Spotlight on US Debaters Ben Kirsch ’21 and Zach Yusaf ‘22

This past year, Ben and Zach have continued their success, having earned Gold Bids at the University of Kentucky tournament in September, the New York City Invitational (Zach actually won this tournament outright with his sister, sophomore Zara Yusaf, an extraordinary accomplishment in itself), and then another win at Apple Valley with Ben. Winning a Varsity Public tournament, typically against a field of over 200 national circuit teams, is a highlight for any partnership in a season – winning two events places a team in the upper echelon of national debaters. These tournament wins were followed with 4 additional Gold Bids since Thanksgiving at Glenbrooks, Princeton, Blake, and most recently Sunvite this past weekend.

High School Public Forum debate, the most popular and competitive national format, demands intense preparation and time commitment, with tournaments virtually every weekend for top ranked national teams, typically lasting over 20 hours from Friday through Sunday. Ben and Zach have prioritized debate as a major activity during their Upper School career at Hackley.

According to Zach, “we both have the same level of commitment and spend hours on the phone or working on our cases throughout the tournament itself. We also really complement each other well and have a good partner dynamic, allowing us to be in sync during rounds so we know what to go for and what to emphasize.”

Ben added, “we’ve really worked on our speaking style and connecting with judges to make sure they understand our arguments rather than trying to win every point in a round. This has allowed us to be more successful and get deeper into tournaments.”

Ben and Zach, along with senior co-captain Ben Aybar and his partner Sid Shah, anchor Hackley’s growing Public Forum team under the leadership of new coach Chris Sheppard, who has already made his mark at Hackley in the short time he has been here.

Mr. Sheppard observed, “Our team leaders model core values at Hackley: offering unreserved effort, and united, we help one another. Ben and Zach have shown deep dedication not only to growing as debaters, but also to building an inclusive and collaborative team culture by working closely with our novice and junior-varsity debaters. This will be part of their legacy, alongside their impressive achievements at tournaments.” Indeed, Ben and Zach are the most successful regular season Public Forum team Hackley has produced in 10 years and they have their sights set on the Tournament of Champions in April.

I would simply add that Ben Kirsch and Zach Yusaf exemplify everything I love about debate at Hackley - while they compete at a high level and role model for the team what it takes to be successful debaters, just as importantly, they see themselves as part of a strong program and take seriously their responsibilities both to the school and the team overall. 

Steve Fitzpatrick
Director of Debate
Hackley School