How to Start a Debate Club at Your School in BC

Maybe you watched a debate tournament and thought, "We should have this at our school." Maybe a teacher suggested it. Maybe you're a teacher yourself, looking at your students and thinking they'd benefit from a structured way to argue about things other than who gets the last pizza slice at lunch.

Whatever brought you here, starting a debate club at your school in BC is more doable than you might think. You don't need a big budget, you don't need a coach with decades of experience, and you don't need a room full of students who already know what CNDF stands for. You just need a few interested people and a willingness to figure it out as you go.

Here's how to make it happen.

Step 1: Find a Sponsor Teacher

Every school club needs a staff sponsor — a teacher who agrees to supervise the club and act as the point of contact with the school administration. If you're a student, this is your first task. If you're a teacher reading this, congratulations — you've already completed step one.

The sponsor teacher doesn't need to be a debate expert. Plenty of successful school debate clubs are run by English, Social Studies, or Humanities teachers who simply believe in the value of the activity. What matters more is that they're willing to show up consistently, help with logistics (booking rooms, handling tournament registrations), and advocate for the club within the school.

If you're struggling to find a willing teacher, frame it around what debate does for students academically — it builds critical thinking, persuasive writing, research skills, and confidence. These are outcomes every teacher wants to see. For more on the academic benefits, see our post on how debate helps with university admissions.

Step 2: Recruit Your First Members

You don't need 30 students to start. You need four. That's enough for two teams of two, which means you can run a practice debate on day one. In our experience, the best debate clubs start small and grow through word of mouth — once students see their classmates having fun and getting better at arguing, more people want in.

Where to find your first members: the kids who are already opinionated in class discussions (they'll love having a structured outlet), the quiet kids who are thoughtful writers (they often become the strongest debaters — see our post on why introverts thrive in debate), and anyone who's ever watched a courtroom drama and thought it looked interesting.

Put up posters, make an announcement, or just talk to people. The pitch is simple: "We're starting a debate club. You get to argue about interesting topics and it looks great on university applications. First meeting is Thursday at lunch."

Step 3: Set Up the Basics

You need three things to run a debate club: a room, a regular meeting time, and a format to follow.

A room. Book a classroom for a consistent weekly slot. Lunch or after school both work. Consistency matters more than the specific time — students need to know when and where to show up.

A regular meeting time. Once a week is enough to start. Some clubs meet twice a week as tournaments approach, but weekly is sustainable and gives students time to prepare between sessions.

A format. In BC, the two formats you'll encounter most at tournaments are CNDF (Canadian National Debate Format) and British Parliamentary (BP). We'd recommend starting with CNDF — it's the most common format at BC regional tournaments, it's two-on-two so you only need four people per round, and topics are prepared in advance so students aren't thrown into the deep end. For a full breakdown of formats, read our guide to debate formats in Canada.

Step 4: Run Your First Meeting

Keep it simple. Don't try to teach everything about debate in the first session. Here's a structure that works:

Introductions (5 minutes). Who's here, why they're interested, what they hope to get out of it.

Quick explanation of debate (10 minutes). Explain the basics: two sides, a topic (called a "motion" or "resolution"), each side presents arguments, a judge decides who was more persuasive. That's it. Don't get bogged down in format-specific rules yet.

A fun practice activity (20-30 minutes). Pick a lighthearted topic — "This house would ban homework" or "This house believes pineapple belongs on pizza" — and have students argue for and against in pairs. Give each side 2-3 minutes. It doesn't need to be a formal debate. The goal is to get everyone talking, laughing, and realizing that debate is less intimidating than they thought.

Wrap-up (5 minutes). Tell them when the next meeting is. Give them something to think about before next time — maybe a topic to research or an opinion to form.

Step 5: Connect with DSABC

The Debate and Speech Association of British Columbia (DSABC) is the provincial organization that runs BC's competitive debate circuit. Once your club is up and running, registering with DSABC connects you to the broader debate community in BC — including regional tournaments, the BC Provincial Championships, and the pathway to Canadian Nationals.

BC is divided into regional zones (Lower Mainland North, Lower Mainland West, Lower Mainland East, Lower Mainland South, Vancouver Island, Southern Interior, Northern BC, and Kootenays), and each region has a coordinator who can help new schools get started. Reaching out to your regional coordinator is one of the best things you can do early on — they'll let you know about upcoming tournaments, connect you with other school clubs in your area, and help you navigate the logistics of entering your first competition.

For the full picture of how competitive debate works in BC, check out our Parent's Guide to Competitive Debate in BC.

Step 6: Attend Your First Tournament

This is where everything clicks. There's a massive difference between practicing in a classroom and competing at an actual tournament — and the good news is that BC's tournament circuit is very welcoming to new schools.

Most regional tournaments in BC are open to any school, and many specifically welcome first-time competitors. Your students don't need to be experts. They just need to show up, try their best, and listen to the feedback they get from judges. That feedback — often written, sometimes verbal — is one of the most valuable parts of the experience.

Expect your students to lose some rounds at their first tournament. That's normal and healthy. What matters is that they'll come back fired up to improve. We've seen it happen hundreds of times — the first tournament lights a fire that classroom practice alone can't ignite.

Registration for most BC tournaments is done through Tabroom (tabroom.com). Your sponsor teacher will typically handle this, but the process is straightforward.

Step 7: Build Sustainability

The hardest part of running a school debate club isn't starting it — it's keeping it going. Here are a few things that help:

Create a leadership structure. Appoint a club president, a tournament coordinator, and a recruitment lead. Give students ownership and they'll invest more deeply in the club's success.

Pair experienced members with newcomers. Once you have students with a semester or two of experience, have them mentor newer members. This builds community and ensures knowledge gets passed down when seniors graduate.

Celebrate achievements. Whether it's a student's first tournament, a quarterfinal break, or just a really good argument in practice — acknowledge it. Debate can be tough, and recognition keeps students motivated.

Bring in external coaching. A sponsor teacher can keep a club running, but experienced debate coaches can accelerate student development dramatically. Online coaching programs like DSDC can work alongside your school club — our students attend weekly classes that complement what they're doing at school, with personalized feedback and preparation for tournaments at every level.

What If You Need Help Getting Started?

Starting a debate club from scratch can feel daunting, especially if no one at your school has debate experience. That's where we come in. At DSDC, we've helped students and teachers across BC get started with competitive debate — from understanding formats and finding tournaments to preparing students for their first competition.

If you're a teacher looking for support, or a student trying to get your school's club off the ground, book a free consultation and we'll walk you through the process. We're happy to help — whether or not your students end up in our classes.

Ready to Get Started?

Starting a debate club is one of the best things you can do for your school community. It gives students a place to develop critical thinking, confidence, and communication skills that will serve them for the rest of their lives.

Book a free consultation if you'd like guidance getting started, or explore our classes to see how DSDC can support your school's debate program.