Welcome

On behalf of the New York City Urban Debate League (NYCUDL), welcome!

Location

Our first high school debate tournament of the 2019-2020 season will be held on Saturday, October 12th, at Beacon High School, located at 522 W. 44th Street.

Registration

Registration closes at 5:00 pm on Monday, October 7th.

Check-in will open at 8:00 am on Saturday, October 12th, the day of the tournament. Check-in will close at 9:00 am. You must check-in in person to compete at the tournament.

Permission Slips

Each debater must fill out a permission slip to debate. The high school form is here. The middle school form is here. A list of students who have completed permission slips is here. Please, check to make sure your students are on the list! If they're not, they won't be able to debate.

Divisions

We will offer four divisions in Public Forum: Beginners, Novice, Intermediate, and Open.

1. The Beginners division is for debaters who have never debated before and whose coaches are relatively new to the debates. Entry into the Beginners division must be approved by the tournament.

2. The Novice division is for debaters who have never debated before but whose coaches are not new to the debates.

3. The Intermediate division is for debaters who have debated for one year.

4. The Open division is for debaters who have debated for two or more years.

Topics

The Beginners and Novice Public Forum divisions will debate the resolution "Resolved: The United States federal government should end the death penalty."

The Intermediate and Open Forum divisions will debate the resolution "Resolved: The European Union should join the Belt and Road Initiative." 

Judge Obligations

Please provide one judge for every three teams. We will be e-balloting, so make sure your judges have linked Tabroom accounts.

Rules Changes

The NYCUDL will be using the National Speech and Debate Association's updated times for both high school and middle school Public Forum debate this year. Summary speeches and prep time are now three minutes.

Hospitality

Food and beverages will be provided for all competitors, coaches, and judges. Parents and other observers should plan to bring food or purchase it nearby.

For questions and comments, contact the tournament director at taylor@debate.nyc.