Welcome to the 2025-26 Season

A new school year means a new season of debate. We welcome returning members and are actively looking for new members and schools willing to host in-person tournaments.

Coaches should read the Welcome to 2025-26 document. It includes a series of questions which can be answered either by fillng out this CDA School Google Form or by sending an email. It also includes information about early-season tournaments, other debate leagues, and training material.

An email has been sent to all returning Coaches with the following information, which is repeated in the Welcome document:


Contents


March Tournament Invitation

CDA members and those interested in joining the CDA are invited to our last regular tournament of the 2025-26 season on Saturday, March 7. Farmington High School and Stamford High School will be our hosts.

We will follow our standard format of one hour for case preparation, four rounds of debate in Varsity and Novice divisions, and a final round between the top two Varsity teams. You may download the Invitation for more details.

Coaches are asked to fill out this March Attendance Form by the end of the day on Friday, February 27. We need an estimate of attendance before the holidays in order to assign teams to hosts and to know how many packets to print.

Registration opens on Tabroom on Monday, February 23, at 8AM, and entries must be in by end of day on Wednesday, March 4. If you have any questions or comments please email us: CDA March Tournament.

February Tournament Results

On one of the coldest days in CDA history we had 246 debaters from 24 schools brave the storm to attend our February tournaments. Thanks to New Canaan High School and St. Paul Catholic High School for hosting.

The topic was:

This House opposes (THO) delegating lethal military decisions to artificial intelligence.

Considering the weather, we did not hold a Varsity final round at New Canaan. Congratulations to the Wilton team of Gupta and Muppalla, the top team in the Varsity division, and to the Stamford team of Jaishiva and Sadhu who won the Novice division,

At St. Paul, we started an hour later than usual, and ended after three rounds. Congratulations to Joel Barlow team of Decker and Cho who won the Varsity division, and the Joel Barlow team of Rabinowitz and Gupta who won Novice.

You may view or download the complete February Results, and find a link to the resolution package.

If you have any questions or comments please email us: CDA February Tournament.

January Tournament Results

We had 294 students from 30 schools at our January tournaments. Thanks to Fairfield College Preparatory School and Fairfield Warde High School for hosting.

The topic was:

This House Supports (THS) US efforts to remove the Maduro Government in Venezuela.

The Varsity final round at Fairfield Prep was closed out by Pomperaug High School, and won by the team of Nespoli and Weitekamp on Opposition over the team of Wisnefsky and Bevilacqua.

The Greenwich team of Henske and Kapur topped the Novice division.

The Varsity final round at Fairfield Warde was won by the King School team of Wang and Powell on Opposition over the hybrid Fitch/Stamford team of Miller and Nandikesan.

The Staples team of Tebbutt and Harrison topped the Novice division.

Congratulations to all of our trophy winners! You may view or download the complete January Results, as well as the resolution package.

If you have any questions or comments please email us: CDA January Tournament.

December Tournament Results

We had 248 students from 26 schools at our December tournaments. Thanks to Daniel Hand High School and King School for hosting.

The topic was:

This House belives that (THBT) the US government should buy equity stakes in private companies.

The Varsity final round at Daniel Hand was won by the Fitch team of Lacey and Virtue on Government over the Loomis Chaffee team of Carmon and Weng.

The Loomis Chaffee team of Song and Pillai topped the Novice division.

The Varsity final round at King was won by the New Canaan team of Hsu and La Magna on Opposition over the Blind Brook team of Fitzpatrick and Zeitune

The New Canaan team of Powari and Leffers topped the Novice division.

Congratulations to all of our trophy winners! You may view or download the complete December Results, as well as the resolution package.

If you have any questions or comments please email us: CDA December Tournament.

Parliamentary Debate

With the 2022-23 season the CDA moved to a Parliamentary debate format. This change:

  • connects us with an international debate community;
  • makes a wealth of training material available to debaters, coaches and judges;
  • allows us to add a fourth preliminary round in the same amount of time; and
  • is consistent with the format used by debaters coming up to CDA from the the Connecticut Middle School Debate League.

The Training Material has been updated to reflect the new format. However, Coaches, Judges, and Debaters unfamiliar with Parliamentary debate, or those interested in joining the CDA, will find these two items a good introduction:

  • A one-page description of the format and changes, CDA Parli Brief.
  • A style guide which presents CDA parliamentary debate in detail for debaters, coaches and judges, CDA Parli Style Guide

The Style Guide includes a "Resources" section with references to external material useful for teaching and learning Parliamentary debate More complete information can be found on the Training Material page.

Online Debate

We returned to in-person debate in 2022-23, using online debate only as a backup in case of inclement weather. If we do have to hold tournaments online, the CDA Online Procedures Guide provides detailed information. You should review this material with all of your debaters and judges prior to any online tournament.

Middle School Debate

The Connecticut Middle School Debate League is gearing up for its 2022-23 season. Five events are currently planned: a combined practice scrimmage and tournament in October; regular tournaments in December and February; and a championship tournament in April. All Connecticut middle schools and schools with middle grades are invited to join. We hope these will be in-person events.

The Middle School League encourages participation by high school debaters as coaches, mentors and judges. One of the best ways to improve a skill is to help teach it to others. Several CDA debaters have started and coach teams at their affiliated middle schools. Many CDA debaters attend CTMSDL events as judges.

For more information on the League and schedule details see the Middle School Debate web site or email CTMSDL Information.


Other Debate News

Parliamentary Debate Tournaments

Many colleges and universities across the country sponsor high school speech and debate tournaments. Usually they require travel and overnight stays, which make it difficult for Connecticut debaters to attend. However, some are online, so only entry fees need be covered.

Only a special few offer a parliamentary format that is compatible with CDA's extermporaneous style. We expect the following East Coast events to be offered again this year. We will post the dates as we become aware of them.

  • Harvard Season Opener, August 30-31, 2025
  • Yale Invitational, September19-21, 2025
  • National Parliamentary Debate League Fall Tournament, October 11-12
  • McGill British Parli, late October??
  • Ridge Debates, December 12-14
  • McGill Canadian Parli, early February??
  • Brown University Parliamentary Debate Tournament, February
  • Columbia Ivy League Championship, February or March
  • National Parliamentary Debate League Spring Tournament, early March
  • Harvard College National Speech and Debate Tournament, Feb. 14-16
  • National Parliamentary Debate League TOC, April
  • Yale Osterweis, March 1, 2026

A question mark indicates the tournament has not been announced or the dates have not been confirmed. The date indication is based on last year's schedule. We will try and post additional information here as it becomes available. Tournaments are often hosted and announced on tabroom.com, a good source for news about upcoming debate and speech events.

Parliamentary Debate Leagues

There are also several leagues in the Northeast which may be of interest to Connecticut debaters:

There is also the National Parliamentary Debate League that invites high schools and leagues to join as members. The NPDL serves as a clearninghouse for information about parliamentary debate leagues and tournaments. The NPDL also runs Fall and Spring open tournaments, as well as an annual Tournament of Champions for qualifying teams. See the NPDL website for more information.

For information about these leagues, membership and schedules, please see their websites.




Last updated February 20, 2026.