Eligibility FAQs

The purpose of our tournament is to provide first- and second-year high school debaters with a national championship event.

We understand that different regions of the country have different definitions of "novice" and "JV" debate and that the quantity and quality of middle school debate varies widely from region-to-region. We are trying our best make our tournament as appealing as possible to as many schools as possible. We welcome feedback about how we might continue to refine policies for future iterations of the tournament.

New for 2024:

1. If a student debated at a single tournament in a school year, that school year does not count toward their eligibility.

2. A first year debater is defined as a debater in their first year of high school debate competition. If they debated at two or more high school tournaments prior to this current school year, they are no longer first year debaters.

3. A second year debater is defined as a debater in their second year of high school debate competition. If they debated at two or more high school tournaments prior to last season, they are not eligible for the second year division.

Please ask us if you have any questions or need to check on a specific scenario. We’d be much happier to discuss a specific situation in advance than to have to remove your competitor(s) from the tournament.

Debating in another type of debate (ex. PF to Policy or LD to PF) does count against eligibility. Competing in speech events only (Oratory, Extemp, etc.) does not.

Attending a summer institute does not impact eligibility.

Competing in middle school only divisions does not impact eligibility.