Parliamentary Debate Tournaments
Yale Invitational, September 29-October 1, 2023
The Yale Invitational in New Haven is the premier high school debate and speech event in Connecticut attracting approximately 2000 students from all over the country. The Parliamentary division was added in 2009 and has grown steadily. It has the added advantage of being close by for CDA members. Registration and additional information can be found on the tabroom.com website.
Vassar College Invitational, late October/early November
Vassar College held it's first parliamentary style tournament for high school students in 2016, and we expect they will do so again this year. Registration and additional information can be found on the tabroom.com website when it becomes available.
Ivy League Championship, Columbia University, late February/early March
Columbia held it's first parliamentary style tournament for high school students in 2018, and we expect they will do so again this year. Registration and additional information can be found on the tabroom.com website when it becomes available.
Yale Rollin G. Osterweis Tournament, April
The Osterweis,founded in 1980, is probably the oldest high school Parliamentary debate tournament in the country. Named after a former Yale debate coach, it is a free tournament and is judged primarily by Yale debaters. The tournament is held in April and the exact date is usually announced in February.
Harvard World Schools Tournament, March
Harvard has held a World Schools format parliamentary debate tournament for the past three years in early March. Tournament information has been posted on tabroom, see Harvard College World Schools Invitational.
World Schools format is a variant of parliamentary debate with teams of 3-5 students and a mix of prepared topic and impromptu rounds. All on a team may work on case preparation, but only 3 speak during the round. For more information about World Schools format, see Introduction to World Schools Debate on the National Speech and Debate Association website.
McGill University Parliamentary Tournaments
The McGill Debating Union at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, has run two tournaments for high school debaters in past years. The Fall tournament towards the end of October has used the British Parli format, in which 4, two-person teams compete in each round. The second, in early February, has used Canadian Parliamentary format, which is similar to APDA format. They have a website, McGill Debating Union, and can also be found on Facebook.
For more information on British Parliamentary format, there is a useful article under British Parliamentary Style on Wikipedia. A google search on "british parliamenary debate" yields a number of downloadable files for reference.
Other Debate Competitions
International Public Policy Forum
The Brewer Foundation and New York University sponsor the International Public Policy Forum, a mixed written/oral debate competition. Student teams of three or more submit a qualifying essay arguing for or against the year's topic. Sixty-four teams are selected and compete in three elimination rounds where arguments and rebuttals are presented in written form. The final 8 teams receive a free trip to New York to compete in person. This is an excellent event for students who want to engage in research and long-form writing as well as debate. For more information see International Public Policy Forum .
Coolidge Foundation
The Coolidge Foundation holds a nation-wide series of qualifying tournaments each year leading to The Coolidge Cup championship debates around the Fourth of July in Plymouth, Vermont. For more information see the Coolidge Foundation website.
Reagan Foundation
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute holds the Great Communicator Debate Series each year. A nation-wide series of qualifying tournaments lead to finals at the Reagan Foundation in California. For more information see Reagan Foundation website.
Other Leagues
The National Parliamentary Debate League
The NPDL is an umbrella organization sponsoring college-format parliamentary debate for high school debaters across the country. Membership is free. They hold a Fall online tournament in October, and an annual Tournament of Champions in April. Debaters qualify for the Tournament of Champions by earning points based on their performance at parliamentary format tournaments approved by the NPDL. For more information, see the NPDL website.
New York Parliamentary Debate League
The NYPDL is a high school debate league founded and run by the students. They hold number of tournaments during the year using APDA format both online and at locations primarily in New York City. For more information see the NYPDL website.
East Coast High School Public Debate Program
The East Coast High School Public Debate Program is sponsored by the English Speaking Union and runs a number of tournaments during the year. These lead to a national championship tournament usually held in April.
The league uses the High School Public Debate Program format, a parliamentary style developed by John Meany at Claremont-McKenna College.
Debating Association of New England Independent Schools
DANEIS is a long-standing league of private schools across New England. They have an active program of tournaments during the year. For more information see the DANEIS website.