‘I expect to win’: Debate coach leads Vancouver teams to top honours at Stanford and Harvard competitions

World-beating debate coach Ben Hagwood has only been in Canada for a few years, but he already sounds like a veteran Canuck.

His only big complaint about living in Metro Vancouver is the glacial federal bureaucracy that has left him waiting for nine months to renew his work visa. Oh, and the constant rain.

Fed up and frustrated with Ottawa? Complaining about the weather? Might as well sign him up for Canadian citizenship.

But Hagwood didn’t come here to argue. He came to teach students how to do it — and win.

Hagwood was recruited by Vancouver’s BL Debate Academy to be their curriculum leader and head coach in 2020, teaching kids from Grade 4 to 11 reasoning, research and public-speaking skills.