LFL NCFL National Qualifier
2026 — West Winfield, NY/US
Student Congress
Event Description:
Student Congress:
Student Congress will consist of three preliminary sessions, and a Semi-Final and Final Session.
a. The goal for the size of preliminary chambers will be 18 members. Five members will advance from each Chamber to the Semi-Finals. Based on the cumulative rankings from all Scorers (including each of the three Preliminary Sessions), the four top-ranking members of each chamber will advance to Semi-Finals. The Parliamentarian ranks all members of the chamber. The highest-ranking member of the chamber from the Parliamentarian ballot who has not already advanced based on Scorer ranks will also advance to Semi-Finals.
b. The qualifiers for Semi-Finals will be distributed into approximately equal chambers of 16 to 20 students. There will be four Scorers and a Parliamentarian for each Semi-Final Chamber. Four to six members will advance from each Semi-Final Chamber to the Grand Final Session of 16 - 18 students. Based on the cumulative rankings from all Scorers, the three to five (three if there are 4 Chambers, or five if there are 3 Chambers) top-ranking members of each chamber will advance to Finals. The Parliamentarian ranks all members of the chamber. The highest-ranking member of the chamber from the Parliamentarian ballot who has not already advanced based on Scorer ranks will also advance to Finals.
c. There will be four Scorers and a Parliamentarian for the Grand Final Session. The four Scorers and the Parliamentarian will rank the top 8 persons at the end of the Grand Final Session; each student unranked by an official will receive a rank of “9”. The ranks will be totaled to determine the final placement. The ballot cast by the Parliamentarian in the Preliminary, SemiFinal, and Grand Final Sessions will be used to break any ties that may occur.
d. The chambers will hold three preliminary sessions, meeting for a total of 7.5 hours, preceded by a 30 minute caucus and committee session to set the Preliminary Agenda. Semi-Finals and Grand Finals will consist of two two-hour parts using the same panel of judges for each, with Presiding Officers elected for each.
e. The bills and resolutions that will be debated by the chambers are placed in a packet by the NCFL Clerk of Congress. The Clerk of Congress attempts to select legislation that encourages educational debate on a wide range of subjects. Each diocese entering students is encouraged to submit legislation, and may submit up to one item for each school the diocese is sending Congress qualifiers from. Submission of legislation for the tournament must be done using the templates found on the NCFL website; legislation that does not utilize the templates will not be accepted. A committee established by the NCFL National Tournament Director and the Clerk of the Congress shall select four pieces of submitted legislation for each of the Preliminary sessions, and five pieces of legislation for each of the Elimination sessions. Submitting legislation, and its selection by the committee, does not confer authorship, sponsorship, or other special rights on any student representing the diocese during competition.