Alizah Zaheer​ (she/her/hers ) - Public Forum 

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Hey, I will be attending the University of Texas at Austin to study neuroscience this fall. I debated for Elkins for four years in Public Forum. Coming from a small school I primarily competed on the local circuit in Houston, focusing on the nats circuit my senior year. My partner Rahman and I are looking to joint coach this upcoming season. We were pretty successful during our six months as partners (Elkins HZ). Some of our notable accomplishments include:

Alta: 1st Place, 3rd Speaker, Gold Bid (1)
Dowling: Octos, Silver Bid (1)
Sunvitational: Octos, 3rd Speaker, Gold Bid (2)
Emory: Doubles, 6th Speaker, Silver Bid (2)
TFA State: Octos, 6-0 (2nd seed)
Auto Qual to NSDA Nationals

Rahman and I are our school's first PF team to qualify for the Gold TOC. Personally, I have qualified for TFA State for two years and served as a captain on our school's debate team, helping multiple novice teams qualify. 

Rahman and I do not have a preference as to where our teams are located, however we would prefer to coach teams that want to compete on the national circuit. We believe that our experience allows us to help our teams be versatile on their local and nats circuit. We offer drills, prep, judging at tournaments, skills lectures, practice rounds, and more.

Moreover, due to these troubling times, Rahman and I would like to offer free, flexible coaching during the summer time to any teams that accept our offer of coaching for the regular season! (camps do be expensive)

For more details, feel free to contact me through Facebook Messenger @ Alizah Zaheer or email: alizahz17@gmail.com

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Andrea Chow (she/her) - PF, CX, LD, Parliamentary Debate, Speech

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La Reina '20 & Yale '25. I have an extensive background in circuit debate, lay debate, and platform events. I also coached PF at Santa Clara debate's summer workshop last year. As a competitor, I reached elimination rounds in many bid tournaments in circuit LD, won several tournaments and qualified to state and nats in lay LD, and finished in elimination rounds in oratory at TOC. I am willing to coach or judge tournaments on the west coast, coach remotely for any school or competitor, and coach in-person in the Ventura/LA area.

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Andrew Owens (he/him) - PF

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Hello Everyone! I’m Andrew Owens, and I debated at Durham Academy in PF for four years. To note some achievements, I’ve reached (some late) elimination rounds at Yale, Harvard, Bluekey, Bronx, Laird, Emory, Presentation, and Nationals (along with others). In my career, I’ve amassed 7 Gold Bids and a handful of Silver Bids. Finally, I championed Holy Cross, the Glenbrooks RR, and co-championed GMU. In addition, I will be coaching at ISD: Carolina this summer! I’m looking to coach for a team really anywhere, but as I will be attending Duke University next year, somewhere nearby is probably preferable. As a coach, I will (if local) run/attend practices, tournaments, and help with everything prep related, run drills etc. If not local, I can run skype or zoom practices, provide topic lectures, and watch rounds, really everything you expect and anything you need. *Note that I will also fly to tournaments etc. I will privately coach or coach a team. Please do not hesitate to reach out, my email is andrewowork@gmail.com, or if easier you can DM me on instagram (@the.andrewo, and ask for my number). Thank you! 

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Ashwin Balaje (He/Him/His) - PF

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"Hello! My name is Ashwin, and I debated for 4 years in PF at Ravenwood High School in Brentwood, TN under the code Ravenwood BJ, serving as team captain my senior year. Throughout my career, I’ve amassed 7 bids to the Gold Tournament of Champions, qualifying my junior and senior years. Most notably I have reached octafinals at UK, Blue Key and the Apple Valley, quarterfinals at Sunvite and Millard North, semifinals at Emory and Sunvite, in addition to earning speaker awards at multiple tournaments. I will be going to school on the West Coast (University of Southern California in Los Angeles, CA) and would be down to go to tournaments in person, especially during second semester. Pay is negotiable and dependent on the number of students I would coach as well as their socioeconomic background.

I am willing to attend physical practices, coach at tournaments, provide emotional support, help with idea brainstorming, judge at tournaments, judge practice rounds (online), help with speech drills, (topic) lectures, and skill lectures. I’m especially helpful with case strategy, devising frontlines, and coming up with analytical responses. Having debated on both the Tennessee local circuit and the national circuit, I’m well versed in a variety of debating styles and I can help work with teams’ adaptation abilities and help less experienced teams with the transition to national circuit debating. I would coach in person or online, so I’m willing to coach anyone who would like a coach, whether that be a larger program, an individual team, or a group of teams. I’m okay working with any and all skill levels. If you have questions, please feel free to contact me!

Facebook: Ashwin Balaje, phone number: (615)-663-8005 (Facebook is preferable)"

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Cameron Velasquez - PF

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What’s up y’all, I’m Cameron. I debated on the national circuit my senior year until I “graduated early” (aka dropped out lol), breaking at every national tournament I attended. I got 3 silvers and a gold bid, reaching finals at UOP, before leaving high school second semester. As far as coaching experience goes, in addition to coaching numerous teams at my school, I coached my freshman partner from knowing nothing about debate to reaching late outrounds at national tournaments in a matter of months. My specialities lie in tech debate, second speaking, case strategy, and round vision. I’m willing to put as much time into you as you’re willing to give, and as such I’m looking for a dedicated team that cares about rapid improvement. I will be available any time during the week, just hit me up. We can work on anything you like, from practice rounds to prep, and I am willing to coach or judge for you at tournaments. Price is super negotiable, feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns. Peace out.

Phone: 5598926203 (text) 
Email: cameronvelasquez1@gmail.com

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Chas Huang (He/Him) - PF

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My name is Praveen Gunendran and I competed for Mira Loma High School in Sacramento (Team Name: Mira Loma GS). This fall, I will be attending Cornell University, and would love to coach teams both virtually as well as in person (willing to travel primarily to East Coast tournaments). Over the last 4 years, despite our "small school" status, I was able to qualify and autoqualify to the Gold Tournament of Champions (TOC) 2x, having reached Runoffs my Junior year and Octofinals my senior year. In addition to TOC, I octofinaled at the NCFL National Tournament. Regionally,  I championed the James Logan Invitation, Semi-Finaled at the Santa Clara Invitational, and Quarterfinaled at UOP, overall attaining 5 bids. I've been invited to several round robins including the Presentation (Semi-finaled at this tournament), Berkeley, and Strake Jesuit Round Robin. As a coach, I'd be able to help both speakers understand their roles and important strategies in round, as I have spoken both first and second at high level tournaments. I love teaching my students to be "adaptable," knowing how to be convincing to both a lay and flow panel (my lay skills stem from my Extemporaneous Speaking experience, of which I qualified to the TOC 2 times in as well). I'm super involved with prep, creating comprehensive blockfiles and cases with heavy frontlining for each topic. I have a good grasp over round winning strategies and efficient ways to structure cases and blocks and as a coach would love to help you with these things. If you are interested, please contact me and I'd love to work something out! (chashuang1@gmail.com)

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Everett Graves-Swinney (He/Him) - PF, Extemp, LD

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Hello! I'm Everett, and I'm a former high school debate kid. I competed for 4 years in LD, PF, and International Extemp, graduating in 2012. I qualified to the NSDA National Tournament 3 years in a row in IX. 
I've been a coach for 2 years for a high school near me, and I want to offer help to high schoolers who don't have the same access to coaching as my students. I am based in Northern Colorado but can offer online coaching to folks everywhere. 
My main skills include, but are not limited to: Research, card-cutting, blocks creation, framework creation, speech drills, topic analysis, and taking your skills to the next level. 
Please feel free to reach out by email first. 

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Gunther Hess (He/Him) - PF

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Hello, i’m Grant “Gunther” Hess, and i’ll be attending Babson in the fall (so if your school is in Boston I can physically come to practices). I debated at Westlake in Texas during high school. I primarily did PF with occasional stints in LD. I did pretty well my senior year, my accomplishments are listed below:

•Octos at Grapevine (Silver)

•Dubs at Blue Key 

•Octos at Glenbrooks (Gold)

•Quarters at Plano West

•Championed Churchill (Gold)

•Top seed at James Logan (i <3 cali judges)

•Top seed at TFA state

•4-3 at Gold TOC

PF is a rapidly changing environment, and judge adaptation was something I specialized in my senior year.
On a more technical level, I focused on Framework debate and Postmodern Kritiks, along with Theory. If your team wants an edge on progressive argumentation I have you covered.
Overall, my debate style was pretty diverse, so I can provide insight and training with the vast majority of arguments and skills.
I’m more than willing to travel to tournaments across the country, but college does come first so if there is a schedule conflict I’ll be sure to let you know well beforehand.
Shoot me an email if you are interested, i’d love to hear from you.

gh96132@eanesisd.net

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Hattie Bilson (She/Her) - PF and Extemp

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Hattie Bilson debated for Westridge School in Los Angeles, CA for four years, and she will be attending Columbia University '25 after taking a gap year. She competed primarily in Public Forum, Extemporaneous, and Impromptu. In speech, Hattie qualified to the CHSSA state tournament twice, placing fourth in international extemporaneous in her junior year. In PF,  Hattie has received seven bids to the Tournament of Champions and qualified to NSDA Nationals and CHSSA State in her sophomore and junior years. She reached semi-finals at the Presentation Voices Invitational, the University of Kentucky Season Opener, and Arizona State University, co-championed the Jack Howe Invitational at Long Beach, and she has reached out rounds at tournaments like The Glenbrooks, the New York Invitational at Bronx Science, Berkeley, and Stanford. Hattie has also been a captain of Westridge debate since her sophomore year, working with novices and middle schoolers. She has been ranked as high as 1st in the nation. 

 In terms of coaching, I am willing to coach remotely or in-person and am pretty flexible on location for the next year or so, and I also do not really have a preference on coaching an individual partnership or larger team. I have a lot of experience with dealing with sexism and ableism in debate, and on the technical side, I'm open to doing practice rounds, helping with prep, reviewing cases, developing strategies, running drills, etc. 

email: hattieb@gmail.com
(310)869-5024

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Isaac Appel (He/Him) - PF 

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I’m a 4 year debater with experience with pf and cx. During my high school debate career i won the state tournament in cx, earned 7 bids to gold TOC, won 4 round robins (valley, uk, ivy street and glenbrooks). My partner and I were ranked as high as #1 in the nation by the Institute for Speech and Debate. During my tenure as a coach for Strake Jesuit, I coached multiple gold bids and saw 3 of my teams qualify to gold TOC. Currently i’m a student at the University of Pittsburgh studying politics-philosophy. I’m a flexible coach who will work towards your needs, be they prep-centric (block writing or case construction) or skill-centric (in which case i have some great drills for you). Pay is negotiable based on your needs. Message me on facebook or email me (isa17@pitt.edu) if interested. Can’t wait to coach my next team.

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Jack Johnson (He/Him) - PF, World Schools

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Hi! My name is Jack Johnson, and I debated at Blake for four years, competing in PF and World Schools Debate. In PF, my competitive accolades include winning the 2019 Tournament of Champions, the 2020 Tournament of Champions, the 2019 NDCA National Championship, Glenbrooks, the Blake Round Robin, the King Round Robin, and the MN State Tournament. I also finaled at Blake, finaled at Georgetown, and placed in the top 10 at NSDA Nationals. Senior year, my partner and I were awarded the Baker Cup for best regular-season performance of any team in the nation. In World Schools, I broke at both Nationals and Harvard as a Sophomore, before being selected as one of only four returning members of Team USA Debate. As a member of the team, I placed 3rd at Harvard, 3rd at EurOpen in Germany, 2nd at Greenhill, and reached elimination rounds at the international World Schools Debating Championship. 
One of my biggest strengths as a coach is that I have an equal amount of experience in both technical and traditional debate -- I'm well versed in progressive argumentation and tech debate after competing on the national circuit for 4 years, but I've also spent a great deal of time debating traditionally on the Minnesota circuit/in World Schools. Whether you mostly compete at locals or debate  exclusively on the national circuit, I can help you succeed!
I can coach during tournaments and also during the week. I have a very flexible schedule -- I'm currently on a gap year so scheduling around school is never an issue for me. Interested? Send me an email -- jackdebateemail@gmail.com. 

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Joey Georges (He/Him) - LD

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Joey Georges is a senior at Strake Jesuit for the class of 2021. He qualified to the TOC, cleared, and got to octafinals his junior year. He lives in Houston, Texas, and is willing to do drills/coach in person with people nearby/in the area, and assist those not in the area with calling, texting, etc. (whatever is the most convenient for the mentee.) He specializes in going for and responding to theory, philosophical framework debate, beating back/going for tricks, K debate (mainly queer theory, disability, settler colonialism, and most postmodernist theories), and strategic collapsing/decision-making. You can contact him at JFGeorges21@mail.strakejesuit.org, Joseph Georges (on facebook), or by phone at 832-564-7847. He is excited to help this season, and even if you aren't in LD, but would like help with things like progressive debate in other formats (PF, Policy, etc.), he is happy to help!

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Kate Selig (She/Her) - PF

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Hey! My name is Kate, and I'm the PF curriculum director at VBI. I debated for The Bromfield School in Massachusetts, where I co-captained the team. Competitively, I top-spoke at Yale, was the first debater from my school to qualify to the TOC, and was the furthest advancing womxn debater at NSDA Nationals in 2019, placing 10th overall. Last year, I coached Saratoga High School, and my students obtained 12 bids to the TOC. I'm a rising sophomore at Stanford studying philosophy, and I'm planning to take a gap year in light of the pandemic. As a result, in addition to coaching for Potomac Debate Academy, I'd love coach individual partnerships or a school. Feel free to reach me via email at kselig@stanford.edu. 

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Max Li (He/Him) - PF 

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Hi! I'm a graduating senior from Hunter HS in New York City, where I am the President of Speech & Debate and Captain of Mock Trial. I am a rising frosh at Harvard, so I will be in the Boston area in the fall if school (hopefully) resumes. I will stay in NYC if school remains online. I did PF for 4 years in high school and Parli for 2 years in middle school; despite competing relatively infrequently on the national circuit due to financial constraints, I quartered the Princeton Classic (2018) and the Harvard National Forensics Tournament (2019, also top seed), championed the Pennsbury Falcon Invitational (2020), and reached octas in the Gold division of the Tournament of Champions (2020) and at NCFL Grand Nationals (2018). More importantly, I have 2 years of experience mentoring novices on my team as a PF Novice Director and 3 summers of experience teaching at the NYC Urban Debate League's Summer Institutes, where I engaged with students on everything from general speaking to technical strategy. I greatly prefer coaching in-person given how terribly virtual/distance teaching usually goes and I would be happy to come to most tournaments. I will (generally) not cut cards for you, but I will learn about the topic enough to give you topic-specific coaching. I think you'll find me most helpful, though, for improving the way you think about strategy and how arguments interact in the round. In that sense I am probably more useful for improving your long term trajectory as a debater than directly boosting you by x more wins at the next tournament. This is not to say that you shouldn't hire me if all you want me to do is watch your next opponents and write you a prepout – I’m pretty good at that too. I will just be a little disappointed. 
I am open to coaching any size team, but I am primarily interested in eating Sav's West African Grill, so if you fly me to the TOC, I will be very happy and will perhaps coach April for free.
My email is maxtli068@gmail.com and my Facebook DMs are always open – feel free to email/text me if you have any questions!

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Nathaniel Yoon (He/Him) - PF

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Hi! Want to coach people who are dedicated and care about debate. I debated for Oakton for 4 years, primarily in PF but did local LD/Policy/Congress. I'll be attending Johns Hopkins in the fall, I hope! Competition: Nationally, ranked 1 through chunk of senior year, 8 bids, some silvers too. Locally, won tournaments and got 2nd at state junior year (would call myself decent at lay debate). Coaching: Coached the Oakton team for freshman/sophomore/junior years, led through judging/lectures/drills/discussions. Helped out a bunch people through past few years, just messaging and helping them through ideas and prep and debate. Privately coached two teams in person until corona started, coached some at tournaments, and am coaching more remotely during the corona time. Over past few summers, taught at local camps and am teaching at several larger ones this summer. Preferences: Enjoyed stock arguments, weighing, narrative-style debate. Recently debated a bit of progressive stuff, not the most experienced in it but enjoy and can discuss. I'll do most things for you, except write your stuff or tell you direct answers to your questions. I can coach a team, a school, group, no real preference. Contact: Message Nathaniel Yoon on Facebook (preferred), ndy155@gmail.com

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Nelson Lin (He/Him) - PF and LD 

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Hello! Want to coach a PF team interested in progressive argumentation or an LDer! I debated LD/PF for four years (2015-2019) at a small school in New Jersey, starting our LD program. I currently attend Brown University (‘23) studying public health. 

For PF, I’m interested in helping debaters interested in reading or answering progressive-style arguments like kritiks or theory. I can help you read or beat these arguments, especially because theory and Ks in PF are underwarranted compared to LD. Also, I focus a lot on developing in-round vision and strategy. I think you should debate smarter, not harder! Getting a better grasp on your routes to the ballot and how arguments interact will help you win rounds that you would’ve lost in the past.

Having debated locally in NJ and on the national circuit in LD, I’m familiar with lay/traditional debate and circuit-style progressive arguments. My areas of expertise for circuit LD are in policy-style arguments and kritiks.

As a coach, most recently I’ve coached a team to elims at TOC in Silver Public Forum debate, and the first speaker award in my school’s history at TOC. As a debater, I’ve qualified to NSDAs twice in LD (2018, 2019), and cleared at Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and Ridge my senior year (also the only tournaments I attended), and was the top seed and speaker at the 2019 New Jersey District Tournament.

If you’re interested, feel free to reach out at nelson_lin@brown.edu and we can work something out! Pay is definitely negotiable. Stay safe, and cheers!

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Praveen Gunendran (He/Him) - PF 

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Hi everyone!
My name is Praveen Gunendran and I competed for Mira Loma High School in Sacramento (Team Name: Mira Loma GS). This fall, I will be attending Cornell University, and would love to coach teams both virtually as well as in person (willing to travel primarily to East Coast tournaments). Over the last 4 years, despite our "small school" status, I was able to qualify and autoqualify to the Gold Tournament of Champions (TOC) 2x, having reached Runoffs my Junior year and Octofinals my senior year. In addition to TOC, I octofinaled at the NCFL National Tournament. Regionally,  I championed the James Logan Invitation, Semi-Finaled at the Santa Clara Invitational, and Quarterfinaled at UOP, overall attaining 5 bids. I've been invited to several round robins including the Presentation (Semi-finaled at this tournament), Berkeley, and Strake Jesuit Round Robin. As a coach, I'd be able to help both speakers understand their roles and important strategies in round, as I have spoken both first and second at high level tournaments. I love teaching my students to be "adaptable," knowing how to be convincing to both a lay and flow panel (my lay skills stem from my Extemporaneous Speaking experience, of which I qualified to the TOC 2 times in as well). I'm super involved with prep, creating comprehensive blockfiles and cases with heavy frontlining for each topic. I have a good grasp over round winning strategies and efficient ways to structure cases and blocks and as a coach would love to help you with these things. If you are interested, please contact me and I'd love to work something out!
Phone Number: 916-895-0530
Email: praveenguna123@gmail.com

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Rahman Hasib (He/Him) - PF

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Hi! My name is Rahman Hasib and I will be attending the University of Texas at San Antonio. My partner Alizah Zaheer and I debated for Elkins High School under the code Elkins HZ and are looking for a few teams to joint-coach during the 20-21 debate season. During our short 6 months as partners, we have some notable accomplishments, such as Championing at Alta (4th speaker), Octos at Dowling, Octos at Sunvitational (2nd speaker), Doubles at Emory (2nd speaker), Octos at TFA state (2nd seed), and being first Elkins PF team to qualify for Gold TOC. Personally, I have been the PF captain of my debate team for 2 years and led multiple novice teams to qualify for TFA state and put Elkins on the map. Alizah and I do not have a preference as to where our teams are located, however we would prefer to coach teams that want to be involved in the national circuit. We can offer drills, prep, judging at tournaments, coaching at tournaments, skills lectures, topic lectures, practice rounds, and pretty much anything you think will help you improve. Cost would be relatively cheap because we know how hard it can be having a full time coach coming from a small school with no financial support.

Moreover, due to these troubling times, Alizah and I would like to offer free, flexible coaching during the summer time to any teams that accept our offer of coaching during the regular season! Camps do be expensive tho.

For more details, feel free to text me at 832-506-2307 :)

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Rohan Jaisinghani (He/Him) - PF 

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Hi everyone, my name's Rohan and I debated PF for 4 years at Ravenwood HS in TN, serving as captain senior year. Over 2 years of national competition I've accumulated 7 gold bids to the TOC, becoming the first team from TN to qualify. I've semifinaled at Emory and Sunvite, got top speaker at Apple Valley and Blue Key, and have reached deep outrounds at many other national tournaments. 

Coaching would include things like topic calls, individual prep (case work/blocks), and generally staying updated on the topic. I could judge practice rounds, help with skill-based drills, and work with teams to address weak points in improving as a debater. I can be of assistance with any style of debate, as I debated in local circuits as well as abroad. The pay would be completely negotiable and dependent on the teams' situation. 

If you're interested, feel free to contact me via messaging on Facebook (Rohan Jaisinghani)! 

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Ronak Pai (He/Him) - PF

 

Hi! My name is Ronak and I debated PF for 4 years at Saratoga High School. I had 6 bids throughout my career along with making octofinals at the TOC and top 14 at nats. More importantly in terms of coaching, I have experience coaching middle schoolers and novice freshmen from various schools, so I can help out in terms of coaching novices or anything (even though that is different than coaching experienced teams). My main strengths are in traditional debate, meaning mostly lay and flay debate, and I know a lot of drills and other ways to improve in those areas. That being said, some people at my school were very keen on running progressive arguments, so if that's what you want to run I know enough to help you out. In terms of coaching, I'd be down to run drills, go through cases, or develop strategies with teams. I'm going to USC next year so I'm also down to go to any west coast tournaments to judge/coach. Feel free to reach out on Facebook messenger if you wanna talk! 

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Sara Catherine Cook (She/Her) - PF

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Hi! My name is Sara Catherine and I debated in PF for 3 years for Altamont in Birmingham, AL. I worked at NDF: Boston and ISD: Florida last summer and will most likely be working at ISD: Online this summer. I also write topic analyses for Champions Briefs and have done some off-and-on private coaching over this school year. During highschool, I was ranked as highly as fifteenth in the country, qualled to the TOC and NSDA Nationals, and won a state championship. I am a rising sophomore at Dartmouth, which is in Hanover, New Hampshire - the only places I am close to are Boston and New York so I would prefer to do the majority of coaching virtually but would be willing to come to 2-3 tournaments during the year. I am also not sure what my school schedule will look like with regards to coronavirus and that will very much determine my availability in terms of how many hours I can dedicate to coaching. I think I am most helpful with drills and giving feedback after rounds, but am also happy to brainstorm on topics and edit cases. I am available to help with strategy, edit prep, and help guide research, but do not want to be just a prep coach. I have not been super active on the circuit for a while, so if you are interested I am happy to judge a round for you or edit a case for free so we can try things out before you hire me. Thanks! sara.c.cook.23@dartmouth.edu

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Sid Inta (He/Him) - PF 

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Hey guys! My name is Sid Inta and I'm a freshman at NYU Stern. I competed in Public Forum Debate for 4 years, and was extremely involved in the activity. Over the course of my career at Bridgewater High School in New Jersey, I accumulated 5 Gold and 2 Silver Bids, reaching late elimination rounds at Harvard, UPenn, Laird Lewis, and the Ridge Debates. I served as President of my club, and have experience teaching students as I am the founder of Scorpion Debate, an online debate camp that launched this year. 

As a coach, I willing to coach students of all skill levels. I am willing to travel with you to your tournaments, but also am available to coach over skype. I can help my students come with unique argumentation, better round strategy, and technical skills as well. 

To reach out, Facebook Messenger me or email me at siinta4@gmail.com! 

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Sophia Gustafson (She/Her) - PF

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I am an alumna of Theodore Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, Iowa. In high school I won two state championships and gained six bids during my high school career. I have coached with NDF for three summers so far. I often ran progressive arguments in high school so I can help in these areas. 

I currently go to school in Boulder, Colorado but am also often in Des Moines, Iowa and Dallas, Texas. I am a huge fan of online coaching so don't hesitate to ask for coaching through zoom or skype. I am a flow heavy coach that often works with teams to better their technical skills. 

My contact information: 
Phone Number: (515)-537-9446
Email: sophia.gustafson@colorado.edu
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sophia.gustafson/

P.S. I am willing to travel for judging and coaching when my schedule allows.

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Zac Davis - PF, CX, LD, Parliamentary Debate

 

 Hi!
I’m Zac Davis and I’m looking to coach students over the summer and/or during the season.
As a debater I was successful on the national circuit and qualified to the TOC twice despite lacking a school debate coach or strong institutional support, going 3-3 as a Junior and choosing to coach rather than attend Corona-toc. I’ve always placed heavy emphasis on a strong foundation so I focused on research and understanding the philosophy behind the arguments I read, which transfers into my coaching style. 
However more importantly I’ve experience coaching 20+ debaters both as a captain for Policy, LD, and TA for Parliamentary debate in high school (although I’m looking for only a few teams this year), as well as through programs like PepTalk and W.in Debate, and miscellaneous students who I’ve reached out too over facebook or discord so I have lots of experience coaching younger kids. Additionally, I facilitated and help run a prep sharing group among independents and small school debaters while I was competing so I am familiar with overcoming prep disparities, organizing collaboration in drills mocks and prep assignments, and providing specialized and flexible support to different debaters needs. 
For those already on the ld/policy/parli circuit:
I specialized in theory and ks, but have lots of experience innovating phil and larp/policy positions as well. Whether you are looking to understand the literature behind a dense kritik or learn how to do a 1AR vs 7 off, I can help!
PF specific:
Despite putting more focus in other debate events in my later years, I spent 2 years debating lay Public Forum and have stayed somewhat active in the community. My mix of progressive circuit background and traditional lay Public Forum makes me a rare find as a PF coach, and I feel comfortable coaching a mix of styles. Especially in a PF world that is rapidly shifting towards progressive arguments like theory and ks, regardless of whether you want to read those arguments, having a coach who can teach you how to effectively respond to them is both rare and useful.
Please reach out to me via zacjudges@gmail.com if interested. 
 

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Zayne El-Kaissi (He/Him) - PF 

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Hi friends! I'm Zayne and I'm a rising freshman at UChicago. I debated for Hawken (code EG) for 4 years in PF and was Vice President of Debate my senior year. I spoke 2nd up until halfway through my junior year and 1st otherwise. My biggest accomplishments are: 1st seed at both Princeton and Durham, 3rd seed at ToC, 1st speaker at Durham, 4th speaker at ToC, 6th speaker at Princeton, Semis at ToC, Finals at NSDA nationals (in World Schools Debate), finals at Apple Valley, semis at Durham, and quarters at Emory.

As a debater I was a little more technical, though I can still help with the lay/judge appeal side of things. Strategy and round vision were most to our success, so as a coach those are what I feel most inclined to help with. I also focused a lot on the logical dimension of PF when I debated, so I can also help with link and impact weighing, comparative analysis, argument mapping, and analytics as well. As a coach I’d be willing to cut blocks, help write cases, run drills/practice (trust me I have plenty), talk about arguments, judge tournaments/practice rounds, and even help you master pen spins—whatever your heart desires. Please reach out if interested (440-341-3800, email, or Facebook messenger all work).