams split and build: constructive material, the rebuttals they expect to face, and the extensions that separate a second speech from a first.

4. 1:15

   Clash drills

   Timed refutation and points of information under pressure, so responding stops being the part that falls apart in a real round.

5. 1:40

   Speaker labs

   Role-specific coaching for first through reply, plus individual feedback each debater carries into the week’s practice debate.

Curriculum

What's included

• ✓Weekly 2-hour live class capped as a small squad, so every debater gets real speaking reps
• ✓A judged practice debate every week with full oral adjudication, not just a lecture
• ✓Written feedback after every round, mapped to the Style / Content / Strategy criteria
• ✓Prep on live tournament motions, plus a team motion bank that grows through the season
• ✓Tournament support: choosing events, prepping the motions, and debriefing each round across district, state, and national-circuit competitions

Who teaches it

Biser Angelov · World Schools Coach

Won the European University Debating Championships. Finished top 16 in the world at WUDC.

Tin Puljić · Debate Coach

2021 World Universities Debating Champion. Best ESL Speaker at WUDC 2020 and 2021.

Matt Mauriello · Debate & Writing Coach

Won the Yale Invitational on the APDA circuit. Reached the final at multiple APDA tournaments.

Cailyn Min · World Schools Coach

Best Open Speaker at WSDC Panama 2025, a first for Team USA. USA National WSDC Team, 5th place at Worlds 2025.

Full credentials for the whole team are on the coaches page.

How enrollment works

1. 1

   Enroll and pay

   Secure checkout takes a minute. You enter each student’s details and pay for the enrollment unit shown below.

2. 2

   We reach out in 24–48 hours

   A coach contacts you to welcome the student, confirm the age group and time slot, and answer any questions.

3. 3

   Placement and first session

   We place the student in the right class and send the class link and materials before the first meeting.

Enrollment is covered by our Refund Policy and Terms of Service.

Read this before you start

Everything below is free and needs no account. It is the background the first few sessions of Competition Team assume.

• The World Schools pathway in the US

  Where a competing student actually goes: school teams, state leagues with WS divisions, and NSDA Nationals.

• The US tournament circuit

  The invitational calendar month by month, with the TOC bid tiers marked.

• Weighing: how close rounds get decided

  The skill that separates a team that wins panels from one that splits them.

• The motion bank

  12,400+ real tournament motions to draw practice rounds from between classes.

• The 1-hour prep planner

  The minute-by-minute team routine drilled for impromptu rounds.

Frequently asked questions