About Rachel Shipley

I was just six years old when I was introduced to the world of speech and debate. For six years, I followed my older siblings around and watched as many debate rounds as I could. After I turned 12, I spent the next six years competing in Stoa tournaments. In total, I’ve attended close to 150 Stoa tournaments and competed in nine events: Team Policy Debate, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Parliamentary Debate, Apologetics, Mars Hill, Extemporaneous, Impromptu, Original Oratory, and Slam Poetry.

Throughout my competition years, I worked incredibly hard, and God blessed my efforts in amazing ways. I won Team Policy Debate 10 times, Parliamentary Debate 5 times, and each of my speech events at least twice. In my senior year, I won the Tournament Champion award seven times and finished the season as a National Finalist in Team Policy Debate, Apologetics, Extemporaneous, and Impromptu.

After twelve years, I’m still not done with the world of speech and debate! Now, as a coach, I want to help train up future generations of speech and debaters in the art of communication. Over my years of competition, I learned a great deal about how to be not only a skilled debater, but also an honorable competitor. It's now my goal to share that experience with others.

I don’t just want to be your coach—I want to be your mentor. I believe in tailoring my coaching to each individual student, working with their unique strengths and weaknesses. My philosophy is to meet students where they are and to encourage and equip them to become the best debaters they can possibly be. My hope and prayer is that God would be glorified through all that I do and that I would always point others to Him.

From crafting debate cases to perfecting speeches to critiquing rounds, I’m happy to do it all. Still interested in working with me? Then let’s get to work!