To Club or Not to Club…

By René Schiltz

There are various ways to participate in a speech & debate league.  One might say the simplest and hardest is as an independent affiliate.  It is simpler to not have to commit to a day out each week and not have club deadlines for assignments, but it is harder to know if you are on the right track in debate or to get consistent feedback on your progress writing and delivering speeches.  And the kids miss seeing friends weekly.

But one could say that being in a club is also the simplest…and hardest method.  It is simpler because more people are planning and preparing lessons for you and there is a set schedule for the work.  You show up and there is a plan and it seems to run like clockwork (most of the time).  Homework is assigned and your students are expected to do it.  It can be challenging when parents and students are asked to take on leadership roles that take more time from other duties at home, and leaders must keep up or the whole club comes to a stand still.

So clearly there are benefits and challenges to both options.

In order to fill the gap in feedback and learning, independents often take advantage of online instruction from their league as well as coaching from local or online businesses, such as /Eloquent Speaks, to fill in these gaps.  But students in clubs often do this as well.  

Our family participated as independent affiliates for a few years.  This was after my kids had already had a few years in a club, so they knew the format for debate and had experience giving speeches. We needed some time for the other activities we were doing, so it worked out to study and practice from home those years.

In addition, that was when my son was asked to help run an online debate club of sorts, not formally organized, just some kids getting together online and practicing and discussing LD.  But he learned so much because he ended up in a leadership position there by default. He learned to help others and give generously - which was such a wonderful opportunity.

Would our family agree that we spent less time on speech and debate because we were not in a club?  Not necessarily, but we did not have that long four-hour day or evening out of the house each week. The kids did miss their friends quite a bit, which eventually led us back to club.  

Benefits of club time include social time and social events outside of club as well.  These can enhance the forming of lasting friendships for homeschool students that sometimes are harder to come by. Yet in clubs occasionally cliques will form and students may find themselves on the outside of a group that seems to hang together and forget to include new kids or those younger than themselves.  Club leaders should watch for this occurrence and seek to prevent it from growing into a problem.

But let’s get into the nitty gritty comparison of what it means to club or not to club.  I will use the Ben Franklin Method, as it suits the decision making process well (for those not familiar: https://www.smartdraw.com/collaboration/making-decisions-ben-franklin.htm)

Frame the Decision:

Question: Should we join a club or practice speech and debate at home?

List the Pros and Cons:

                          Club Pros                                                   Club Cons

You have to drive to get to club.  Club may be close by or hours away.  In some states people drive one to four hours to get to club!  That means some people really see the value in it.	You may have to drive one to four hours to get to club. Regardless of the value, that is an amount of time we do not have weekly. (some clubs in remote areas meet bi-weekly or monthly)
Things are scheduled for us. Camps, lessons, practicing, practice tournaments are all scheduled for you for certain days and times.	If you miss one of any of these, you miss it.  There is no going back because the club goal is to stay on schedule.
Experienced leaders will have knowledge to share for helping new members avoid mistakes or deadlines for important registrations.	Once you have experience, you will be expected to throw your hand in for a job.  This can require preparation time at home, which takes your time from other things at home.
Students can earn leadership roles.  Clubs often have a student council, debate captains, yearbook team, chaplain, and so on.  These roles provide leadership records for transcripts and resumes.	No real cons here.  Sometimes people disagree on the qualities or ages that make a great leader.  And while it most likely is not, sometimes people see it as a popularity contest - clubs usually have a list of criteria for these positions.
Your children will make friends, have conversations, learn computer use, learn research skills, and you will make friends and learn all about tournaments before you ever go.	In conversations your children may be exposed to topics you are not ready for them to hear. Asking questions about upcoming content or tech use at club is a must to remain informed about what is coming. Sometimes these things happen organically and you have no control over them.
Families from various cultures and backgrounds will share experiences from life and learning that help you and your children learn about other cultures, countries, lifestyles, and more.	You may have to have conversations earlier about certain things.  Most of the time this is a good thing, but parents should be active participants at club so they are aware of conversations that may need to continue at home.
Children of all ages love to share stories and experiences.	Children do not always share the stories and experiences other parents want their children to know about. Be involved and discuss with your children anything they heard that they have questions about.
Social Media connections.  Students do not exchange phone numbers these days - they connect on apps.	Social Media connections.  Some of these apps are not the best choice for connections - encourage an email group or a group me group with parent moderation.  The teens like Discord.
The bar is high and there are experienced students to set the example of what that looks like.  Since the students are competing against one another, there tend to be at least a few that continuously do well at tournaments.  Seeing them perform helps new students see the goals.	New students cannot see the previous years of work that went into developing the student that stands before them who consistently walks the stage at tournaments.  They may become frustrated if parents do not remind them that those students had years of practice before those successes.
Clubs tend to have a personality - people are drawn to one club rather than another one due to the kind of people in it.  Sometimes you just seem to click with a group of like-minded folks.	Clubs tend to have a personality - sometimes you realize you do not click with the group.  You find it harder and harder to keep up, or you feel less informed than others, and you as a parent struggle to call for help because it isn’t coming naturally.

                   Independent Pros                         Independent Cons            

You do not have to go anywhere. Speech & debate becomes part of your homeschooling or homework.	Because you are at home, without a set time and careful planning you may not prioritize or use the time effectively.  You have to prioritize it.
Camps can be done online.  You can purchase curricula to learn both speech & debate, and you can contact local clubs to find out if they have a local practice debate or you can join Ziggy Debates. (ziggyonlinedebate.com)	You must stay on top of and register or schedule time for camps, lessons, practicing, practice tournaments and so on. Doing all of this at home means you need a calendar and reminders. You will have to pay for the curricula (clubs may have their own) and online resources (clubs usually have an annual fee that covers some of this)
If you are a beginner or have less experience, your league will have all the rules, information, and Q and A information online or you can email them and ask questions.	This process may take some time to get the answers you need. But if it comes from the league, you know it is correct information.
You do not have to worry about influences that you are not ready for.  You can discuss certain topics on your own time since you have more control of exposure to the computer, internet, social media, etc.	Your children may not meet as many people in online events that will also be at local tournaments, so at the first tournament it may be all new and you may not know many people yet.
You can watch youtube at home together with your children to see examples of good speeches.	You do not always get a clear preview of expectations for what makes a top level speech this way. You are seeing good speeches, but at a club you see the entire range; beginner, intermediate, advanced.
Online debates may give you an idea of what kids in the nation are working on.  This is helpful for competing in National Opens or the National Championship.	Every region seems to have certain ideas about the resolution, especially in the early season. Online tournaments may not give you many opportunities to debate local competitors.  Getting exposure to the most cases provides the opportunity to prepare negative briefs (for both TP and LD).

The next step in the Ben Franklin Method is to prioritize and weigh the items in the chart that mean the most to you and that will most impact your decision to join a club or work from home.  So evaluate and prioritize using the chart and let those items inform your decision to work at home or find a club.

If you asked me if I like speech & debate more in a club than at home, and then asked my kids the same question, you would probably get mixed and unexpected answers because it all depends on the year and life.  We loved our years at home because at that time my child was an advanced debater and able to hyperfocus on his preparation for getting to nationals and doing well there, which he did.  However, would he have excelled as much without the foundations that being in a club provided during his formative years?  I cannot say because that is our history.  He certainly would not have developed certain friendships as early - which have continued from the age of 9 (juniors level) to now 21 years of age - in college yet in constant contact with his friends from those years.  My girls would give you different answers, as their journeys were different - each was unique.  It just depends on the year and your family’s goals and your child’s needs.

It is likely your kids will form strong friendships at club but also at tournaments with a few kids. They will also enjoy larger group social gatherings as well, which happen in various ways even without a club.  You may have a large family that creates their own large group fun, or you may have one child or one at home whose siblings have all graduated and you desire to find a social network for him or her.  I will say, children who learn speech and debate become familiar with government and societal issues that concern us all earlier than many kids who do not do this activity.  Many of their group conversations relate to those issues which I think is wonderful - our kids learn to care about justice, safety, economic well-being, using the law properly and so many more issues. I realized for my own kids that being able to discuss these things together helped us to apply our faith practice to understanding them in the context of the Christian worldview - and for us that was priceless.  This wonderful experience can be accomplished both at home or in a club.

Whichever path you find best for your family, I wish you all the best in the upcoming season!