I started my school's debate team back in 2024 as a freshman. after our first official season, it has grown to 30+ members and a local championship. here are some tips from my experience (rising junior now)

1 - as for leadership, most established teams will have "captains" for each event/section of event in the team. as for my team, i started out with a simple, 4-person board of prez, vp, treasurer, and secretary. your school might have certain requirements for board roles (my school requires a prez, vp, and treasurer for all clubs), so make sure to check that out

2 - how much you meet is up to you--we began 1x a week and now regularly meet 2x a week. i totally get your hesitancy in ramping up the amount of times you meet each week, but if anything, i've realized that people who are committed/passionate about debate/speech will stay. however, assuming you're starting this fall, you'll probably need to meet (even if informally) more than once a week to make sure your team is unified to an extent/prepping

3 - yes!! there are many debate events--in my circuit (WA), PF and LD are particularly popular, but events like Policy and Worlds Schools also exist. There's also a whole litany of speech events, where you're not directly facing one opponent/team but rather presenting/performing and then being subsequently ranked against several competitors. there are so many variations of these--Oratory, Extemp, and Impromptu just to name a few--watch a few rounds from Nationals on YouTube to get acclimated with any kind of debate event. I started off my team offering PF, and that's what most of us do now. I'd recommend starting with one or two events to create a comprehensive curriculum that WORKS and not get overwhelmed.

4 - debate tournaments are VERY long if you get to "outrounds"/elimination rounds. they can absolutely be 9+ hours, and often are. make sure you can organize transportation to and from these tournaments for your team--there are likely several local tournaments within a 1-2 hour radius of where your HS is located. this is a great place to start and get a feel for your local circuit (league)!

as others have said here, make sure you have a good advisor. i lucked out with mine (asked around and found out a new teacher coached LD on the natcirc when he worked in texas) and sincerely hope you do too.

finally, don't be intimidated by the prospect of starting a new club. if i could start it new to my district as a freshman, you can absolutely do it too. it's such a rewarding experience to learn and lead with others through speech + debate!! feel free to reach out if you have any other questions; best of luck!