Cougar Kickoff Debate Season Opener* Richmond Forum Speech and Debate League #1

*Must be a member of the RFSDL to register. Contact Sandra@RichmondForum.org to join. Dues are 150$ for 1-10, 250$ for 11-20, and 350$ for 21+ students

WHEN: October 18, 2025

WHERE: Collegiate School, 103 N Mooreland Rd, Richmond, VA 23229

EVENTS: For invitationals, NSDA or NCFL rules will be followed. We hope to provide a great local tournament option for Central Virginia schools! Middle school students are required to compete in the Novice category. Middle school students are required to compete in the Novice category.

1. Lincoln-Douglas: Novice** and Open, 4 rounds.

TOPIC: Resolved: In the United States criminal justice system, plea bargaining is just.

2. Public Forum: Novice** and Open. 4 rounds.

TOPIC: Resolved: The United Kingdom should rejoin the European Union.

3. Student Congress: Open division. Each student should submit a bill following this formatting. Teams should coordinate to divide bills up among the following 3 categories (Domestic, International, Economic). 2 sessions of Congress, 2 hours each.

Email Congress legislation to:scott_mckeag@ccpsnet.net by October 6, 2025

Bill topic areas are as follows:

Domestic

Congressional Redistricting

Washington D.C.

International
Cambodia-Thailand
U.S. Missile Defense/Golden Dome

Economic
Work Verification for SNAP
Water Quality Standards

Super Session

Federal Reserve

Vaccines

4. Policy Debate: Open 3 rounds.

TOPIC: Resolved: The United States federal government should significantly increase its exploration and/or development of the Arctic.

**Novice debaters must be in their first year of competitive debate or a middle school student. If there are not enough numbers to operate a separate novice bracket, they will be combined into the open division but top novice awards will still be given. Please indicate on Tabroom if a competitor is in his/her first year of competition.

JUDGE OBLIGATION:

1 judge for:

…every 2 Lincoln-Douglas Debate entries or fraction thereof,

…every 2 Public Forum Debate entries or fraction thereof,

…every 2 Policy Debate entries or fraction thereof,

…every 5 Student Congress entries or fraction thereof.

COSTS:

Schools in good standing with the Richmond Forum Speech and Debate League will not incur any competition fees. Schools that have not paid dues may attend one tournament without joining the league, but must pay an entry fee of $20 per student entry ($40 for partner events). Schools must pay RFSDL dues to participate in additional competitions.

DROPS:

Drops (for any reason) are permitted up to 48 hours before the tournament with no penalty. Drops within 48 hours require schools to honor the entry fees AND still require the original judging quota. If the original judging quota is not met upon registration, students may not be able to compete. Students may not be able to compete. The League reserves the right to charge a $75 dropped judge fee.

SCHEDULE:

Registration/Check-In: 8:00 am to 8:30 am

Judges Meeting: 8:45 - 9:15 am

Debate

Round 1: 9:15 am to 10:00 am

Round 2: 10:15 am to 11:00 am

Round 3: 11:15 am to 12:00 pm

(Lunch between Rounds 3 and 4)

Round 4: 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm

Congress

Session 1: 9:15-10:45

Session 2: 11-12:30

(Lunch after session 2)

Super Session: 1:30-3

Awards: 3:45 pm

CONCESSIONS and LUNCH:

Concessions will be made available throughout the day. Observers may purchase snacks from the concession stand (Cost is $1 per item for all items, cash is preferred but venmo and apple pay will be available that day). Lunches for competitors, coaches, and judges are included.

AWARDS:

Awards will be given to the top 3 finishers in each category. Sweepstakes and runner up sweepstakes trophies will be given to the schools with the most points in each division (speech and debate). The top six in each event will receive a bid to the RFSDL National Qualifier on January 17th at Cosby High School in Midlothian, Virginia.

REGISTRATION:

Please go to http://cougarkickoffdebate.tabroom.com

You will need to create a Tabroom.com account with an email and password (free). Add your entries and judges.

Direct any tabroom questions to Sanchez@richmondforum.org

All registrations will be due by October 13th, 2025

Warm Regards,

Tournament Host: Shannon Castelo, shannon_castelo@collegiate-va.org

Tournament Director: Lucretia Anderson, Lucretia@RichmondForum.org and Sanchez Tucker, Sanchez@RichmondForum.org