What kind of students are good debaters?
Many coaches have made the mistake of only recruiting students with high grades and loud talkers. A strong debate team has a mixture of personalities. Many of your best debaters are underachieving students that are bored with the school system. The easiest place to start is your classroom. Conduct a few strong oral based activities in your class and you will immediately find talent. You can find many diamonds in the rough in discipline office and retention classes. Generally, the underachieving GATE students are also an asset. Last but not least, recruit from your special education population. For many of these students, their oral language skills act as tools of survival.
