About Us

Founded in 2009, the Orange County Debate League (OCDL) is an independent, non-profit organization of debaters comprised of students and faculty from middle schools in and around the Orange County area. 

Mission Statement:

"To promote academic and personal growth in local youth through the sport of debate."

In the OCDL, students compete in regular tournaments throughout the school year where they are eligible to earn awards as individuals, as a team, and as a school. In addition, league administrators and coaches offer educational workshops and several learning opportunities throughout the year. We welcome participation from all schools dedicated to student achievement in the fields of argument and critical thinking. 

Connect with our Board

President

Mark Hobbs

Mark is originally from England. He moved to the United States in the late 70’s and eventually graduated from UCLA with a degree in biology. For nearly 20 years, he taught science (biology, geology, chemistry, and physics) at the middle and high school level. In addition to his work with the OCDL, he also served as president OC Science and Engineering Fair. Today, Mark owns and operates his own debate academy.

Mark joined the OCDL Board of Directors in 2016 with hopes of bringing his pedagogical knowledge in the areas of critical thinking to serve the students of the league.

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Vice president

Josh Thimons

Josh is a Debate Teacher and Coach for Samueli Academy and Lincoln Green Debate Society.  He joined the OCDL Board in 2022.  He holds a bachelors degree in Economics and an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.  After a twenty year career in finance, he decided to become a teacher.  He earned a Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of Southern California and holds California teaching credentials in mathematics.  He has coached debate for the last six years.

Josh is passionate about debate because of its ability to empower young students to find their voices to become leaders of tomorrow, capable of making the world a more equitable one.

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Treasurer

Ben Hughes

Ben has been with the OCDL since its creation in 2009. He earned his bachelor degree at Claremont McKenna College, earned his Masters degree at San Diego State University and holds clear California teaching credentials in language arts and social studies as well as a preliminary administrative services credential.

When he’s not teaching speech and debate or volunteering with the OCDL, Ben enjoys spending time with his family and friends, hiking, snowboarding and watching movies.

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Secretary

Channing Lee

Channing has been an active member of the league since 2011, first as a debater, then a judge, judge trainer, Director of Judging, and now Secretary. Channing has taught debate at various locations and coached her own team of middle school debaters while in high school. She enjoys volunteering her time with the board to give back to the debate community. She graduated from Georgetown University with a BSFS in International Politics and currently works in Washington, DC.

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Director of Judging

Linda Huang

Linda is a former OCDL debate parent. She joined the Board with an interest in enhancing the league’s judging processes. Having competed on the speech and debate team in high school, Linda rediscovered the profound impact of debate on personal growth watching her son debate in the OCDL during middle school.  This inspired her to give back to the league, aiming to make judging more consistent and judge training more accessible via both in-person and online platforms.
 
Professionally, Linda is a full-time Ophthalmologist at Kaiser Permanente, where she has served as Department Chief. She brings her leadership experience and commitment to excellence to her position on the OCDL Board. Linda has a passion for serving her community and volunteers for several programs in both youth mentorship and medicine.
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Director of Tabulations

Rebecca Starbeck

Rebecca is passionate about helping students grow in their communication skills and their critical thinking ability. With over two decades of experience as a coach and instructor, her classes are filled with laughter, encouragement, and creative challenges. She currently coaches the FIRE Debate Team and teaches classes at Pacific Coast Learning Center in Westminster.

Over the years, Rebecca has been active in several forensic leagues and has coached multiple national speech and debate champions. She has also been deeply involved in Mock Trial, guiding Orange County teams to four consecutive championships and was awarded Constitutional Rights Foundation of Orange County’s 2015 Teacher Coach of the Year.

In her spare time, Rebecca enjoys doing a multitude of creative projects, but she especially enjoys creating artistic beadwork projects. She is an ongoing student in an Irvine Valley College bead-weaving class.

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Board Director

Anthony Schneider

Anthony grew up in the Palm Springs area and began participating in debate as a 7th grader in 2006. He has since always played an active role in the debate community. While attending college for business he volunteered at local debate events until founding a nonprofit debate program of his own called NextGen Debate. Anthony is known for his organizational agility, business acumen, and leading sub committees who develop and maintain valuable debate resources like the Golden Speaker Rubric.

Anthony joined the OCDL board to help bring the debate community closer together. In addition to debate, he is passionate about technology and discovering new ways to modernize the debate experience. 

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Board Director

Olivia Thimons

Olivia grew up in Corona Del Mar, and she started debating when she was in 4th grade. She is a debate club captain at St. Margaret’s Episcolpal School, and she was previously the debate captain at her middle school, The Pegasus School. Olivia is the Tabulation Administrator for the OCDL. She joined the OCDL board because she wants to give back to the community that helped her grow as a person and independent thinker. Debate helped her find her voice, and she hopes to give other students the chance to be empowered in that way. Outside of debate, she is an avid singer and actress, both on the stage and on screen. Additionally, Olivia loves running and skiing, and she is an intern at the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office.

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Board Director

Ananya Devkirti

Ananya is a high school student who began competing in debate in 6th grade. She currently serves as co-president of her school’s debate team at Sage Hill and works as an assistant instructor at New England Academy, where she helps younger students develop their public speaking and critical thinking skills.
 
Ananya joined the OCDL Board to give back to the league that helped her grow into a more confident communicator and leader. She is especially interested in making judge training more consistent and developing clearer resources for new judges.
 
Outside of debate, Ananya is passionate about mental health and neuroscience and is involved in several research and outreach programs focused on adolescent wellness and brain development.
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Member Schools

  • ACLA Debate
  • Brookhurst Middle 
  • Buena Park Middle 
  • Cogito Debate 
  • Community Roots Academy
  • Ensign Intermediate School 
  • Fairmont Anaheim Hills 
  • Fairmont Historic Anaheim
  • Fairmont North Tustin
  • Fairmont San Juan Capistrano
  • Fire and Speech Debate
  • Foothill Country Day School
  • Gordon H Beatty Middle 
  • Heritage Oak Private Education 
  • Institute of Knowledge 
  • Islamic Community Center of Claremont 
  • Lincoln Green Debate Society
  • MacAuliffe-Oak Joint Program
  • New England Academy
  • Pegasus School  
  • Rowland Unified 
  • Samueli Academy
  • St Pius Catholic School