ALBERTA DEBATE
AND SPEECH ASSOCIATION
203 Silver Springs Way NW
Airdrie,
Alberta
T4B 2Y3
Phone:
403-479-6700
Email: contact@albertadebate.com
Website: www.albertadebate.com
Dear coaches,
We would like to present the
following memo
related to private debate academies and like programs
(hereafter, private
debate). The information below highlights the board’s current
stance on private
debate as discussed during the ADSA board meeting on Wednesday,
September 4th,
2019. The ADSA bylaws and policy manual are referred and should
be delivered in
conjunction with this letter.
First the board would like
to express its
excitement the potential of private debate to enhance and
support the ADSA’s
programs. We have not had such interest in many years, and as
such the board
looked towards our bylaws and policy to ensure that these
ventures can be
allowed within our existing structure and that it does not
detract from our
current programs.
As it
relates to bylaws 5.1, 5.2, 6.1, 7.1
It is our belief that any
organization
interested in the Association’s program is eligible for
membership, but it is
at the discretion of the Board of Directors to determine
eligibility. In
particular, institutional memberships are to be given to
“organizations
sponsoring clubs”. In the context of the ADSA that means to
schools sponsoring
debate/speech clubs. However, the bylaws do not mandate that
organizations be
non-profit, and private organizations and private clubs are
within the
eligibility of the ADSA bylaws.
As such, in regard to our
bylaws, the board
has no issues with private debate applying for and receiving
institutional
membership.
As it
relates to bylaw 4.3
If private debate is granted
institutional
membership, the institution would still need to fulfill our
requirements to
host at least one tournament annually beginning no later than
the third year of
membership.
As it
relates to our Policy Manual 2.8
It is very clear that
students whose
schools already have an active debate club may not enter a
debate through a
non-school institutional member. Private debate therefore can
only enter a
debate team into competitive events if the debaters’ schools do
not currently
have a debate program. If a debate program were to start at a
student’s school
while they are part of the private debate, s/he would have to
cease their competitive
debate participation through the private debate immediately.
This is perhaps the most
important policy
that the board is worried about. Private debate must take care
to not recruit
any students or allow any students with debate clubs at their
schools to debate
through private debate. This means a clear record of the
student’s school will
be required. If students in private debate do not understand
these rules or
break them, the board would consider this a clear violation of
our policies and
may suspend individual membership and/or institutional
membership.
As it
relates to our Policy Manual 11.2a, 11.2b, 11.2f, 11.2i
Within our organization, and
in
particularly at tournaments, coaches play a significant role.
Our policy manual
outlines many of these responsibilities. In particular, we want
to ensure the
following guidelines are met when private debate selects a coach
to represent
the institution at debate tournaments.
The coach:
· Must be an adult (18+
years old)
· Must be present at
each tournament
where teams are participating
· Must be present during
the entirety
of the tournament
· Is responsible for the
behaviour of everyone
on their team
o
This
extends to the behaviour of parents
o
And
should be familiar with their students and parents
· Is the first person to
handle
negative situations
Private debate must be able
to provide a
coach who is able to take on this role, both in spirit and in
alignment with
our policies. However, this coach, who serves as the
representative to
tournaments, does not have to be the same coach that trains and
works with
debaters on a day-to-day basis.
Lastly, coaches are not
allowed to recruit
members from other clubs. We emphasize once again the importance
of not having
any students compete as a member of a private debate program who
have debate
programs at their school.
It is the board’s opinion
that the
information provided by various private debate have failed to
meet this
standard for coaches, and as such those private debate seeking
institutional
membership need to implement a coaching model that fulfills the
ADSA’s coach responsibilities
and expectations.
Although we welcome the
increased access
and opportunity that private debate can provide, please
understand that the
ADSA is an organization built on the strength of many public
institutions. Our
biggest challenge with private debate is our belief that greater
financial
privilege should not result in greater access to debate. It is
our belief that
ADSA has one of the strongest public-school focused debate
programs in the
world and we believe in upholding this legacy. We wish to
continue to ensure
that debate is an equitable exercise, and an activity that can
be accessed by
all equally.
Sincerely,
Jason Hong
VP Debate