This is the scariest article I have written because I am calling out companies, organizations, camps and even coaches who have resisted the idea of allowing for a website and web store like DebateChamps to exist and thrive. I am also challenging DebateChamps to become even better. I am not targeting any specific company or organization because that would be unfair, but I think coaches and students around the country can relate to the experience of struggling to find quality forensics materials and feeling as if the deck is stacked against them at tournaments.
I remember coaching at a school with a zero dollar budget and having to choose which materials to buy and which websites to point my students towards. What I discovered is that it was like shooting a gun in the dark. After being out of the speech and debate world for a few years I had discovered that many companies had sprung up and the leaders of the pack when I was a competitor had disappeared. I was forced to buy materials in the dark and hope that they were worth the money. The first purchase was from a very popular company, which will remain unnamed, but frankly was not worth the money. The second purchase was a less known company and it turned out that the product was top notch. The problem I had was that I was unable to preview either companies materials in advance. I call on all vendors to allow at least one expired topic product to be fully downloadable and free! Why wouldn’t you allow someone to preview your product? If your products are top notch, then you have nothing to fear by giving away an expired topic handbook. Coaches demand an opportunity to see what you are buying before you spend your school’s money.
With regard to IE materials it is imperative that the descriptions of the products are clear and that the products deliver on their promises. IE materials are amazing if they are top quality, but it is important that a coach knows what they are buying when they purchase the item. Coaches, do not be afraid to email companies to ask about their products before spending your funds. I know how difficult it is to budget your money and I know that every vendor out there is more than willing to take the time to explain the IE materials and advise you as to which items best suit your needs. You can always email me at DebateChamps@yahoo.com regarding any IE materials in DebateChamps’ web store or from any vendor for that matter. If a company doesn’t email you back, then maybe you should pass on buying those materials.
I have also discovered the massive increase in speech and debate camps. While some of these camps are remarkable for learning, I fail to believe that any of these camps lead to someone becoming a National Champion. You can learn a lot at camps, but the truth is that a student needs to have a great coach and harnessed talent. What is more disturbing to me is that these camps typically focus on winning and making connections with your potential judges, who happen to be your instructors at these camps. I believe that this is unfair to the majority of high school speech and debate competitors who cannot afford camps and cannot build unethical relationships with judges. Camps should be about teaching quality speech and debate skills, but they should not espouse how many NFL, TOC and State Champions they have trained. While I don’t believe this is a bad advertising tactic, I believe it provides false hope to most competitors who attend these camps. Instead the camps should provide facts about their programs and how it will supplement a dedicated coach and talented student.
I have seen a lot of resistance from vendors. Many vendors who are now part of DebateChamps’ web store were actually a part of this resistance at a certain point. The resistance comes from the fear of change and competition. Many vendors are afraid of competition and losing their market share. They are afraid that you the coach, student and parent may buy another companies product after comparing items. The truth is that competition is what America is all about. It’s about putting your product next to another companies product and challenging the consumer to pick the item that best suits them. Some people like boxers and some like briefs. There are enough customers out there for every vendor, but it really is a tragedy that coaches, students and parents had to shop on 20 websites prior to DebateChamps to find what they needed. I hope in the next few years the avoidance of competition ends and that coaches, students and parents can get everything from all vendors in one store. On a side note, most of the coaches, students and parents buy multiple products from many vendors each year. So why not make it possible for them to buy all of the items in one place?
So I am guessing that many of the coaches, parents and possibly vendors are wondering why I am writing this article. The truth is I am writing it to point out that high school speech and debate should not be about maximizing winning (either competitively or financially), but about bettering high school students. Speech and debate should be easy for a student to learn and participate in and it should not be an activity for the elite and wealthy. It should be an activity that is accessible to any student who wants to compete and a student or coach should never have to guess which products to buy. They should be able to see everything that is available in the marketplace and buy what they think is best without hunting.
I think it is also critical to point out that there are four major organizations in Forensics. These organizations are the NFL, CFL, NDCA and TOC. All four organizations are amazing and have done a great service to the Forensics’ community, but it troubles me that some members of these organizations are unaccessible and unwilling to change with the times. Some problems I have seen is an over abundance of corporate sponsorship, a goal of increasing a non-profit’s budget rather than spending those funds to support struggling programs, and a failure to acknowledge amazing free resources that exist in an effort to push coaches and students to spend money with vendors that have ties to these organizations. I commend all four organizations on hosting tournaments and providing resources to coaches and students, but I challenge all four organizations to allow the commercial sites to help out the Forensics’ community and to treat new vendors with the respect that the older vendors are given. It took me years to gain the ear of some of these organizations and there remains one organization that still won’t return my calls. I specifically would like to thank the NFL and NDCA for being supportive of DebateChamps, but I really hope relationships between the commercial companies and non-profit organizations continue to grow stronger.
I wrote this article to challenge the Forensics community to become more affordable and more expansive. I think it is fair to sell products, but I think that you should allow customers to preview what they are about to buy if it doesn’t compromise the product and vendor. I think camps should be less expensive and provide more scholarships to students who cannot afford attendance. I believe that coaches and students need to realize that attending a camp doesn’t guarantee winning and that often the camps create a conflict of interest for many judges. I challenge the four major high school speech and debate organizations to continue striving towards expansion of Forensics, but to also be aware that many amazing companies exist that have the same goal and can help make speech and debate more accessible. This year DebateChamps will be providing free gifts at the California State Tournament and is also linked as a curriculum resource. If the four major organizations turn to the commercial companies for free materials and assistance, I assume that my friends and colleagues would be more than willing to help.
Finally, I urge coaches, students and parents to take a stand. Demand more out of Forensics. Demand transparency and demand an even playing field. Speech and debate is the great equalizer. You can be tall, short, big, small, a boy, a girl, a freshman, a senior, a new coach or a veteran coach and yet when the postings go up the nerves go up as well. Don’t be afraid to demand more from DebateChamps, other vendors, camps and organizations. I love speaking with coaches and students because I learn more everyday about how amazing this activity is. It is my love and my passion and I am so proud that I can write an article like this one challenging us all to become stronger and better.
I remember coaching at a school with a zero dollar budget and having to choose which materials to buy and which websites to point my students towards. What I discovered is that it was like shooting a gun in the dark. After being out of the speech and debate world for a few years I had discovered that many companies had sprung up and the leaders of the pack when I was a competitor had disappeared. I was forced to buy materials in the dark and hope that they were worth the money. The first purchase was from a very popular company, which will remain unnamed, but frankly was not worth the money. The second purchase was a less known company and it turned out that the product was top notch. The problem I had was that I was unable to preview either companies materials in advance. I call on all vendors to allow at least one expired topic product to be fully downloadable and free! Why wouldn’t you allow someone to preview your product? If your products are top notch, then you have nothing to fear by giving away an expired topic handbook. Coaches demand an opportunity to see what you are buying before you spend your school’s money.
With regard to IE materials it is imperative that the descriptions of the products are clear and that the products deliver on their promises. IE materials are amazing if they are top quality, but it is important that a coach knows what they are buying when they purchase the item. Coaches, do not be afraid to email companies to ask about their products before spending your funds. I know how difficult it is to budget your money and I know that every vendor out there is more than willing to take the time to explain the IE materials and advise you as to which items best suit your needs. You can always email me at DebateChamps@yahoo.com regarding any IE materials in DebateChamps’ web store or from any vendor for that matter. If a company doesn’t email you back, then maybe you should pass on buying those materials.
I have also discovered the massive increase in speech and debate camps. While some of these camps are remarkable for learning, I fail to believe that any of these camps lead to someone becoming a National Champion. You can learn a lot at camps, but the truth is that a student needs to have a great coach and harnessed talent. What is more disturbing to me is that these camps typically focus on winning and making connections with your potential judges, who happen to be your instructors at these camps. I believe that this is unfair to the majority of high school speech and debate competitors who cannot afford camps and cannot build unethical relationships with judges. Camps should be about teaching quality speech and debate skills, but they should not espouse how many NFL, TOC and State Champions they have trained. While I don’t believe this is a bad advertising tactic, I believe it provides false hope to most competitors who attend these camps. Instead the camps should provide facts about their programs and how it will supplement a dedicated coach and talented student.
I have seen a lot of resistance from vendors. Many vendors who are now part of DebateChamps’ web store were actually a part of this resistance at a certain point. The resistance comes from the fear of change and competition. Many vendors are afraid of competition and losing their market share. They are afraid that you the coach, student and parent may buy another companies product after comparing items. The truth is that competition is what America is all about. It’s about putting your product next to another companies product and challenging the consumer to pick the item that best suits them. Some people like boxers and some like briefs. There are enough customers out there for every vendor, but it really is a tragedy that coaches, students and parents had to shop on 20 websites prior to DebateChamps to find what they needed. I hope in the next few years the avoidance of competition ends and that coaches, students and parents can get everything from all vendors in one store. On a side note, most of the coaches, students and parents buy multiple products from many vendors each year. So why not make it possible for them to buy all of the items in one place?
So I am guessing that many of the coaches, parents and possibly vendors are wondering why I am writing this article. The truth is I am writing it to point out that high school speech and debate should not be about maximizing winning (either competitively or financially), but about bettering high school students. Speech and debate should be easy for a student to learn and participate in and it should not be an activity for the elite and wealthy. It should be an activity that is accessible to any student who wants to compete and a student or coach should never have to guess which products to buy. They should be able to see everything that is available in the marketplace and buy what they think is best without hunting.
I think it is also critical to point out that there are four major organizations in Forensics. These organizations are the NFL, CFL, NDCA and TOC. All four organizations are amazing and have done a great service to the Forensics’ community, but it troubles me that some members of these organizations are unaccessible and unwilling to change with the times. Some problems I have seen is an over abundance of corporate sponsorship, a goal of increasing a non-profit’s budget rather than spending those funds to support struggling programs, and a failure to acknowledge amazing free resources that exist in an effort to push coaches and students to spend money with vendors that have ties to these organizations. I commend all four organizations on hosting tournaments and providing resources to coaches and students, but I challenge all four organizations to allow the commercial sites to help out the Forensics’ community and to treat new vendors with the respect that the older vendors are given. It took me years to gain the ear of some of these organizations and there remains one organization that still won’t return my calls. I specifically would like to thank the NFL and NDCA for being supportive of DebateChamps, but I really hope relationships between the commercial companies and non-profit organizations continue to grow stronger.
I wrote this article to challenge the Forensics community to become more affordable and more expansive. I think it is fair to sell products, but I think that you should allow customers to preview what they are about to buy if it doesn’t compromise the product and vendor. I think camps should be less expensive and provide more scholarships to students who cannot afford attendance. I believe that coaches and students need to realize that attending a camp doesn’t guarantee winning and that often the camps create a conflict of interest for many judges. I challenge the four major high school speech and debate organizations to continue striving towards expansion of Forensics, but to also be aware that many amazing companies exist that have the same goal and can help make speech and debate more accessible. This year DebateChamps will be providing free gifts at the California State Tournament and is also linked as a curriculum resource. If the four major organizations turn to the commercial companies for free materials and assistance, I assume that my friends and colleagues would be more than willing to help.
Finally, I urge coaches, students and parents to take a stand. Demand more out of Forensics. Demand transparency and demand an even playing field. Speech and debate is the great equalizer. You can be tall, short, big, small, a boy, a girl, a freshman, a senior, a new coach or a veteran coach and yet when the postings go up the nerves go up as well. Don’t be afraid to demand more from DebateChamps, other vendors, camps and organizations. I love speaking with coaches and students because I learn more everyday about how amazing this activity is. It is my love and my passion and I am so proud that I can write an article like this one challenging us all to become stronger and better.
