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Vancouver Debate Academy

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Vancouver Debate Academy

Vancouver Debate Academy's mission is to train students to think critically about their world and ad

10/07/2026

The new debate season continued with a busy weekend for VDA, as our students competed across three major tournaments — the Yale Invitational, Jack Howe Memorial Tournament, and Marist Ivy Street Invitational.

Facing strong competition from across North America, VDA debaters demonstrated strong preparation, composure, and adaptability across multiple formats. The weekend brought a number of impressive results, including multiple elimination-round appearances and strong speaker rankings.

At the Yale Invitational, VDA’s Worlds Schools team VDA JWLX, consisting of Karina Lam, Branca Xiao, Sophia Jia, and Charlene Wang, placed 20th overall in the team rankings. In the individual speaker standings, Cici Xu placed 15th overall, while Kalan Xie placed 29th.

At the Jack Howe Memorial Tournament, Joshua Zhou and Flora Tu delivered a strong performance in the Public Forum division, advancing to the Double Octofinals. Joshua also earned an impressive 25th-place speaker ranking in a competitive field.

Meanwhile, at the Marist Ivy Street Invitational, VDA debaters Gavin Zhao and Timothy Volkov advanced to the Quarterfinals, placing them among the teams that made a deep run into the elimination rounds. Timothy also finished 23rd in the speaker rankings.

Across the three tournaments, these results reflect not only competitive success, but also the continued development of VDA students as confident and adaptable debaters. From strong preliminary-round performances to advancing deep into elimination rounds, our students continue to build the skills and experience needed to compete at a high level.

These achievements are the result of consistent preparation, dedicated coaching, and the students’ willingness to learn from every round. With the season still in its early stages, there is plenty more to come from this group.

Congratulations to all of our VDA debaters on an outstanding weekend of competition! We are proud of their hard work, perseverance, and sportsmanship, and we look forward to seeing them continue to grow and achieve even greater results in the tournaments ahead.

Let’s go VDA!!!

09/20/2026

FROM VDA’S CLASSROOMS TO THE WORLD STAGE

Congratulations to VDA Competitive Coach Sajid!
World Debate Champion • 2022

Appointed Head Coach of Team China
World Schools Debating Championships • 2027

International Experience in VDA’s Competitive Classes

At VDA, our students have the opportunity to learn from coaches with experience at the highest levels of competitive debate. As both a world champion debater and a national-team coach, Sajid brings valuable perspectives from competing and coaching internationally to the students he teaches.

We are proud to celebrate his appointment to Team China for WSDC 2027.

National Team Coaching Experience

🇨🇳 Team China
Head Coach | WSDC 2027

🇶🇦 Team Qatar
Coach | WSDC 2023–2025
Semi-Finals — 2024
PDO — 2023

🇧🇩 Team Bangladesh
Coach | WSDC 2018–2019
Quarter-Finals — 2018
Octo-Finals — 2019

Proud to have Sajid on the VDA coaching team. Wishing him and Team China every success at WSDC 2027!

09/14/2026

VDA wins top awards at University of Kentucky NSDA season opener

Dozens of the best teams in North America converged at this tournament for a grueling 3 day test of critical thinking, persuasion and endurance in the first tournament of the new season. Despite the fierce competition our VDA team rose above the rest and achieved exceptional results.

VDA, competing in the Worlds Schools debate category, was the 5th best team in the entire tournament in the preliminary stage doing well enough to skip the Octofinals entirely and jump straight to the quarterfinals. This was an unbelievable showing given the team, made up of Sophia Jia, Karina Lam, Branca Xiao and Charlene Wang, had only done a single tournament before. The second-comers have now consecutively broken records coming off an octofinals run in their previous tournament. Special shoutouts to Karina Lam and Sophia Jia that became the 5th and 8th best speakers respectively in the entire field of over a hundred students. These achievements were the product of the exceptional talent, dedication and work ethic of the team for whom this is only the beginning. The future of VDA looks bright as the meteoric rise of our advanced class team continues to shock everyone and we‘re sure the future is only up with even grander achievements to come.

08/12/2026

VDA Welcomes Bobo Wong as Director of Debate

07/07/2026

”Calling Chinese Canadian youth and parents in BC!

The Doan Lab at the BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute is looking for participants to help evaluate MyHEARTSMAP-C, a culturally adapted mental health self-assessment tool for Chinese Canadian youth available in English, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese.

If you are a Chinese Canadian youth aged 10–17 and/or the parent/guardian of a youth aged 10–17 living in BC, you may be eligible to participate.

See details above or contact [email protected] to learn more!“

06/02/2026

🎉 Congratulations to 8 VDA debaters for their outstanding achievements in the NSDA Honor Society in May!
In May, several VDA debaters earned new certifications within the National Speech & Debate Association Honor Society. These honors not only recognize competitive success, but also reflect their continued commitment and growth in critical thinking, public speaking, and academic development.
🏅 May Honor Results:
• Merit × 6
• Honor × 2
Behind each honor medal are countless hours of practice, reflection, competition, and growth. Through speeches, preparation, and challenging themselves in rounds, these students continue to strengthen their communication skills and critical thinking abilities.
Congratulations to all the debaters who received these recognitions! We also extend our sincere thanks to our coaching team for their dedicated guidance, and to parents for their ongoing support and encouragement. We look forward to seeing even more VDA students on the NSDA Honor Roll in the future! 👏

05/19/2026

VDA Wins Top Awards at Vancouver World Schools Debating Championship

The Vancouver WSDC brought together 50 of the world’s most elite debate teams last weekend for a grueling test of logic and persuasion. Amidst fierce international competition, VDA debaters delivered a truly unforgettable performance, succeeding across both the Open and U-16 Junior divisions.

Leading the charge in Open World Schools Debate, VDA secured three separate octofinalist slots, making up 40 percent of the total elimination round field. The teams of Anthony Fuliu, Luella Zhang, Ryan Zhang, Sylvia Xie, and Sylvia Zhu; Branca Xiao, Charlene Wang, Karina Lam, and Sophia Jia; and Bella Lent, Jerry Yang, Kalan Xie, and Matthew Yip all advanced to the elimination rounds. Coach Bishal Podder was effusive in his praise, particularly for the young squads. “We had two young teams that were eligible for the Junior break but broke in the Open category, which showed their ability to take on far more experienced teams,” he said. A special shoutout went to the Pre-Advanced class team of Charlene, Branca, Sophia, and Karina, whom Coach Bishal called out for “breaking records to break open in their first tournament, which was so insane to watch. They were four-for-four at one point. So inspiring!”

In the U-16 Junior World Schools Debate, VDA’s future stars continued the momentum, with the team of Annie Li, Darren Dou, Jessica Wang, and Susu Ye powering through to the semifinals. Karina Lam also earned an individual honor as the Tenth Speaker in the competition. Reflecting on the entire weekend’s work, Coach Bishal noted, “We are so happy with how our teams did this year! One experienced team dominated the in-rounds with a perfect 5-0 win record, an unbelievable feat for such a competitive international tournament,” adding that the Junior break from Annie, Jessica, Darren, and Susu “goes to further show that the future is so promising!” Congratulations to all VDA debaters on an historic weekend.

05/11/2026

🌷Happy Mother’s Day🌷

Thank you to every mother
for your endless support, encouragement, and love throughout your child’s journey of growth.

Through your patience, listening, and constant belief in them,
children learn to speak with confidence, think critically, and grow into strong communicators.
Behind many successful debaters
is a mother who always believed in them ❤️

Vancouver Debate Academy
wishes all mothers a joyful and beautiful Mother’s Day 💐

04/28/2026

🎓 VDA Debate Summer Camp Registration Is Now Open

📅 Each camp runs for 2 weeks (Monday–Friday)
📍 In-person & online classes available

Debate is about much more than simply “learning how to speak.” It helps students develop the ability to:

✔ Express ideas logically instead of speaking without structure
✔ Form opinions and think critically instead of only agreeing or staying silent
✔ Collaborate effectively in a team instead of passively following others
✔ Grow from “afraid to speak” to “confidently expressing themselves”

Before joining, many students:
— feel nervous about speaking
— struggle to organize their thoughts
— don’t know what to say

After just two weeks, many are able to:
— clearly explain their ideas
— speak with confidence
— and even begin to truly enjoy debating

⚠️ 10% Early Bird Discount ends May 6

For more information about class schedules, coaches, tournament opportunities, and more, feel free to contact us.

☎️ 604-366-6269

04/21/2026

We are incredibly proud to celebrate an outstanding achievement by one of our students, Finn Ye, who has earned Premier Distinction, the highest honor awarded by the National Speech & Debate Association (NSDA) Honor Society.

Fewer than 3% of NSDA members reach this level before graduation, making this recognition a true testament to Finn’s dedication, perseverance, and excellence in speech and debate.

Behind this milestone are hundreds of hours of preparation, practice, and competition—each round contributing to the development of not only exceptional communication skills, but also leadership, critical thinking, and resilience.

At Vancouver Debate Academy, we are honored to be part of Finn’s journey and growth.

Please join us in congratulating Finn Ye on this remarkable accomplishment!

Address

2445 W41st Avenue
Vancouver, BC
V6M2A5

Opening Hours

Monday	10am - 8:30pm
Tuesday	10am - 8:30pm
Wednesday	10am - 8:30pm
Thursday	10am - 8:30pm
Friday	10am - 8:30pm
Saturday	9:30am - 6:30pm
Sunday	9:30am - 8pm

Telephone

+16043666269

Website

http://vancouverdebate.ca/

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