Each year, many students, parents, and teachers ask us about possible coaches for the upcoming debate season, and we are always happy to recommend our staff for coaching relationships. Private coaching arrangements, however, are often hard to organize and sustain throughout the year. They also rarely provide everything one looks for in a structured debate team, such as dedicated teammates, regular practices, directed research assignments, and continuous, varied feedback.
We're therefore pleased to announce a new service for debaters looking for additional coaching and teammates: Victory Briefs Squads. Each Squad will bring together up to twelve students to work with two coaches continuously throughout the upcoming season. Squad membership will include up to ten months of weekly squad practices, private coaching sessions, access to a curated shared Dropbox, guest seminars with distinguished instructors and former debaters, feedback on cases, an online workplace to facilitate collaboration, and regular updates for parents and coaches.We're offering Squads as a team-friendly alternative to private coaching and prep sharing groups—not to replace school-based debate teams, but to help make them stronger. Students with coaches or administrators at their schools are required to get coach approval to participate, and they are encouraged to share materials they create with teammates at their school. At the end of each topic, each Squad will share their topic-specific preparation with the broader debate community; guest seminars will also be recorded for broader access. And, in accordance with our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion along all dimensions of debate, Squads will provide financial assistance for debaters who lack financial resources to afford expensive private coaching.Each squad will start working together when the September–October topic is released on August 8. The application will be open until August 5, but squads may fill up by then. We have already received applications for one-third of available spots, so we highly recommend that interested students apply as soon as possible.To apply or learn more about Squads, please visit squads.victorybriefs.com. Applications are currently available only for Lincoln–Douglas debate. If you'd be interested in a Public Forum Squad, please let us know. If you have any questions about Victory Briefs Squads, please email squads@victorybriefs.com or call us at (330) 3-DEBATE.