South Dakota Novice Championships

2026 — Lennox, SD/US

The South Dakota Novice Championships

This tournament is limited to just South Dakota Schools-
Welcome to the South Dakota Novice Championships

Lennox High School is excited to host this year's Novice Championships. A tournament focused on recognizing the hard work that this year's novice students have put in the past few months. This tournament is open to any novice debate team/ debater. We will be offering Public Forum debate, Lincoln-Douglas debate, and policy debate. Both debate styles will be using the November/December topic.

Schedule (subject to change based on entry levels)
Check-in: 9:00-9:45
General Meeting 9:45
Round 1: 10:00-11:00
Round 2: 11:15-12:15
(Lunch Break)
Round 3: 12:45-1:45
Round 4: 2:00-3:00
Round 5: 3:15-4:15
Finals: 4:30-5:30

Awards ASAP

Policy schedule Round 1: 10:00-11:30 (Lunch break) Round 2: 12:30-2:00 Round 3: 2:15-3:45 Final?: 4:00-5:30 Awards ASAP

Entry Cap: There will be a cap of five (5) entries per event per school. That means each school can enter 5 in LD, 5 in PF and 5 entries in policy. Entries above five will be on a waitlist to make sure access for other schools is available. If there is room, the coaches will be notified.

Entry Fees: The entry to the tournament is $8 per entry for LD and $12 for Public Forum/Policy.

Awards: We will be awarding awards to top speakers and to semi-finalists and finalists.

Food: We will be offering concessions through out the day. There is almost no option in town for students. Plan to be here to eat.

Lodging: While there is no hotels or motels in Lennox, there are several options just 15-20 minutes north of Lennox. The are hotel options available in Tea and in south Sioux Falls. Please plan accordingly since the Jonas Brothers will be playing in Sioux Falls that night.

Judge requirements: The goal is to provide 3 judges for each round. Please provide at least one judge per entry. Judges can be competent varsity debaters with at least 150 NSDA points or are juniors or seniors. If you do need to hire a judge, the cost will be $120 for the hired judge.

We will be using the November/December NSDA topics for all events.

Novice Policy:

The Novice Case limits will follow the National Debate Coaches Association Novice Packet. It can be found here:https://www.debatecoaches.org/resources/novice Only AFFs and Off-Case positions found in the packet are allowed. At this point in the year, all arguments will be allowed to be run (all DAs, CPs, Ts, and the K). No other evidence than the ones in the novice packet are allowed to be read as well.



Locations
Lennox High School/Middle School
Contacts
Michael Larson
General
Invitation Home Email Archive Events & Divisions Institutions In Attendance
Pages & Uploads
Circuits
SD – South Dakota

Dates & Deadlines

 CDT
Tournament Dates Dec 12 2026
Registration Opens Tue Sep 1 at 12:00 PM
Registration Closes Wed Dec 9 at 7:00 PM
Fees Freeze After Fri Dec 11 at 5:00 PM
Judge Information Due Wed Dec 9 at 7:00 PM
Drop online until Fri Dec 11 at 5:00 PM
Change fees apply after Thu Dec 10 at 7:00 PM

These deadlines are set in Tabroom for technical purposes. Always consult the invitation or tournament notices for official policies about deadlines and procedures.