BAY RIDGE – THE NATIONAL SPEECH & Debate Association is honoring Poly Prep Country Day School’s Sohail Jouya as the 2026 District Coach of the Year, an award given annually to one coach in the New York City District who exhibits outstanding leadership and commitment to debate, the association announced on Thursday.
Jouya has been coaching competitive debate for over 15 years on the high school and college levels, and has worked for debate institutes at the University of Texas, UC-Berkeley, Dartmouth and Harvard. He currently serves on the National Debate Coaches Association Executive Board.
At the collegiate level, he has coached high-scoring competitors at the National Debate Tournament and the Cross-Examination Debate Association tournament. Additionally, he coached National Parliamentary Debate Association and National Forensic Association Lincoln-Douglas Debate champions.
At the high school level, he has coached several competitors in the Tournament of Champions, the NSDA National Speech & Debate Tournament, and National Catholic Forensic League Grand Nationals.
According to the association, studies show that students who participate in speech and debate experience a number of academic benefits, including improved communication skills, reading test scores, analytic thinking and self-esteem.
Jouya is eligible to receive the National Coach of the Year award at the 2026 National Speech & Debate Tournament, which will be held in Richmond, Virginia, this June 14-19.
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