Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the mission of Fortitude?
We are a group of parents each working on discipling our own children. Speech and debate is just one tool that we use to aid in that discipleship process. Through participation in speech and debate, we want our children to grow in these three areas: (1) faith, (2) character, and (3) forensic skills. Most important is growth in faith. Second, growth in character. And last, growth in forensic skills.
- What are the forensic events?
Platform Speeches: Platform speeches are informative, self-written, and memorized verbatim. These include Original Oratory, Persuasive, and Expository speeches. Original Oratory speeches are informational, Persuasive speeches present information and advocate for a course of action, and Expository speeches use visual aids to both show and tell informational topics.
Interpretive Speeches: Interpretive speeches are story-based speeches where a competitor takes a piece of literature, a play, a short-story, or even writes their own story and brings it to life by acting out all the people in the story. These can be funny or dramatic and events include Open Interpretation, Humorous Interpretation, Duo Interpretation (two competitors telling/acting the story together). These speeches are also memorized verbatim.
Limited Preparation Speeches: Limited Prep speeches are not pre-written or memorized. The “limited” time refers to the short period of time wherein a student has a set number of minutes to collect their thoughts during a tournament after receiving three speaking prompts. The limited prep events are: Extemporaneous, Apologetics, Mars Hill, and Impromptu. The topics for Apologetics and Mars Hill speeches are released by the league (Stoa) prior to the outset of each competition year, and students should research and prepare for the topics ahead of time. Apologetics topics give students an opportunity to grow in their understanding of facets of their Christian faith, and learn to explain them to others in a winsome and compassionate way. Mars Hill speeches take the sharing of one’s faith to a new level by asking students to take a piece of cultural significance (movies, books, plays, art, etc.) and use it as a starting point to share Biblical truth using the model that the apostle Paul gave in Acts 17. Please note that our club requires that students participate actively for one year in Apologetics before starting Mars Hill.
Wild Card Speeches: Wild Card speeches are presented for a limited time before being retired as an event. For the 2026-2027 school year, the Wild Card event is Slam Poetry: using a poem or a selection of poems, a speaker will convey a single theme through an expressionistic and engaging presentation that portrays the meaning of the poetry and the poems’ artistic language.
Team Policy Debate: Features two competitors going up against another two competitors debating a policy resolution. The resolution for the 2026-2027 competition year is: Resolved: The United States Federal Government should substantially reform its policy toward one or more countries in Central/South America. Students prepare cases for both sides. Evidence is highly valued in policy debate. Note: Currently, we are not offering coaching in Team Policy debate.
Lincoln Douglas Value Debate: Features one competitor going up against another competitor debating a value based resolution. There will be three resolutions for the year. The first resolution is: Resolved: In foreign policy, diplomacy is more effective than military intervention. The other two resolutions will be forthcoming. Logic and reasoning is valued highly alongside evidence. LD debate is recommended for ages 14+ but can be introduced earlier by request.
Parliamentary Debate (Parli): Features two competitors going up against another two competitors in a limited preparation style format. Students receive the resolution 20 minutes ahead of the speaking time. The resolutions can be policy, value, or fact based. Parli is recommended for 16+ but can be introduced earlier upon request.
- Who is eligible to participate?
Competitors shall be ages 12 through 18 on October 1 of the current season. We do not currently have a stand-alone juniors program, but we do allow younger siblings to watch, learn, and sometimes participate with a goal toward competition. Some tournaments will host a Junior Tournament, and for that reason do accept junior level competitors who are BOTH (1) aged 9 by October 1 of the current season, and (2) have an older sibling aged 12 or above who is also a part of our club in that school year. Families should note that we do prioritize investing more heavily in our students aged 12 and up.
All families need to read and agree with the Fortitude Statement of Faith. Our league is exclusively for independently home schooled students. Students participating in club time and tournaments cannot be enrolled in a charter school or public school. In addition, all families need to be members of our league, Stoa.
- What are the costs?
There are several costs to consider: Club fees — $125/family per year, payable on the first week of club. This covers insurance, materials, and other club overhead. Stoa registration cost — see the Stoa website for current pricing. Tournament costs — local tournaments have nominal entry fees; larger costs include travel to out-of-town tournaments. Many tournaments offer host housing to help with lodging costs. Tournament attire — professional attire is required for competitors. Private coaching/camps (optional) — costs vary widely.
- What are the expectations for families?
Active Parent Participation: Our club is a collaborative partnership of parents working together to disciple our children. We do not approach the coaching of speech and debate as “done by the professionals,” but see our co-labor together as iron sharpening iron. For this reason, we expect each family to provide at least one parent coach each week to be actively involved in giving constructive feedback and guidance. Parents who cannot come on a given week may send a grandparent or other adult to fill in, but our club is not a drop-off event.
Weekly Attendance and Work at Home: It is our goal that students and parents attend together each week. Since our weekly club time is used for students to present their work and receive feedback, students should come to club ready to focus on improving speech and debate skills. This means preparing speeches and debate cases at home, and coming ready to polish skills at club.
Participation in Tournaments: Because the primary vehicle we have to motivate students is the competition of tournaments, we expect each student to compete in a minimum of two tournaments during the season.
Serving at Our Local Tournament: Putting on a local tournament takes a small army and it blesses not only our students but the greater Stoa community. For this reason, we require all hands on deck from our club families when we host a local tournament.
Agreement with Statement of Faith and Registration with the Stoa League: All club families need to signify their agreement with our Fortitude Statement of Faith upon registration and all families need to separately register for the Stoa league.
- How is club meeting time structured?
We meet every Tuesday during the school year (with a few breaks for holidays, etc.) at Trinity Community Church, from 4:00–8:45 p.m.
- 4:00–6:00 — Speech events
- 6:00–6:30 — BYO Dinner (no kitchen access)
- 6:30–7:00 — Focus on Apologetics
- 7:00–8:45 — Lincoln Douglas debate
Parents should plan to be present and plan to help with coaching whenever their student is there. Because our club is parent led and our goal is discipleship, parent participation is expected even if your student can drive themselves. Younger siblings are permitted to attend alongside their parents, but no childcare is provided and children should not be left unattended. When students are not presenting, they should be listening and giving constructive feedback to others. This schedule is subject to change as determined by the needs of the club.