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The Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation is pleased to announce the 2026 Coolidge Pennsylvania Open. This one-day debate tournament will be held on Sunday, December 6, 2026, at Founding Forward's Valley Forge Campus in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The tournament provides students with an opportunity to compete in Coolidge Debate and allows high school competitors to qualify for the 2027 Coolidge Cup National Championship.

Independent and homeschool competitors should register through the Coolidge Foundation tournament page. Information and registration for volunteer judges are also available there.

Tournament Overview
Date: Sunday, December 6, 2026
Format: 1v1 Coolidge debate format
Location: Founding Forward's Valley Forge Campus, 1601 Valley Forge Road, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania 19481
Eligibility: Students currently residing in a U.S. state or territory and enrolled in grades 6-12
Cost: None
Deadline: Registration closes at 11:59 PM EST on Thursday, November 26, 2026
Debate Topic: Resolved: Wealth taxes do more harm than good.
Judges: Schools, clubs, and independent students are not required to provide judges, but we encourage entrants to provide one judge for every two competitors or fraction thereof
Attire: Business professional

Tournament Structure
All debaters will compete in four preliminary rounds. Competitors will be paired randomly for round one and paired high-low within brackets thereafter. Beginning in round two, this means competitors will generally debate an opponent with the same win-loss record.

The Coolidge Pennsylvania Open is a qualifying tournament for the 2027 Coolidge Cup National Championship. We will award Coolidge Cup bids to all undefeated debaters (4-0) in the High School Open/Varsity division. Students who earn bids are invited to compete at the Coolidge Cup, held July 1-5, 2027, at the Coolidge State Historic Site in Plymouth Notch, Vermont.

Debate Topic
The resolution for the tournament is “Resolved: Wealth taxes do more harm than good.”

The Coolidge Foundation will publish a research brief on the resolution to provide competitors with background information, arguments, evidence, and sources to begin their preparation. Debaters may use the brief as a starting point and are encouraged to conduct additional research and develop their own cases and evidence.

Divisions
The tournament will have three divisions: Middle School, High School Novice, and High School Open/Varsity.

Middle School: All students in grades 6-8 must enter the Middle School division. Only students in grades 6-8 may compete in this division. Middle School competitors are not eligible to earn Coolidge Cup debate bids.

High School Novice: High school students with no experience or minimal experience may elect to participate in the Novice division. A novice is defined as a high school debater in the first year of any speech and debate competition.

High School Open/Varsity: High school students with prior debate experience, whether in Coolidge Debate or another league, should participate in the Open/Varsity division. Any student in grades 9-12 may elect to enter the Open/Varsity division.

Format and Style
Students will compete in the Coolidge 1v1 debate format, the same format used at the Coolidge Cup. Those new to Coolidge Debate are strongly encouraged to review our debate education resources, which explain the format, style, and rules.

Judges
Schools, clubs, and individual students are not required to provide judges, but we encourage them at a ratio of one judge for every two competitors or fraction thereof. Consistent with the mission of Coolidge Debate, participating judges should emphasize clear, logical, evidence-based arguments intended to persuade a broad civic audience. Parents, grandparents, adult family members, teachers, coaches, and other members of the community are welcome to serve.

Experience is not necessary, but volunteers should become familiar with the Coolidge format and its emphasis on accessible and persuasive debate. We urge those interested in serving to review our information for judges. A brief training session will be held on the morning of the tournament to explain procedures and answer questions. With the rarest of exceptions, the Coolidge Foundation does not hire judges for pay.

Registration
Schools and clubs attending as teams should register their competitors directly through this Tabroom.com tournament.

Independent competitors, homeschool competitors, and volunteer judges should use the registration forms on the Coolidge Foundation Pennsylvania Open page.

Questions
For questions about the tournament, registration, or judging, contact Jonathan Peele, Coolidge Foundation Director of Speech and Debate.