Coaches
2025-2026

Kyle Hietala
Program Director & Head Coach; Executive Director, PASDC; Head Coach, Platform Speech

Kyle is in his 4th year as the Program Director & Head Coach. He is one of the youngest coaches in the country to hold a Diamond from the National Speech and Debate Association, and was recognized as the 2022 California Coast District Volunteer of The Year and 2024 Coach of the Year, and was elected to the NSDA California Coast District Committee in 2025. Kyle was a 2x State Champion in LD and also competed in Original Oratory. At Yale University, Kyle was a National Semifinalist and 3rd Team of The Year in 2017 in APDA, and the North American (NorthAms) Champion in 2017. Kyle previously coached at the St. Luke’s School, The Spence School, and Sidwell Friends School. He is also the President of the National Parliamentary Debate League (NPDL), President of the California Coast Forensic League (CFL), and a Board Member of the California High School Speech Association (CHSSA). ​

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Erin Ritchie
Assistant Program Director; Head of Novice Development; Head Coach, Interpretation Speech

​Erin is in her 6th season of coaching debate and her 2nd year at Paly. In her first year, Erin led a program welcoming the largest-ever novice class in the program's history, which helped her to earn her first Diamond from the National Speech & Debate Association. In her high school era, Erin competed in Public Forum, Dramatic Interpretation (DI), Duo, Poetry, Prose, and Congress. She qualified to Nationals three times in DI and Congress, octo-finaled at Nationals in Prose, finaled three times at the Oregon State Championship in DI and Prose, and captained her speech team. In college, she helped to found the BYU Speech & Debate team while studying English Education and History. Erin earned her Master’s in Education from Stanford University.  She is the Vice President of Speech for the California Coast Forensic League. She loves to write, hike, and care for her pet rabbit, Thor.

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Adrian Youngquist '18
Head Coach, Lincoln-Douglas Debate

The most tenured coach on staff, Adrian Youngquist leads the Lincoln-Douglas debate team, entering their 8th season of coaching. A Paly HS alum,  Adrian was highly successful in competitive LD and has since coached many champion debaters for the program.  Among the best framework and cross-examination coaches in the nation, they lead both intensive novice workshops and advanced varsity practices, mentoring debaters of all skill levels. Adrian is also among the best competitive bridge players in the world, holding the title of 2019 World Champion in the Youth Open. ​​​

Benjamin Grimes '23
Head Coach, Congressional Debate

As a former competitor and captain of Paly Congressional Debate, Benji accumulated  7+ TOC bids, finaled at NSDA Nationals, Princeton, and Stanford, reached Semis at TOC, and broke to out rounds at numerous national tournaments including Harvard, Yale, and the MLK Invitational. As a coach, Benji strongly believes in helping debaters find their own unique styles, adapting to rounds to make round-winning speeches no matter when you speak, and integrating rhetoric and wit to make rounds more fun for everybody. He is a junior at Brandeis and is active in American Parliamentary Debate (APDA).

Claire Beamer
Head Coach, Public Forum Debate

Claire Beamer is the Head Coach of Public Forum. She is a senior at Stanford, where she plans to major in Mathematical and Computational Sciences. She competed in Public Forum Debate for four years at College Prep in Oakland, CA. She was a team captain for the last two of those years and attended many local and national tournaments. Throughout her career, she qualified to the TOC twice (accumulating 10 gold bids) and championed Presentation’s Nano Nagle Invitational, James Logan’s MLK Invitational, and the California Round Robin. Claire also has experience coaching debaters of all skill levels, from working one-on-one with middle schoolers, volunteering at a student-run debate camp, leading novice practices, and coaching at NSD’s summer camp after her senior year.

Ethem Gulcu
Head Coach, Extemporaneous Speaking

Ethem is a sophomore at Stanford University originally from the East Bay, where he captained Monte Vista High School's Extemporaneous Speaking team. During his competitive career, he broke to out rounds at the TOC, Cal, and MLK, and ended his career with a 5th place finish at NSDA nationals, making him the highest placing speaker from his school in a decade. As a coach, Ethem loves helping students blend sharp analysis with witty humor, and previously taught Monte Vista's speech and debate institute for four years. Outside of extemp, you'll find him frequenting Japantown SF, practicing the piano, and testing friendships with Mario Kart.

Max Renteria
Head Coach, Parliamentary Debate

Max is entering his 2nd year coaching Parli Debate at Paly. A graduate from Rice University with a degree in Managerial Economics. While in high school, Max was a multi-state qualifier in Policy debate and Congress. He also competed in LD and Extemp. Continuing debate in college, Max competed in NPDA parliamentary debate at Rice. He is the 2022 National Champion and 2024 National Runner Up. When not debating, Max enjoyed playing intramural sports like flag football and softball. As a new grad, Max enjoys trying new sports like ice skating and golf.​​​

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Casey Chen
Assistant Coach, Lincoln-Douglas Debate

Casey is a junior at Stanford University. In high school, he competed in Lincoln Douglas Debate and Informative Speaking at Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, CA. In his senior year, Casey placed 10th at the NSDA National Tournament and  made it to quarterfinals at the California State Tournament. Casey is best known for his lay appeal, combining strong argumentation with compelling delivery. He can't wait to share his love of speech and debate with Paly this year.

Collin Goel
Assistant Coach, World Schools Debate

Collin is a sophomore at Cal majoring in Biology and Political Science. In high school, he competed in the NPDL with Menlo-Atherton, qualifying to TOC three times and peaking at rank #1. In college, he’s a member of Berkeley’s British Parliamentary team. In addition to competing, he’s run workshops for Japanese exchange students and participated in a public debate at a medical research conference. Outside of debate, you’ll find him spending time with friends, rock climbing, and playing guitar.

Jon Joey "JJ" Telebrico
Assistant Coach, Parliamentary Debate

Jon Joey “JJ” Telebrico was previously Director of Debate at Crystal Springs Uplands School, where he coached 40+ middle and upper school students to top finishes including a California State Championship, National Parliamentary Debate Invitational Semifinal, and multiple NPDL-TOC qualifiers. Previously, as Assistant Debate Coach at Archbishop Mitty High School, his students won the 2021 California State Championship in Parliamentary Debate and ranked in the top 15 nationally. JJ has also contributed nationally as a topic writer and committee member for the National Parliamentary Debate League, Coast Forensic League, and the University of Kentucky TOC Congressional Debate Board. Beyond coaching, he has judged for the Washington Urban Debate League, taught debate and rhetoric to incarcerated youth through the Prison Education Project, and mentored hundreds of students through Model UN diplomacy and public speaking programs. He graduated from Claremont McKenna and is pursuing a Master’s in Philosophy & Technology at American University.

Kai Wildberger
Assistant Coach, Speech

A generational teacher, Kai is excited for his second year coaching speech and his first year coaching interp at Paly. As his high school team's vice president and speech captain, he competed in Program Oral Interpretation, Storytelling, Public Forum, and Parliamentary Debate. He competed at TOC once and Nationals thrice, and looks forward to returning in the future as a coach supporting his amazing students! He is a sophomore at UC Santa Cruz and spends time riding his bike, hiking, and swimming in the ocean.

Natalia Hopper '24
Assistant Coach, Lincoln-Douglas Debate

Natalia is in her second year at USC pursuing Aerospace Engineering. She was LD Team Captain during her senior year at Paly and loved cross-examination. Alongside LD, she also debated in Parli and World Schools with teammates for fun. Outside of helping with debate, Natalia spends most of her time leading configurations for USC’s AeroDesign Team, working out, and thrifting

Sophia Kim '24
Assistant Coach, Public Forum Debate
​Operations Manager

Sophia had a highly successful career in PF as part of PASD, and as Deputy Director, was an effective operational leader and visionary strategic thinker. Sophia supports the PF team, and also leads special projects and initiatives, such as building an alumni program and improving our financial planning processes. Sophia is a sophomore at Stanford University. ​

Yash Shetty '23
Assistant Coach, Public Forum Debate

 Yash is a junior at Boston University, majoring in computer science & economics. In high school, he competed in the Public Forum for four years as part of PASD. In his senior year, Yash earned 5 TOC bids and finaled at the California State Tournament. In college, he competes in parliamentary debate (APDA), recently finishing as the Novice National Champion. Outside of debate, Yash enjoys playing the guitar, exercising, and video games. ​​