Debate Club - Live Online Club

VSA’s Debate Club exists for exposure, exploration, and appetite-building in the subject area of debate. It is just the right entry point for students who are more than a little curious about debate but not yet ready to commit to a full course. All will benefit from early exposure to argumentative thinking and speech. The Club is deliberately low-stakes: students come away with a clearer sense of what debate involves and whether they want to pursue it further. The Club is not a feeder system for VSA’s Debate 1 Course, though some students will naturally move in that direction as their interest and readiness grow. This club includes ten sessions over approximately five months, running October through February/March. Sessions are live, online, and led by an experienced coach. Members are expected to complete light preparatory work between sessions—reading an assigned brief or short article, drafting a two-minute position statement, or listening to a recorded round. Each session runs 75–90 minutes and follows a consistent pattern: a short instructional segment (20–25 minutes) introducing a concept, skill, or technique, followed by structured practice. Practice may take the form of a moderated mini-round, a focused drill, or a group critique of a recorded round. Students who participate in this club will understand debate in a broad sense, will have spoken in a structured argumentative context at least once, and will be ready to take the next step in their pursuit of debate as a discipline.