Two women holding a framed award, smiling, at the National Debate Coaches Association Annual Awards event.

WHAT WE RECOGNIZE

Two people standing in front of a brick wall, one holding a clear award or trophy, smiling at the camera.

Two students sitting at desks, working on laptops, in a classroom setting, with a banner that reads "Student Achievement" and text about recognizing top performance in debate formats.

COACH AWARDS

Award announcement for the Chuckballingall Educator of the Year, recognizing excellence in debate as an educational tool. Includes nomination information and the 2026 recipient, Eric Forslund from Pace Academy, with a prominent yellow nomination button.

2006 — Frank Seaver, Woodward Academy (GA)
2007–2008 — Tara Tate, Glenbrook South High School (IL)
2009 — Glenda Ferguson, Coppell High School (TX)
2010 — Bill Batterman, Marquette University High School (WI)
2011 — Aaron Timmons, Greenhill School (TX)
2012 — Tracy McFarland, Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas (TX)
2013 — Fred Robertson, Millard West High School (NE)
2014 — Jonathan Alston, Newark Science High School (NJ)
2015 — Dan Lingel, Dallas Jesuit High School (TX)
2016 — David Heidt, Carrollton Sacred Heart (FL)
2017 — Josh Clark, Montgomery Bell Academy (TN)
2018 — Jared Zuckerman, Blue Valley Southwest High School, KS
2019 — Maggie Berthiaume, Woodward Academy (GA)
2020 — Rosie Valdez-Block, Little Rock Central High School (AR)
2021 — Daryl Burch, McDonough School (MD)
2022 — Lexy Green, The College Preparatory School (CA)
2023 — Adam Torson, Marlborough School (CA)
2024 — Yao Yao Chen, Liberal Arts & Sciences Academy (TX)
2025 — Christina Phillips, Notre Dame High School (CA)
2026 — Eric Forslund, Pace Academy (GA)

Announcement about the William Woods Tate Jr. Tournament of the Year award, explaining eligibility and selection process, with a prominent yellow button labeled 'Nominate a Tournament,' and details of the 2026 recipient, Southern Bell Forum, hosted by Montgomery Bell.

2008 — Meadows Invitational (hosted by Tim Alderete, The Meadows School)
2009 — Blake Holiday Classic (hosted by Shane Stafford)
2010 — Greenhill Fall Classic (hosted by Aaron Timmons & Eric Forslund)
2011 — Malcolm A. Bump Memorial at Hendrick Hudson High School (hosted by Jim Menick)
2012 — Heart of Texas at St Mark's School (hosted by Tim Mahoney)
2013 — Southern Bell Forum at Montgomery Bell Academy (hosted by Billy Tate & Kevin Hamrick)
2014 — Woodward Academy (hosted by Maggie Berthiaume)
2015 — The Crestian (hosted by Dan Lewis, Pinecrest School)
2016 — New Trier Season Opener
2017 — John Edie Classic (hosted by Shane Stafford, The Blake School)
2018 — Meadows Invitational (hosted by Tim Alderete & Malcom Gordon, The Meadows School)
2019 — Damus Hollywood Invitational (hosted by Christina Phillips, Notre Dame)
2021 — John Edie Classic (hosted by Shane Stafford, The Blake School)
2022 — Cavalier Invitational & Challenge (Hosted by Crawford Leavoy, Durham Academy) & Chuck Ballingall Memorial Invitational (Hosted by Timothy Lewis, Damien High School)
2023 — JW Patterson HS Invitational (hosted by Bryan Gaston, Heritage Hall School and Tommy Snider, Casady School)
2024 — Sunvite (hosted by Aly Fiebrantz Awsare, Michael Rankin and Jacob Bosley, NSU USchool)
2025 — Barkley Forum for High Schools at Emory University (hosted by Kara Grant, Emory University)
2026 — Southern Bell Forum at Montgomery Bell Academy (hosted by Kevin Hamrick, Montgomery Bell Academy)

Information about the Rising Star Award, including a prompt to nominate a coach, with the 2026 recipient being Victoria Yonter from Von Steuben High School.

2011 — Abby Schirmer, Stratford Academy (GA)
2012 — Jon Voss, Glenbrook South High School (IL)
2013 — Jeffrey Miller, Marist School (GA)
2014 — Andres Gannon, Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart (FL)
2015 — Brian Rubaie, Barstow (MO)
2016 — Val McIntosh, Niles West HS (IL)
2017 — Tyler Thur, Glenbrook South HS (IL)
2018 — Lauren Donnenfeld, Alpharetta High School
2019 — Alyssa Corrigan, Glenbrook South High School (IL) & Shree Awsare, North Broward Preparatory School (FL)
2020 — Austen Yorko, Montgomery Bell Academy (TN)
2021 — Dr. Alexandria Chase, Greenhill School (TX)
2022 — Rachel Mauchline, Cabot Public Schools (AR)
2023 — Will Katz, Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart (FL)
2024 — David Dosch, Immaculate Heart High School (CA)
2025 — Rebecca Steiner, Woodward Academy (GA)
2026 — Victoria Yonter, Von Steuben High School (IL)

A graphic announcing the Service & Leadership Award with text describing its purpose, a yellow button labeled "Nominate an Individual," and a blue stripe at the bottom listing 2026 recipients: David Heidt and Will Katz from Carrollton Sacred Heart.

2009 — Bill Batterman, Marquette University High School (WI)
2010 — Tim Mahoney, St. Mark's School of Texas (TX)
2011 — Rich Edwards, Baylor University (TX)
2012 — Rohan Sadagapol, Edina High School & University of Minnesota (MN)
2013 — Jenny Heidt, The Westminster Schools (GA)
2014 — Tara Tate, Glenbrook South (IL)
2015 — Dan Lingel, Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas (TX)
2016 — Chris Palmer, Lexington High School (MA)
2017 — Omar Guevara, Weber State (UT)
2018 — Dana Randall, Carrolton Sacred Heart (FL)
2019 — Kevin Hamrick, Montgomery Bell Academy (TN)
2021 — Priten Shah, Classrooms.Cloud (NY)
2022 — Matt Liu, Wyoming Virtual Academy (WY)
2023 — Dan Lingel, Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas (TX)
2024 — Brian Manuel, Edgemont Junior/Senior High School (NY)
2025 — Marist School (GA)

SEASON-LONG EXCELLENCE AWARDS

The image shows a young woman with long dark hair and glasses, writing on a whiteboard filled with notes in Spanish and English. The overlay text highlights Lincoln-Douglas debates, Duke's and Bailey Cup, and awards Salma Gheith for winning in 2026 from Horace Greeley High School.

The Dukes & Bailey Cup is awarded to the Lincoln-Douglas debater with the highest NDCA qualification point total across their top five tournament placements during the year. Points are calculated based on prelim and elim records, weighted by tournament size and diversity.

The award honors Marilee Dukes and Patricia Bailey, who helped establish Lincoln-Douglas Debate as a rigorous, argument-based event. Marilee Dukes coached champions at prestigious tournaments such as the TOC, Glenbrooks, and Emory, and was the first coach to lead two National Champions from the same school. Patricia Bailey also coached national-caliber debaters, including NSDA National Champions and finalists at the TOC's earliest LD tournaments. Together, their work transformed LD debate into a cornerstone of competitive speech and debate.

2009 — Jordan Lamothe, The Meadows School (Nevada)
2010 — Jordan Lamothe, The Meadows School (Nevada)
2011 — Steven Adler, Mercer Island High School (Washington)
2012 — Noah Star, Lexington High School (Massachusetts)
2013 — Rebecca Kuang, The Greenhill School (Texas)
2014 — Ram Prasad, La Jolla High School (California)
2015 — Arjun Tambe, Palos Verdes Peninsula High School (California)
2016 — Bennett Eckert, The Greenhill School (Texas)
2017 — Evan Engel, Harvard-Westlake (California)
2018 — Brianna Aaron, Newark Science (New Jersey)
2019 — Anna Meyers, The Greenhill School (Texas)
2020 — Tajaih Robinson, Success Academy (New York)
2021 — Samantha McLoughlin, Harvard-Westlake School (California)
2022 — Zion Dixon, Strake Jesuit College Preparatory (Texas)
2023 —Karan Shah, Strake Jesuit College Preparatory (Texas)
2024 — Ansh Sheth, The Harker School (California)
2025 — Iva Liu, Orange County School of the Arts (California)
2026 — Salma Gheith, Horace Greeley High School (New York)

Two young students sitting at a school table, writing and reading. Overlaid text and graphics about a policy debate event.

The David P. Baker Cup is awarded to the team with the highest NDCA qualification point total across their top five tournament placements during the year. Points are calculated based on prelim and elim records, weighted by tournament size and diversity.

David Baker spent 16 years teaching public speaking at St. Mark's School of Texas and coaching its debate team. Under his leadership, the program was named one of the ten most successful of the 20th century and won the high school National Championship in 1990.

Recognized for his contributions to the activity, Mr. Baker was inducted into the National Speech and Debate Association Hall of Fame in 2003 and the Texas Forensic Association Hall of Fame in 2006.

2006 — Zach Beauchamp & James Brockaway, Georgetown Day School (District of Columbia)
2007 — Stephen Weil & Anshu Sathian, The Westminster Schools (Georgia)
2008 — Evan DeFilippis & James Hamraie, Colleyville Heritage High School (Texas)
2009 — Anshi Sathian & Rajesh Jegadeesh, The Westminster Schools (Georgia)
2010 — Will Thibeau & Richard Day, Glenbrook South (Illinois)
2011 — Daniel Taylor & Ellis Allen, The Westminster Schools (Georgia)
2012 — Lyall Stuart & Azhar Unvala, The Greenhill School (Texas)
2013 — Andrew Jones & Hemanth Sanjeev, Stratford Academy (Georgia)
2014 — Dylan Ogle & Hemanth Sanjeev, Stratford Academy (Georgia)
2015 — Alden Conner & Calen Martin, Caddo Magnet High School (Louisiana)
2016 — Zahir Shaikh & Allen Wang, Blake School (Minnesota)
2017 — Ben Rosenthal & Andrew Kaplan, Montgomery Bell Academy (Tennessee)
2018 — Nicholas Mancini & Giorgio Rabbini, North Broward Preparatory School (Florida)
2019 — Aden Barton & Julian Habermann, Montgomery Bell Academy (Tennessee)
2020 — Aden Barton & Sam Meacham, Montgomery Bell Academy (Tennessee)
2021 — Akash Deo and Sebastian Rabbini, North Broward Preparatory School (Florida)
2022 — David McDermott & Cole Weese, Walter Payton College Preparatory High School (Illinois)
2023 — Sam Church & Alexandra Huang, Liberal Arts and Science Academy (Texas)
2024 — Kevin Lai & Devin Lai, Peninsula High School (California)
2025 — Michael Ross & Sameer Varkantham, Berkeley Prep (Florida)
2026 — Russell Howard & Jimmy Li, Montgomery Bell Academy (Tennessee)

Two young men sitting at a dining table with laptops and papers, engaged in work or discussion in a room with abstract artwork on the wall.

The Timothy C. Averill Cup is awarded to the Public Forum team with the highest NDCA qualification point total across their top five tournament placements during the year. Points are calculated based on prelim and elim records, weighted by tournament size and diversity.

Tim Averill is widely recognized for his role in establishing Public Forum Debate in 2003. He contributed to its growth by writing monthly topics, introducing the format to schools across the nation, and serving as the tab director at NSDA Nationals. Tim Averill’s efforts helped Public Forum evolve into one of the most prominent events in competitive debate. His contributions have earned lasting respect within the speech and debate community, making this award a fitting tribute to his legacy.

2019 — Daniel Fernandez & Noah Kaye, Poly Prep Country Day (New York)
2020 — Jack Johnson & Morgan Swigert, Blake School (Minnesota)
2021 — Eli Glickman & Roy Tiefer, Bethesda Chevy Chase High School (Maryland)
2022 — Anisha Musti & Abhiram Masam, Edgemont Junior-Senior High School (New York)
2023 — Sienna Vaughn & Daniel Zhao, Flintridge Preparatory (California)
2024 — Aumrita Savdharia & Stavan Shah, Fairmont Preparatory Academy (California)
2025 — Ezekiel Ehrenberg & Romir Patel, Delbarton School (New Jersey)
2026 — Sumith Murthy & Mac Stratton, Strake Jesuit College Preparatory (Texas)