The BDL is affordable.
The Speech and Debate community is notorious for gatekeeping. Most tournaments, summer camps, and leagues charge students exorbitant fees to participate.
At the BDL, we believe that these policies are discriminatory and allow only certain voices to be heard in the Speech & Debate community. That’s why we made the Brooklyn Debate League. To cover the costs of our programming, we encourage families to make a donation that feels right to them , but no child will ever be turned away because of inability to pay.
I’m a kid, is the BDL for me?
Do you want to be better at convincing people to do stuff? (Like, convincing your parents to raise your allowance or your teacher to give less homework!) Do you love acting, speaking and performing in public… or do you want to get better at that? Do you care deeply about issues in your world and community, and you want to learn to become a more effective activist? Do you have an awesome story and you want to be able to tell it? Speech and Debate is great for all of these things.
Whether you’re a state champion or you’ve never done Speech and Debate before, if you’re in grades 5-12, come join us! The BDL is also super diverse. We have kids from a wide range of backgrounds — in terms of gender, sexuality, income bracket and race. You’ll find your place here!
I’m a parent or educator, is the BDL right for my child?
Not all schools have coaches to lead a Speech and Debate teams or the robust budgets to afford registration fees at tournaments. That’s why we created this space.
BDL is safe space for all kids: queer and trans children, kids of color, kids from all income brackets, kids who are national champions and kids who have no experience in Speech and Debate. No matter what their story, we’re here to help them tell it.
All students in grades 5-12 are invited to participate.
The BDL operates on a sliding scale. If you can, we’d love your support. But we are here for all families, and no child will be turned away for lack of resources.
I’m a leader on my high school team, an alum or a coach, how can I help?
Our staff is made up of extraordinary students, alumni and full-time coaches who share the belief that Speech and Debate should be accessible to all students. If you want to join our mission to help all kids have access to top-tier coaching, get in touch with us!