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The Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation is pleased to announce the 2026 Coolidge Presidents' Cup. This two-day debate tournament will be held on November 14 and 15, 2026, in Washington, DC. The Presidents' Cup is one of the signature events of the Coolidge Debate calendar, bringing high school students together for team debate competition and an opportunity to qualify for the Coolidge Cup National Championship.

Tournament Overview
Date: November 14–15, 2026
Format: 2v2 Coolidge debate format
Location: Washington, DC
Eligibility: Students enrolled in grades 9–12
Cost: None
Registration Deadline: Thursday, November 5, 2026, at 11:59 PM Eastern
Debate Topic: Resolved: Wealth taxes do more harm than good.
Judges: Schools, clubs, and independent students are not required to provide judges, but volunteer judges are strongly encouraged.
Attire: Business professional

Cash Scholarship Prizes
Teams advancing to the quarterfinals will receive cash scholarship prizes. Awards are made per team and divided equally between the two debaters.

Champion Team: $10,000
Second Place Team: $3,000
Semifinalist Teams (2): $2,000 each
Quarterfinalist Teams (4): $1,000 each

Prize amounts do not accumulate from round to round. Teams must participate in the round for which the prize is awarded to claim the prize.

Coolidge Cup Qualification
Each debater on the top eight teams will earn an invitation and paid travel to the 2027 Coolidge Cup National Championship in Plymouth Notch, Vermont.

Tournament Structure
All teams will compete in five preliminary rounds on Saturday, November 14. Teams will be paired randomly for round one and paired high-low within brackets thereafter. Beginning in round two, teams will generally debate opponents with the same win-loss record.

The top 16 teams will advance to single-elimination competition on Sunday, November 15, provided enough teams finish the preliminary rounds with a record of 3–2 or better. Elimination rounds will proceed through octafinals, quarterfinals, semifinals, and the championship round.

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

The Coolidge Foundation has published a research brief on the resolution containing background information, arguments, evidence, and sources to begin preparation. Debaters may use the brief as a starting point and are encouraged to conduct additional research and develop their own cases and evidence. Competitors should prepare to debate both sides of the resolution.

Division
The Presidents' Cup will offer one Open/Varsity division for students in grades 9–12. Students from any school may compete, including independent entries and homeschool students.

The tournament strongly encourages two-person teams. Maverick entries consisting of a single debater may compete in the preliminary rounds but cannot advance to elimination rounds.

Format and Style
Students will compete in the Coolidge 2v2 "doubles" debate format. Coolidge Debate emphasizes clear, logical, evidence-based arguments, civil discourse, and fidelity to the assigned resolution. Those new to Coolidge Debate are strongly encouraged to review our debate education resources, which explain the format, style, and rules.

Hotel Accommodations
The Coolidge Foundation has arranged special group booking options for Presidents' Cup participants and their families at two hotels in Arlington, Virginia. The last day to book at the group rates for both hotels is Monday, October 19, 2026.

Residence Inn by Marriott Arlington Rosslyn
Group Rate: $149 per night
Stay Dates: Friday, November 13, through Sunday, November 15
Booking Deadline: Monday, October 19, 2026
Book the Presidents' Cup group rate at the Residence Inn Arlington Rosslyn.

Hyatt Centric Arlington
Address: 1325 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22209
Group Rate: $153 per night plus tax
Booking Deadline: Monday, October 19, 2026
Book the Presidents' Cup group rate at Hyatt Centric Arlington.

Group rates are subject to availability. If the Hyatt group rate is no longer available, the hotel may offer prevailing rates for some or all dates.

Judges
Schools, clubs, and individual students are not required to provide judges, but we encourage them to recruit volunteers. Consistent with the mission of Coolidge Debate, judges should emphasize clear, logical, evidence-based arguments intended to persuade a broad civic audience.

Parents, grandparents, adult family members, teachers, coaches, and other community members are welcome to serve. Prior debate experience is not necessary. Volunteers should review our information for judges and become familiar with the Coolidge format. Brief judge training sessions will explain tournament procedures and answer questions.

Registration
Schools and clubs should register, modify, and cancel entries directly through this tournament's Tabroom.com page. All competitors must have individual Tabroom.com accounts. A free account may be created at Tabroom.com.

Independent and homeschool competitors who are not registering through a school or club should complete the Independent & Homeschool Registration Form on the Coolidge Foundation's Presidents' Cup page.

Questions about independent or homeschool registrations, changes, or cancellations may be directed to jpeele@coolidgefoundation.org.

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