In a world full of angry comment sections and divisive fanbases, teenagers have built a reputation for their love of arguments. However, one specific group of teenagers shines above the rest: speech and debate students. On Aug. 30, 2025, the Lebanon Trail High School Speech and Debate team hosted a major debate tournament. The event attracted schools from across the state, and in total, it gathered 264 competitors from 18 different schools. Of course, in an event with so many people, an equally large number of volunteers was needed to keep it running, and as a result, the debate team gathered over 150 volunteers.
Beyond manpower, significant preparation was needed in advance. Speech and Debate president Aairah Usmani explained what went into bringing the tournament to life.
“It took weeks of preparation,” Usmani said. “First, we had to make posters and promote the tournament on social media so people actually knew about it. Then, we had to make a list of all of the rooms available for a debate event to be held in. Finally, we needed a lot of student volunteers, so we reached out to [the student council] and [National Honor Society] for people to come in and help out during the tournament.”
With such a big undertaking, the event was surely very important. Debate coach Meredith MacLeod explains the significance of the tournament for the community.
“It was important for the students here at Lebanon Trail to give them an opportunity to host a tournament, host workshops, to engage with judges, other coaches, other students in a capacity where they’re not directly competing with those schools,” MacLeod said. “We’re all trying to make the activity more accessible and educational for students who are considering doing it.”
This tournament wasn’t just big for current debate teams, it was also an important event for new and upcoming members of the debate community. The Speech and Debate team decided to run multiple workshops, or sessions with novice debaters, to give them a feel for their chosen event, run by each event’s respective captains. Congressional debate captain Genita Paul gave insight into her workshop.
“We chose to do a workshop because it’s a great way for novices to get one-on-one advice with a debater,” Paul said. “I think it was very successful, we got to teach a big group of kids and they all seemed very receptive to what we were teaching.”
The event ran for almost 13 hours, and with the massive number of people and resources involved, there were bound to be some challenges. Usmani explained some complications they faced and how the team overcame them.
“We had some difficulty documenting all of the volunteers who attended,” Usmani said. “Many people showed up at different times than scheduled, and some people didn’t show up at all. This made it hard to keep track of everyone’s hours, but we overcame this by having a table set up to check everyone in manually,” she continued. “It was difficult, but the solution worked out well in the end.”
With all the hard work required to run the event, the Speech and Debate team was hoping for nothing less than success. Coach MacLeod explained the tournament’s outcome.
“From a profit perspective, we were able to raise five times the amount of our budget, and we were also able to get approval for a travel tournament to Harvard this year,” MacLeod said. “Overall, it was a great, well-run tournament. We did have some hiccups, but otherwise, I would say everything went off without a hitch, and I look forward to hosting next year.”
The LTHS debate tournament was the first of the season, but it’s far from the last. Dozens of schools across Texas host debate tournaments throughout the school year, including Centennial High School on Dec. 13, 2025, in which all Frisco ISD students, in the debate class or not, can compete. With this opportunity ahead, Genita Paul offered advice to those considering joining the debate team.
“Just give it a try,” Paul said. “Speech and debate have so many different formats, so you’re almost guaranteed to find something you like. You just have to take that first step.”
