Debate adviser Peter Redmond was ecstatic as he described Richard Shmikler and the future of debate following the new coach’s entrance.

According to captain junior Dotan Appelbaum, the club will introduce new  coach Richard Shmikler, recent Macalester graduate and past high school debater.

“The coach that’s been at SLP for four to five years is planning on moving to the East Coast so he resigned as coach and helped the school find a replacement,” Appelbaum said. “The new coach is a SLP alumni who in his senior year got second place at two national championship tournaments and at Minnesota State Tournament.”

Redmond said the transition to a new coach will not be difficult for the older students on the team even though the debate style will change.

Appelbaum said he feels debate is lucky to have Shmikler joining the team this year.

“National Circuit debate evolves very rapidly, and we now have a coach who single-handedly shaped much of the stylistic variations that you currently see in Lincoln-Douglas Debate on a national level,” Appelbaum said.

The team has excelled in the past and hopes to continue that trend with the presence of the new coach, according to Redmond.

“In the last 10 years, we had three of the top debaters in the country, literally in the country. Shmikler was second in the nation,” Redmond said. “In the last decade we’ve had a small but very, very powerful team.”

Having a young coach provides an advantage to the club, according to Appelbaum.

“(Younger coaches) have fresher ideas about debate since they were competing in high school only a couple years ago,” Appelbaum said. “It’s really great that he’s joining us.”

The next practice takes place Sept. 28 after school in B322.