Iceberg Debate Academy
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In-Person in Folsom, CA • Online Cohorts
Speech and debate coaching for middle school students that prepares them to think clearly, speak with courage, and compete with confidence—through in-person classes in Folsom and online cohorts.
Weekly in-person small-group classes designed to maximize participation, personalized coaching, and student growth.
Limited online cohorts make Iceberg accessible to students outside the Folsom area while maintaining the same collaborative learning environment.
Students receive individualized feedback throughout the season to strengthen research, speaking, strategy, and competitive confidence.
Programs
Iceberg is designed around the middle school years, when students are ready to form strong habits in research, argumentation, listening, and confident public speaking. Groups are intentionally kept focused, with a strong student-to-coach ratio.
Iceberg students receive coaching in Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Public Forum Debate, Parliamentary Debate, Congressional Debate, and competitive speech events. Across every format, students build research, argumentation, public speaking, and critical-thinking skills.
Students train in competitive cohorts and participate in tournaments throughout the year. Depending on their experience and event, students may compete in local league tournaments, regional invitationals such as the UC Berkeley Invitational and Stanford Invitational, the California State Championship, and online competitions. Coaching extends beyond weekly practices with tournament preparation, individualized feedback, and post-round coaching designed to support steady improvement throughout the season.
Our intentionally limited class sizes and strong student-to-coach ratio allow coaches to provide personal guidance and meaningful feedback. Students can build confidence, strengthen their own voice, and pursue goals ranging from public-speaking growth to high-level competition.
Our approach
Like an iceberg, the best debate performance reveals only a part of the work. Underneath are notes, drills, revisions, mock rounds, and steady coaching that help middle school students feel ready before they stand up to speak.
Understand the student's confidence, experience, and goals.
Create claims, evidence, outlines, and speech structure.
Run speeches, crossfire, rebuttals, and full practice rounds.
Review ballots, refine choices, and celebrate growth.
FAQ
New to speech and debate? These answers cover the questions we hear most, with links to the National Speech & Debate Association (NSDA) so you can read more from the national governing body.
Speech and debate is about much more than winning trophies—it equips students with skills that will benefit them for the rest of their lives.
Public speaking is one of the most common fears people face. Learning to communicate confidently at a young age helps students become more comfortable expressing their ideas before that fear becomes a lifelong barrier.
Debate also teaches students how to think critically, organize ideas, evaluate evidence, listen carefully, and respond with facts and reasoning. Most importantly, it helps students learn how to respectfully disagree with someone—considering different perspectives without turning disagreement into personal conflict.
Whether students pursue business, medicine, law, engineering, education, public service, or another path, the ability to communicate clearly, collaborate with others, and advocate for their ideas is an essential life skill. At Iceberg Debate Academy, we prepare students not only for competition, but also for school, college, careers, and everyday life.
Speech and debate is a co-curricular activity where students research timely topics, build arguments, and present them to a judge. The NSDA, founded in 1925, is the largest speech and debate organization in the United States and sets the events and standards most tournaments follow.
Learn more: National Speech & Debate Association
Middle school students can compete in debate formats such as Public Forum and in speech events like impromptu and extemporaneous speaking. We help each student choose an event that fits their personality, experience, and goals.
Explore events: NSDA event guides (Start Here)
Iceberg teaches Lincoln-Douglas (LD), Public Forum (PF), Parliamentary Debate (Parli), and Congressional Debate (Congress). Coaching focuses on the research, argumentation, speaking, and strategic skills students need to grow in each format.
Lincoln-Douglas (LD): A one-on-one debate focused on values, ethics, and philosophy.
Public Forum (PF): A two-on-two debate centered on current events and public policy, with an emphasis on teamwork and clear communication.
Parliamentary Debate (Parli): A fast-paced two-on-two format in which students receive the topic shortly before the round and rely on quick thinking with limited preparation.
Congressional Debate (Congress): A simulated legislative assembly where students debate proposed bills and resolutions, deliver speeches, ask questions, and use parliamentary procedure.
Iceberg offers customized coaching across a variety of speech formats, including but not limited to Oratorical, Humorous, Poetic, Duo Interpretation, Program Oral Interpretation, Dramatic Interpretation, Original Advocacy, and Storytelling. Coaching is tailored to the student's event, experience level, and competitive goals.
Yes. Iceberg offers a non-competitive Foundations class for older elementary students in fourth and fifth grade. The class helps students establish a core foundation in public speaking, listening, organization, and introductory argumentation before they enter middle school.
Every round is evaluated by a judge, often a parent, teacher, or community volunteer, who decides the round and writes feedback on a ballot. At Iceberg, tournaments, mock debates, and practice sessions depend on parent volunteer judges, so enrolling families commit to volunteering time as judges. No experience is needed — our team will guide you, and the NSDA offers free self-paced training so first-time judges know exactly what to expect.
Read more: NSDA judge accreditation and training
The debate year has two seasons. The fall season runs from mid-August through mid-December, with a week off for Thanksgiving. The spring season runs from mid-January through mid-May, with breaks for ski week and spring break. Any additional skipped classes are communicated at least a week in advance.
Tournaments run several preliminary rounds in a day, and students debate or perform in each one. Most tournaments are organized on Tabroom, the NSDA's free tournament platform, where families can see pairings, schedules, and results.
See the platform: Tabroom.com
No. Our foundations track is built for complete beginners, and our strong student-to-coach ratio means shy or first-time speakers get patient, personal coaching. Students who want to practice on their own can also use the NSDA's free learning resources.
Free resources: NSDA self-guided student learning
Students attend one small-group session each week, either in person in Folsom or online, where they develop research skills, practice speeches, and participate in debate rounds. Coaches provide regular feedback directly to students during most weeks and mock debates so they can continue improving throughout the season. Parents may reach out to Iceberg coaches at any point during the season to learn more about their child's progress and which skills to focus on outside of practice.
The curriculum is the same. Online teams meet over video with the same small ratios, drills, and mock rounds, which mirrors how many tournaments now run online through Tabroom and classroom video tools.
Student Achievements
Every tournament is an opportunity for our students to challenge themselves, develop their skills, and represent Iceberg Debate Academy with integrity and excellence. We celebrate not only tournament victories, but also the preparation, resilience, and growth that come from competing throughout the season.
Two Competitive Seasons at a Glance
Based on the 2024–2025 and 2025–2026 competitive seasons.
Featured Tournament
May 2026
State Champions — 1st Place
Iyra N. & Sachi N.
Semifinalists
Quarterfinalists
SaiTanvi G. & Nishka P.
Prose: 4th Place — Anika K.
Impromptu Speaking: Quarterfinalist — Alvin S.
Lincoln-Douglas Debate: Triple-Octofinalist — Pratham R.
Public Forum Debate: 4–4 Record — Rusham P. & Kartik F.
Iceberg achieved a clean sweep in Parliamentary Debate, capturing three of the top four finishing teams at the California State Championship.
Recent Tournament Highlights
April 2026
Our competitive Public Forum and Lincoln-Douglas cohorts debated against some of the strongest middle school competitors in the region.
We also thank the parent judges whose volunteer service made participation possible.
May 2026
Hosted by the University of Kentucky
Iceberg students competed alongside approximately 1,000 students representing nearly 120 middle schools from across the nation.
National competition gives students valuable experience refining case construction, rebuttal efficiency, and round strategy.
May 2026
Our Parliamentary Debate cohort delivered an outstanding performance on the national stage.
Team Awards
Best Speaker Awards
Expand a season, then select any tournament to review the published highlights. This archive is based on Iceberg's celebration announcements from the past two competitive seasons.
Iceberg competed across four debate formats and five speech categories among 63 schools and approximately 600 entries.
Hosted by the University of Kentucky with approximately 120 middle schools and more than 1,000 students.
Iceberg's middle-school Parliamentary teams competed against high-school students.
Iceberg placed 2nd overall in school rankings by percentage wins.
A major international tournament with more than 3,500 students from 39 states and six countries.
Forty Iceberg middle-school students competed across PF, LD, and Parli against 24 high schools, placing 4th overall.
Iceberg won the tournament championship trophy for Highest Percentage Wins.
Twenty-one schools participated.
Iceberg placed 5th in Debate Sweepstakes against 28 schools and 360 students.
Iceberg's middle-school team placed 3rd overall among 17 high schools.
More than 600 students participated.
Iceberg won the championship trophy for Highest Percentage Wins at 58%.
Iceberg's middle-school Parliamentary teams competed in the high-school division.
All four Iceberg entries advanced to finals while competing at the high-school level.
Iceberg won the team championship for Highest Percentage Wins.
Iceberg's middle-school speech students competed in the high-school division.
Start Your Iceberg Journey
Whether you're exploring speech and debate for the first time, ready to join one of our competitive cohorts, or looking for a meaningful way to give back to the debate community, we'd love to connect. Choose the option below that best fits where you are in your journey.
For new and returning competitors
Whether you're enrolling with Iceberg Debate Academy for the first time or returning for your second, third, or future season, register now to secure your student's spot in one of our competitive cohorts. With intentionally limited class sizes, early registration helps ensure your student has the opportunity to benefit from the personalized coaching and collaborative learning environment that defines the Iceberg experience.
Register NowFor families who are not ready to register yet
This option is for families who have questions and are not yet ready to register for a competitive cohort. Connect with our coaches to learn more about our programs, coaching approach, tournament expectations, time commitment, and whether a competitive speech and debate experience is the right fit for your student.
Connect With Our CoachesFor high school and college debaters
Are you a current high school or college speech and debate competitor who wants to give back to the activity that helped shape you? Whether you're interested in coaching, judging tournaments, mentoring younger students, helping at camps, or supporting special events, we'd love to connect. We'll help match you with opportunities that fit your interests, experience, and schedule.
There's nothing more rewarding than watching a student discover their confidence, find their voice, and realize they're capable of far more than they imagined.
Community service hours and leadership opportunities are available for qualifying high school students.
Become a MentorAbout Iceberg
Founded in 2024, Iceberg Debate Academy was created with a simple mission: to help every middle school student discover the confidence, communication skills, and character that will serve them throughout their lives.
We intentionally chose the name Iceberg because we firmly believe that every middle schooler has tremendous potential beneath the surface. Just as approximately 90% of an iceberg's mass lies hidden below the ocean, much of a young person's confidence, leadership, resilience, and talent is still waiting to be discovered. Our role is to help bring that potential into view.
Across the 2024–2025 and 2025–2026 competitive seasons, what began as a Sacramento-area academy has expanded to include dedicated classes in the San Francisco Bay Area and Texas, allowing us to bring high-quality speech and debate coaching to students across multiple communities through both in-person and online programs.
We're proud to have coached students from the following schools:
High school students have participated in Iceberg's summer debate camps and leadership programs. Our year-round competitive coaching is currently focused on middle school students.
We believe debate is about far more than winning trophies. It teaches students how to think critically, speak with confidence, listen with empathy, and respectfully disagree with others. In a world where disagreement often becomes division, we want every student to develop the lifelong skill of engaging with different perspectives respectfully, thoughtfully, and with integrity.
Our vision is simple: to give every middle school student the opportunity to discover a better version of themselves, find their voice, and learn to use it to make a positive difference in the world.