Welcome

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

Location

Our third middle school debate tournament of the 2019/2020 season will be held on December 7th. Public Forum will be held at at Hunter's Point Community Middle School in Long Island City. Parliamentary will be held at Booker T. Washington Middle School on the Upper West Side.

Registration

Registration opens at 9:00 am on November 1st and closes at 5:00 pm on December 2nd.

Check-in will open at 8:00 am on December 7th, the day of the tournament. Check-in will close at 9:00 am. You must check in in person to compete at the tournament.

Divisions

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

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

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

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

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

We will offer two divisions in Parliamentary.

The Novice division is for debaters who have never debated before.

The Open division is for debates with some experience.

Topics

The PF topic will be "Resolved: The benefits of the United States federal government’s use of offensive cyber operations outweigh the harms."

The Parliamentary topics are:

• This House believes all public colleges and universities should be free.

• This House would pay reparations to African Americans.

• This House believes a government should have the right to spy on its own citizens.

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 PF 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.