About Us

Evan Streams is the NYDL Tournament Director and the head coach at Birch Wathen Lenox and former head coach at The Dalton School. In 14 years of coaching, his students have won hundreds of awards including one world championship, two national championships, three state championships, and three NYDL championships in a row. As a debater, Evan was the Connecticut state champion. He believes strongly that debate must be focused on teaching enduring life skills in order to be valuable. When not debating, Evan is an avid hiker and reader, and enjoys comics and D&D. He holds a degree in philosophy from Columbia University.

Tim Lewis has been coaching for Blind Brook Middle and High School since 2018. His students have won awards at the New York Debate League championship, the Connecticut Debate Association championship, the New York Parliamentary Debate League championship, and the Tournament of Champions.  His students have debated in public forum, parliamentary, and extemporaneous debate styles. Prior to coaching at Blind Brook, he coached for the Kurt Hahn Expeditionary School and was Academic Director for the National High School Debate League of China. He also teaches AP US History and AP US Government & Politics at Blind Brook High School. Tim has a Bachelor's Degree in History from Bard College and a Masters Degree from Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Lucas began his forensics career in middle and high school at Loyola Blakefield, just north of his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland. At Loyola, home to a nationally ranked team, he competed in multiple events over his four years of high school at the local, state, and national level, including all NSDA ranked tournaments & the NFL and NCFL competitive circuits. He competed in nearly all speech categories as well as Public Forum and Lincoln Douglas debate. He consistently broke to quarter, semi, or final rounds of competition across the nation. He transitioned into coaching, judging, and working tab rooms for forensics tournaments in his spare time while earning his undergraduate degree at Adelphi University. Since coaching in New York, his students have found individual and team success, including winning the 2025 MSPDP NYC Championship, and they consistently place among the highest performing teams in the circuit. He is a devout believer that the skills of communication, efficient listening, and confident & compelling public speaking are the keys to a bountiful life. He continues to utilize these foundational skills he developed in his forensics days, and hopes to pass them on to future generations.  

Patrick is an accomplished debater with deep roots in the debate community. In high school, Patrick achieved extraordinary success. He won 14 debate tournaments and earned 43 individual awards. With his partner, he was ranked the top parliamentary debate team on the East Coast and the second-ranked team in the United States. He twice qualified to represent the U.S. at the World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championships, competing in Australia and South Africa. Patrick was also a leading member of the Westfield team that won the World Championship title in the International Public Policy Forum —a prestigious nine-month global competition that combines written and oral debate.   His other notable victories include championships at the Yale Invitational, the Vassar Invitational, the Loomis Varsity Debate Tournament, the Ridge Tournament, the Hackley Tournament, and the Northfield Mount Hermon Speaking Tournament. At Middlebury College, Patrick continued his success, serving three times as captain of the debate team and making out round appearances at many tournaments and representing his school at the Worlds University Debate Championship. He has taught and tutored debate for over nine years. He also organized and led a volunteer initiative providing weekly mentorship in debate and public speaking to Rohingya high school and Middle school students who had fled the genocide in Myanmar.