Welcome

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

Location

Our first, middle school debate tournament of the 2019-2020 season will be held on Saturday, October 5th. Public Forum debate will be held at In-Tech Academy in The Bronx, and Parliamentary debate will be held at PS161 in Manhattan.

Registration

Registration opens at 9:00 am on Sunday, September 1st and closes at 5:00 pm on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Check-in will open at 8:00 am on Saturday, October 5, 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.

We will offer three divisions in Parliamentary: Beginners, Novice, 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.

3. The Open division is for debaters with some experience.

Topics

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

The JV and Varsity Public Forum divisions will debate the resolution "Resolved: The European Union should join the Belt and Road Initiative." 

The Parliamentary topics will be:

• This House would require metal detectors in schools.

• This House would require equal pay for male and female athletes.

• This House supports religious and philosophical exemptions for vaccines.

Judge Obligations

Please, provide one judge for every two teams.

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.