Hiring a Private Coach: What to Look for and What to Avoid
By Jasmine Stidham, Teacher and Coach at Harvard-Westlake and Assistant Coach at Dartmouth
Private coaching has become increasingly prevalent in the world of competitive debate. Across formats, we can observe an influx of private coaches who advertise their services to students looking for additional help. Students seek private coaching for various reasons: card-cutting, strategy development, skills work, drills, pre-round coaching, judging requirements, and more. Many students who pursue private coaching are independent debaters, but there are also students who are not considered independent and obtain extra coaching for other reasons. Some debaters feel that they need more assistance to reach their competitive goals, and others may feel that their school’s provided resources are insufficient. Whatever their reasons may be, a large subset of debaters has received some level of private coaching.
This article is not intended to be anti-private coaching. It is inevitable and here to stay, but there are assorted risks and concerns associated with debate’s free market. For a student, it can be challenging and stressful to select a private coach when the market appears to be so saturated. We see new “hire me” posts every day on social media, accompanied by the inside joke-laden comments section where friends try to help another friend. Kids are often left wondering who to trust and how to engage in the hiring process. Each summer at camp, I typically have several students ask me if I can connect them with a private coach, and I am always happy to help. When I talk to students about this process, I outline several tips they should try to follow when searching and negotiating. Considering that we are now in hiring season, I figured I could share some of those strategies with the community to support students and coaches as they prepare for next season. As always, I hope you find these useful, and feel free to share your own tips in the comments.
Notes of Caution:
1. Be wary of first-year outs…
Before someone tries to accuse me of hating aspiring young coaches, hear me out. I absolutely do not have a problem with young college students attempting to jumpstart their coaching career. I was in your shoes once. I respect the grind. That’s why I have framed this tip as one of caution, rather than rejection. I have encountered some amazing first-year-out coaches and judges. One of the benefits of younger coaches is that they are generally eager and willing to work extremely hard to prove themselves. However, that does not mean there aren’t risks to hiring recent high school graduates. Some of those risks relate to quality of coaching, and some are related to student safety. I will try to outline these below.
a. Quality of coaching: There are a lot of variables to consider, but it is important for coach-seeking students to consider gaps in a young coach’s knowledge base. I can say from experience that I am certainly a much better coach now than I was when I was a sophomore in college. Not for a lack of trying, but rather from a lack of practice. Anyone who tells you that being a good debater makes you a good coach is wrong, plain and simple. There is a large difference between being a proficient debater and being a competent teacher. They require different skillsets. Coaching is hard. It takes years to develop yourself as a talented coach. A first year-out might be able to give you stellar advice in some areas, but they ultimately lack invaluable experience that one gains through the trial and error of years of coaching. You want someone who not only has enthusiasm, but also wisdom. It’s all about balance.
b. Lack of boundaries: This is another mixed bag, but I see it more often in younger coaches. Just like teaching debate is a skillset, so is understanding how to establish appropriate boundaries. No one starts their career as a perfect coach. Learning how to separate work from friendship is hard, especially in debate where coaches spend an exorbitant amount of time with their students. That being said, it’s important that you look for a coach who will respect your boundaries and know which boundaries to set. I’ve observed first-year out coaches sleeping in the same hotel room as their student. I’ve seen first-year outs attempt to seek romantic relationships with their students. I know stories of first-year outs buying their students alcohol at tournaments. The list goes on. This is not to say that older coaches have never done anything wrong; that’s why I prefaced this point by saying it is a mixed bag. However, based on my own experience and observations, I tend to believe that this kind of behavior is more common with first-year outs or younger coaches generally.
2. Bid counts don’t matter as much as you think they do
This is a topic I feel quite strongly about. Most of the “hire me” posts we see on Facebook or Reddit involve a reference to a high school bid count. For students looking for a coach, one’s bid count can be an attractive feature on a Facebook résumé. Earning bids is absolutely something to be proud of, and it can be representative of one’s debate talent. As I mentioned in tip #1, being good at debate does not translate to being good at coaching. There are esteemed college debate coaches who never cleared at the NDT, and there are phenomenal high school coaches who only debated on their local circuit. Hiring someone with a high bid count doesn’t mean that their cards will necessarily be better or that their pre-round coaching will earn you the same number of bids. Some of the coaches I admire the most never made it to the TOC and never made it to late elimination rounds in college. You don’t want someone who merely knows how to get a bid; you want someone who knows how to teach you the tools to earn a bid, or whatever your goals may be.
3. You don’t have to hire a white dude, you know…
Debate hiring practices are not immune to racism, sexism, transphobia, ableism, etc. You don’t have to hire one of the white dudes in TOC elims. There are other talented coaches out there, I promise.
4. Beware of coaches that celebrate your success only for their own purposes
Put differently, be wary of clout-chasers. There are private coaches who seek out specific students for questionable reasons. These individuals often make the “first move” in establishing a coaching arrangement. They can seem harmless at first, but they eventually start to use you more than you use them. I don’t just mean posting pictures of your success on social media, but rather using your success as a means to an end. They will claim all the credit for your tournament wins and tell others that they were the reason you performed so well. These coaches take all the praise and recognition for your victories, but blame you for your losses. A good coach recognizes that both the student and coach play a role in a debater’s performance. A good coach is there for you when you lose and celebrates you when you triumph.
5. Shut down the predators
In tip #1, I mentioned that first-year outs sometimes have difficulty respecting boundaries. This is often true, but I don’t want to make young coaches the only culpable group. Debate has an immense problem when it comes to housing predators. I have been involved in far too many Title IX cases for anyone to insinuate that this type of abuse isn’t an issue in debate. I want every high school student, especially younger girls and non-cis men, to be aware of predatory coaches and their abusive tactics. Those tactics include, but are not limited to:
a. Attempting to form a romantic relationship with you
b. Asking you for inappropriate photos
c. Asking you sexual questions, or instigating sexual conversations
d. Offering their coaching services for “free” while also engaging in sexual conversations
e. Grooming you as a student and claiming that things can be “different” once you graduate
f. Trying to give you drugs and/or alcohol at tournaments
g. Asking to stay in your room at tournaments
h. Isolating you from your friends at tournaments
i. Persuading you to keep your “friendship” a secret
j. Making inappropriate comments about your body
k. Constantly messaging you at late hours
l. Only messaging you on private apps
m. Offering special things to you but not your teammates
n. Asking about your romantic relationships with other people
o. Trying to spend time with you outside of tournaments and designated coaching times
p. Influencing your college decisions so you can be closer to them
q. Telling you that rumors about them are all lies
None of these listed behaviors are “normal.” Abusers manipulate victims by gaslighting them into thinking that their predation is normal. If this is happening to you or someone you know, please tell someone you trust. Predators have no place in debate.
6. You don’t always have to follow in your coach’s footsteps
Most coaches specialize in certain arguments. This is a feature, not a bug, in the realm of coaching. We can’t all be specialists in every argument, but it is our job to coach our students based on their argumentative preferences, not ours. It is perfectly fine for private coaches to advertise their expertise on certain topics and to offer that knowledge to prospective students. In many cases, this results in an ideal coach-student relationship. Sometimes a student does want to read arguments that their coach specializes in. A problem arises if a coach tries to force a student into reading particular arguments because the coach happens to like them. There is a difference between suggesting strategies and trying to force your debater into becoming a miniature version of you.
7. Look for other red flags
There are other miscellaneous notes of caution that I will list below:
a. The coach was fired from their previous job but won’t say why
b. The coach has no references from previous students/jobs or asks you not to contact previous students they coached.
c. The coach is suddenly not working at camps anymore
d. The coach randomly wants to help you only once you start winning
e. The coach is already working with several students/teams (more than normal)
Of course, there could be legitimate explanations for some of these issues. That is always possible. However, when multiple red flags appear at once, it is usually a sign that something is wrong. In the next section, I will provide tips for hiring a coach that will help you avoid red flags.
Tips for Hiring a Private Coach:
1. Be direct about what you want
I cannot stress this enough: you are the employer and you hold the cards. Remember, the potential coach is trying to sell their services to you, not the other way around. I’ve seen so many students cheapen their goals by settling for less. You are allowed to shop around to find the best coaching fit. If one coach doesn’t feel like the best match, it is okay to politely decline and move on. Here are some sample interview questions you can ask when you initially reach out:
a. Which arguments do you personally specialize in?
b. What is your level of familiarity with X strategy or argument?
c. How many tournaments can you attend this season?
d. Which schools/teams have you worked with before?
e. How many years of debate experience do you have?
f. How long have you been actively coaching?
g. Have you worked at camps before? Which camps?
h. Are you able to produce X number of files before a tournament?
i. Is your work/college schedule able to accommodate our tournament travel?
j. Can you describe how you approach pre-round coaching?
k. Are you able to do things like rent a car and help us navigate flights/hotel?
l. We would like to become better at X. Do you have experience in that area?
m. Are you working with other students this year? How many students/teams?
n. Will that ^ interfere with coaching us/me?
2. Be direct about your expectations
This is similar to tip #1, but I want to emphasize how important it is that you clearly outline your expectations. Those expectations can include:
a. How many tournaments a coach should attend
b. How many files they are expected to produce
c. How many hours per week they are expected to work with you
d. How many rounds they will judge at each tournament
e. What pre-round coaching should include
f. Which arguments the coach should specialize in/be familiar with
g. Any non-negotiables
3. Ask for references!
I am shocked at how many people don’t do this. Yes, you should always ask for professional references. If a private coach does not have any references whatsoever, or refuses to provide references, that usually isn’t a good sign. You can ask someone for their résumé and a list of debate references. Even if someone is really young, they should still have references from people like their high school coaches, teachers, or lab leaders.
4. Keep everything in writing
You should always keep your negotiations in writing. This is especially important as it pertains to payment. You can obviously discuss expectations over a phone or video call, but it is imperative that you keep certain things documented. This protects the student and the coach.
5. Don’t be afraid to draft a contract
Speaking of keeping things in writing… it surprises me that we don’t utilize contracts more in the world of private coaching. I know this might seem silly because no one really does it, but if you want to ensure that your expectations are met, it doesn’t hurt to draft a contract that is signed by you and your coach.
6. Tell your parents
I know that many parents will listen to their child if the child explains that they need to hire X debate coach, but you should always try to keep your parents in the loop. They should know who your coach is and what arrangement you’ve established with them. It might not be the cool thing to do, but it is absolutely the safe thing to do.
7. Tell your school/program
If you compete under your school’s name, you should tell your school who you’ve hired as a coach. This is especially true if this person is your designated chaperone at a tournament. If you do not disclose this, you could get into trouble with your school. Even if you don’t compete under your school’s name, I still think it’s a good idea to keep your school in the loop just in case something goes wrong.
Thanks for reading, and happy debating!