Rules & Eligibility

Entry Fee: $10/student

Judge obligation: One judge per two debaters. Judges must stay one round past the elimination of their debater.

School cap: Schools may register up to 8 students

Eligibility requirements:

1. Any student, in grades 9-12, during the 2016-2017 school year, who is a U.S. citizen, lives within the United States and is enrolled in an accredited U.S. high school, home school, or home study program is eligible to compete in the Ronald Reagan Great Communicator Debate Series.

2. Competitors are allowed to compete in one in-person regional competition as well as the online competition.

3. Each student must be under the immediate supervision of an adult who may be his/her coach, parent, or other adult approved by the high school administration.

4. A contestant who does not appear at the scheduled time to speak shall forfeit. The chief judge may waive this penalty for a valid and compelling reason.

5. Preliminary debates shall be judged by at least one judge; elimination rounds by three judges; and finals by 3-5 judges, at the discretion of the regional host. The highest and lowest judges’ scores for each contestant in the final rounds will be eliminated before tabulating results. Any judge with a conflict of interest must declare this conflict prior to commencement of the competition, and a replacement judge should be assigned.

6. Judges must be over the age of 18 and must be out of high school for at least two years in order to be eligible to judge. 

*Rules are subject to change up until one week prior to the first regional competition.