Category: Debate Coaches

Meehakk(pronounced meh-hek) is a Political Science major that graduated from the University of Waterloo. She has been involved in debate throughout her time at university. She was the President of the Waterloo debate society for three years, where she was responsible for training new debaters and frequently gave in-depth knowledge seminars. Meehakk has a number of achievements in debate as a speaker and a judge. Most recently, she was one of the key organizers and chief adjudicators of 2020 LinkedKey Open Debate Tournament....

Deborah W. is a third-year student at Trinity College in the University of Toronto. Under a full scholarship, she is pursuing a specialist degree in Political Science with a focus on the political and economic development in the Global South. She is a competitive debater for the Hart House Debating Club and notably one of the currently most successful ones. Some of her achievements include having made an appearance in the grand finals and being crowned the runner-up of the Oxford University Intervarsity Debating Championship in Oxford, England. She was also a part of the top 16 breaking teams at the coveted World Universities Debating Championship in Bangkok, Thailand, making it as a quarterfinalist. On top of being a full-time student and debater, Deborah spends her limited giving back to the community by coaching a debate team in a local high school here in Toronto. Under her tutelage, a team from The York School successfully broke second at the Cambridge...

Kashaf currently studies Computer Science and Cognitive Science at the University of Toronto. She was co-president of the White Oaks debate team and regularly attended, and broke, at many tournaments. She was 2nd speaker at the Hart House National Debating Championships and also qualified and attended the International Competition for Young Debaters at Cambridge University. She loves public speaking, discussing global issues, and coding....

Zack H.is currently pursuing his life science degree at McMaster University. During his high school debating career, Zack is a Western semi-finalist and top 10 speaker, Waterloo semi-finalist, and 14th speaker and part of the 3rd breaking team at Hart House. Additionally, he has breaks at various high school tournaments, including Thornhill and Iroquois Ridge. As a university debater, Zack is a semi-finalist and top 10 speaker at the Central Novice Tournament, and 6th novice team at the Hart House Intervarsity. Zack is also an experienced judge, having judged tournaments including Thornhill, Iroquois Ridge, Appleby Novice, and the McMaster Pro-Am Tournament, where he judged the final. Zack has also spent his years in debate coaching younger debaters at the high school and university levels....

Sarah is pursuing Contemporary Asian Studies, Diaspora and Near Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Toronto. She began debating in high-school where she broke at tournaments such as Hart House, McGill, York, Western, Oxford Cup, & she was the Cornell World Schools Debate Champion. In university debate, she won McGill BP Novice Champs, Mac Pro-Ams, and Novice BP Champs. Other tournaments she's placed in were being a semi finalist at Colgate and North American Womxns Debate Championship, and twice quarter-finalist at Winter Carnival including third best speaker. She’s adjudicated at Hart House, NAUDC, Hong Kong Parliamentary Debate Society, Leger, and many high school tournaments as well. She's been coaching for four years in Canada, Hong Kong, and China. She has taken particular joy in her role at Hart House, helping and mentoring novice debaters. She enjoys watching her students thrive in competitive environments....

Melissa, Debate Coach at LinkedKey. Having been a competitive debater for 7 years, her accomplishments include having finalled at NAW*DC in 2019 (North American Womxn and Gender Minorities Debating Championship), semifinalling at CP Nationals in 2019 and winning novice NAUDC in 2017 (North American University Debating Championship). She also serves as a debate coach at a private Toronto High School for the past year, helping students to improve in tab rankings by over 100 spots each. Melissa is also very passionate about English, spearheading an English tutoring program at her high school, and winning the award for Writer's Craft for her creative writing....

Dj is coach and former assistant coach of Indian Debate Team. As a debater,he has represented Indian Debate Team to attend multiple Debate Tournement around the world in 2016-2018. He was the first ever English as a Second Language speaker to be adjudged best speaker in the world in 2018. In 2019,he leaded Indian Debate Team to win The Champion of 2019 WSDC(World School Debate Championship). ...

Chris Braithwaite is a long-time member and former president of the University of Waterloo Debate Society. He graduated from UW with a degree in Philosophy and a minor in Economics. As a debater, he was a Central Canadian Semifinalist and a North American University Debating Championships quarterfinalist. He broke at numerous other competitions as a competitor as well. As a judge, he has served on the adjudication cores of Seagram, Leger, and Mac Pro-Am. He has also broken as a judge at HHIV, BP Champs, and numerous other majour North American tournaments. Chris has experience training and giving feedback to high school and university level debaters for more than 6 years. ...

Matt is a product of the University of Toronto's English, Philosophy, and Sociology programs, he is well versed in multiple writing disciplines and carries a long tradition of high standards and strong results into the classroom. Matt has taught students of all ages and skill levels how to elevate their written work, inspiring a passion for writing that his students carry with them through post secondary education and into their professional lives. His expectations are high but fair, Matt goes to great lengths to adapt his lessons to accommodate the needs of individual students and ensure their success, through patience and persistence he instills in his class not just a love of writing, but also the discipline required to do it well....

Tianzhi Yang (pronounced tan-zee) graduated from the Schulich School of Business with a degree in Business Administration and has been debating for over 8 years. She was the former President of York Debate Society and was on the White Oak’s Debate executive team. As a debater, she has broken at numerous university debate competitions at University of Toronto, McGill, Queens, and more. During her time at YDS she has served as the Tournament Director for York’s High School Debate Tournament and the Canadian High School Women’s Debate Championships....