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*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: January 17, 2026

WHERE: 14300 Fox Club Pkwy, Midlothian, VA 23112

EVENTS: This tournament serves as the open division of the RFSDL qualifying tournament. Students do not have to have received a bid to compete in the following events.

Entry Caps:

• Max 21 IE entries per event

• Max 32 entries per debate event

• Max 24 entries in Congress

• 3 entries per event per school

No Middle school entries will be accepted. No novice division will be offered.

1. Lincoln-Douglas: Open, 4 rounds.

TOPIC: Resolved:In the United States, national service ought to be mandatory.

2. Public Forum: Open. 4 rounds.

TOPIC: Resolved:The People’s Republic of China should substantially reduce its international extraction of natural resources.

3. Student Congress: STUDENT CONGRESS: Open division. Each student should submit legislation, using the appropriate RFSDL Template, and 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 deanopape@gmail.com by January 2nd at 5pm. The legislation packet will be set by Tabroom from the submitted legislation, but not all submitted legislation will be included! The emphasis for what legislation ultimately makes the prelim docket will rest on the quality of the legislation, as determined by an impartial third party. All chambers will debate the same legislation, it is up to each chamber to set their dockets in Prelim Session 1.

Congress topics: To be posted on tabroom one month prior to competition (DEC 17)

5. Speech Categories: The following open speech categories will be offered (4 rounds each): Impromptu, Prose, Poetry, Storytelling, Informative, and Program Oral Interpretation.

Students may not double-enter in open speech categories.

JUDGES:

Each school is responsible for providing their own judges with the following quotas:

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, and

…every 5 Individual Events entries or fraction thereof*

*Student Congress and IE event judges may be combined.

COSTS:

Schools in good standing with the Richmond Forum Speech and Debate League will not incur any competition fees.

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:

Can be found on the Tabroom homepage

LUNCH:

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). Points will be combined from the NCFL and open division.

REGISTRATION:

Please go to http://rfsdlwinterclash.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 January 9, 2025