In an activity meant to uplift, abusive coaches have silenced the voices of promising young debaters for far too long. 

The greatest power imbalance in Speech & Debate is between coaches and students. Coaches have the power to determine who gets resources, gets to go to tournaments, or even be on the team at all. Oftentimes, coaches use this power dynamic to perpetuate toxic environments, to the point of being sexist, racist, emotionally abusive, etc. Due to the staggering amount of power coaches have over students, however, victims are often forced to stay silent out of fear -- or are driven out of debate entirely. 

Although NSDA has implemented training for judges, as well as DEI training, there has been little done to address the problem of abuse at the most base level, affecting local teams to national champion ones. 

Sign this petition and call on NSDA to:

• Train coaches on appropriate behavior
• Protect students against retaliatory actions from coaches
• Implement disciplinary/accountability systems to hold coaches accountable