8 Top Speech and Debate Competitions for High School Students in the US
High-achieving high school students in Speech and Debate often want to push themselves to develop argumentation skills through discussion, deliver their personal message to an audience, and compete in events that evaluate their speaking skills. Extracurricular speech and debate competitions can be a way for high schoolers to demonstrate exceptional merit and earn prestigious awards on top of their academic success at their schools.
We have assembled a list of the 8 most prestigious, competitive, and respected speech and debate circuits/events that garner acclaim on the national, and international stage.
#8: UIL Speech State Tournament
Region: Texas
Circuit: UIL
Thousands of students from across the state of Texas compete each year in Cross-Examination Debate, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Congress, Extemporaneous Informative Speaking, Extemporaneous Persuasive Speaking, Prose Interpretation and Poetry Interpretation. Students must qualify from their district tournaments to compete within the UIL State Championship Tournament. Becoming finalist or semifinalist at the UIL is considered prestigious on the state level.
#7: NCFL Grand National Tournament
Region: National
Circuit: NCFL
The NCFL sponsors the annual Grand National Tournament on Memorial Day weekend, offering six speech events and four debate events. Competing students must be a member of an NCFL Local League. These leagues are geographically distributed across the United States. Each league develops its own qualification system for the national tournament. Some leagues use a point system while others hold a qualifying tournament. League quotas represent the maximum number of entries in each category that can advance to the Grand National Tournament from each local league. Becoming finalist or semifinalist at any event within the NCFL is considered nationally prestigious.
#6: California State Tournament
Region: California
Circuit: CHSSA
CHSSA sponsors 11 leagues in the state that host a variety of local speech and debate competitions as well as qualify students to attend the State Tournament. Becoming a finalist or semifinalist at the California State Tournament is met with a higher regard than other state-competitions, as the state breeds some of the most competitive speakers in the country every year.
#5: TFA State Tournament
Region: Texas
Circuit: TFA
The TFA Tournament Season runs from the last weekend in August through the second weekend in February. Students compete at tournaments throughout the season to earn points for the TFA State Tournament hosted in March. Becoming a finalist or semifinalist at TFA State is considered nationally prestigious, as Texas has the most competitive speech and debate competition within the country.
#4: TOC Bid Tournaments
Region: National
Circuit: Tournament of the Champions (TOC)
Tournament of Champion Bid Tournaments take place throughout the TOC competitive season, as a means to achieve TOC bids to compete at the annual Tournament of Champions tournament. These tournaments are held throughout the country in prestigious locations, such as Harvard and UT Austin, as well as providing an online option. Becoming a finalist or semifinalist at TOC bid tournaments is an ordeal of national prestige.
#3: National Individual Events Tournament of Champions
Region: National
Circuit: NIETOC
The NIETOC offers competition in Dramatic Interpretation, Humorous Interpretation, Duo Interpretation, Duet Acting, Original Oratory, Informative Speaking, Program of Oral Interpretation, and Extemporaneous Speaking. Champions in main events and the overall individual performer will receive scholarships. The NIETOC is designed to give competitors an amazing competitive experience, with its student-centered schedule, competitive costs and minimal judge requirements.
#2: National Speech and Debate Tournament
Region: National
Circuit: National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA)
The National Speech & Debate Tournament marks the capstone of speech and debate activities for more than 140,000 members across the country. The student competitors represent the best and brightest young people across the United States and the globe. The tournament is a moving reminder of how the skills students learn in speech and debate empower them to be changemakers, advocates, and future leaders of our world. Students qualify for the NSDA National Tournament from their local district circuits or the NSDA: Last Chance Qualifier. This is the most famous and influential competition within the United States, where outrounds are streamed live.
#1: JW Patterson Tournament of Champions
Region: National
Circuit: Tournament of Champions (TOC)
The annual JW Patterson Tournament of the Champions is the most challenging and competitive tournament within the United States, in which students must qualify by obtaining 2 or more TOC bids during the competitive season. Students from all over the country assemble at the University of Kentucky and compete for 2-3 days. Becoming a finalist or semifinalist at the TOC is the most prestigious achievement that a speaker or debater can achieve.
These are the 8 Debate Competitions at one glance, for more information check out the official sites. You can also find more opportunities or post your opportunities at vibeforyouth.com.
