Students learn to build an argument,hold a room, andmake their words matter.
Competitive speech and debate at Myers Park High School. Students compete across the Carolinas and on the national circuit.
2025–26 Season · 2026 Nationals
Myers Park at Nationals.
Myers Park students reached the national final round, won a national championship, and placed across multiple events at the 2026 NSDA National Tournament in Richmond, Virginia.
National Champion
Evan Horner
World Schools Debate
Competing with Carolina West Gold
National Runner-Up
Tessa Fulcher
Dramatic Interpretation
Tessa Fulcher at the 2026 NSDA National Tournament.
Also at Nationals
- 9th
- Isabella LoreBig Questions Debate
- 13th speaker nationally
- Joseph HollandWorld Schools Debate
- 17th
- Ginevra Voltolina & Joseph HollandWorld Schools Debate · Carolina West Green
- 33rd
- Cynwonthia PoonBig Questions Debate
- 75th
- Dimitri KatsanosExtemporaneous Debate
A tradition of excellence
Built over generations.
2026
Laird Lewis Invitational, hosted by Myers Park this October
7
national placements and awards at the 2026 NSDA National Tournament, including a national championship
475
students competed at the October 2025 Laird Lewis Invitational
32
schools brought competitors to Myers Park in October 2025
185
judges registered for the October 2025 Laird Lewis Invitational
Nationally recognized leadership
Led by Lynne Coyne
NSDA Fourth Diamond Coach and 2025 Carolina West District Coach of the Year. Coyne has coached students to national titles at the NSDA, National Catholic Forensic League, and Tournament of Champions and serves on the Harvard Debate Council staff.
It starts at six in the morning on a Saturday and it does not feel like school.
Students find their people here. They build confidence and learn to think, speak, and perform under pressure. Those skills stay with them long after their last tournament.
In recent years, Myers Park Speech & Debate graduates have gone on to schools including Duke, UNC–Chapel Hill, Emory and NYU, among others.
Debate. Speech. Congress.
Debate
Two sides, one resolution, and a judge who has to be persuaded in the room. Research-heavy, argued in pairs or alone.
Speech
Written, memorised, or prepared on the spot, then performed. Where a student learns what a room does when you hold it.
Congress
Students simulate a legislative chamber: writing legislation, debating bills and resolutions, and delivering persuasive speeches.
For parents
Joining the team for 2026–27.
Registration is completed online. Annual dues are $350 per student. Financial assistance is available for families who need it.
Registration
Register for 2026–27
- Annual dues
- $350
- Part-way through?
- Save & resume
Already started? Resume registration