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Competition Details

Topic Release Schedule
    • May 1: Lincoln-Douglas and Public Forum topics, United States and International Extemp topic areas, Impromptu, Commentary, and Extemp Debate topic areas, and prepared motions for World Schools Debate will be available on May 1 at www.speechanddebate.org/topics.
    • Congressional Debate Legislation:
      • April 29: Potential legislation will be made available to the public.
      • April 29-May 2: National Tournament qualifiers in the House and Senate are invited to vote on the final docket through Tabroom.com.
      • May 15: The final docket will be released at www.speechanddebate.org/topics.
      • How is Legislation Selected? Any high school or middle school NSDA member student, regardless of their national qualification status, is invited to submit legislation to be considered for the National Tournament docket. If a student’s legislation is selected to be part of the Nationals docket, they will be recognized in Rostrum, receive a plaque after the tournament is over, and be awarded a $100 scholarship. Legislation will not be tied to its author at the National Tournament; no authorship speeches will be given. Submissions are due February 5.
Event Specific Topics
    • Extemporaneous Debate: Topics will be released 30 minutes prior to each round.
    • Storytelling: No required theme or topic area.
    • Policy Debate: Resolved: The United States federal government should significantly strengthen its protection of domestic intellectual property rights in copyrights, patents, and/or trademarks.
    • Big Questions: Resolved: Creativity is a more powerful force than intelligence.
Results
    • Pairings for each elimination round will be released on the “Pairings” tab at nationals.tabroom.com
    • Debate: Win/loss records from prelims will be released for all students after the first elim’s schematic is posted. Win/loss results for each elim will be released when the next elim’s schematic is posted (e.g., round 7 results will be posted after the round 8 schematic is released). 
    • Main Speech: Prelim ranks will be posted for non-advancing students after the first elim schematic is posted. Nothing is posted for advancing students until they’re out of the tournament.
    • Congress: Prelim ranks will be released for all students after the first elim’s schematic is posted. Ranks for each elim will be released when the next elim’s schematic is posted (e.g., quarters ranks will be posted when the semis schematic is released).
    • Supplemental Speech: Prelim ranks will be posted for non-advancing students after the first elim’s schematic is posted. Nothing is posted for advancing students until they’re out of the tournament.
    • Extemp Debate: Win/loss records will be released for all students after prelims finish so they know whether they will be competing in the elims. Win/loss results for each elim will be released when the next elim’s schematic is posted (e.g., round 7 results will be posted after the round 8 schematic is released).
    • Full tournament results and ballots will be posted at nationals.tabroom.com by Monday, June 23.
Eligibility for Supplemental Events
    • Main Event Qualifiers: Competitors in main events who are pre-registered and do not advance to elimination round competition on Wednesday of the National Tournament are eligible to re-register for supplemental events on Tuesday.
    • Non-Qualifiers: Up to two non-qualifiers per school who were pre-registered in supplemental events are eligible to re-register for supplemental events on Tuesday. Schools competing in only supplementals should plan to have an adult attend in-person registration on Tuesday to pick up materials.
Non-Qualifier Competition in Supplemental Events
    • Eligibility: To be eligible for the non-qualifier opportunity, students and their schools must be NSDA members. Participation at districts is not required.
    • School Limits: Each school may enter up to two students who did not qualify into supplemental events.
    • How to Register:
      • If your school has main event qualifiers in the National Tournament, register your two non-qualifying students on the “Entries” tab of your school’s Tabroom.com National Tournament registration.
      • If your school is only bringing non-qualifiers in supplemental events, “National Speech and Debate Tournament” will appear under your existing tournament registrations in Tabroom.com once your district chair posts your district’s results to Nationals. Register your two non-qualifying students on the “Entries” tab of that registration.
    • Required Registration:
      • Virtual: Non-qualifiers must be virtually re-registered on Tuesday of the National Tournament through Tabroom.com. A “re-register” tab will appear in the school’s registration, and coaches will confirm that the student will be competing.
      • In-Person: Schools that are only bringing non-qualifiers in supplemental events may skip the Sunday registration and register on Tuesday if they choose. Registration for teams competing in only in-person supplemental events will occur on Tuesday 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Building Use
    • Supplemental Speech: In late May, coaches with pre-registered supplemental speech entries will learn if they are competing in the Goldfinch or Wildrose group on the General tab of their school’s registration.
      • Locations: The Goldfinch group will compete at East HS on Wed-Thurs, and Wildrose will compete at Johnston HS on Wed-Thurs.
      • Competition: Each group will compete until they have the top three entries in each event from their group. The top three entries in each event from each group will compete in the final round on Friday to determine the national champions.
    • Extemp Debate: In late May, coaches with pre-registered Extemp Debate will learn if they are competing in the Goldfinch or Wildrose group on the General tab of their school’s registration.
      • Locations: Goldfinch will compete at Roosevelt HS on Wednesday and Thursday. Wildrose will compete at West Des Moines Valley HS on Wednesday and move to Roosevelt HS on Thursday. All Extemp Debate entries will compete at Roosevelt HS on Thursday.
      • Competition: Each group will conduct separate competition on Wednesday; Wildrose competitors will only compete against other Wildrose competitors. On Thursday, the groups will be combined into one Extemp Debate division and debate until they have the final two debaters. Those two entries will debate in the final round on Friday to determine the national champion.
Pre-Registration
    • Students who wish to compete in supplemental events must be pre-registered for those events by May 15. Each supplemental event pre-registration costs $30. This entry fee is non-refundable. Students may be pre-registered in as many events as they wish, but there is a limit to the events that one student may be re-registered in.
Re-Registration
    • Required Re-Registration: Students who intend to compete in supplemental events must be re-registered to confirm their participation between 12:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 17, through Tabroom.com. Students who pre-registered but did not re-register will not be scheduled for competition. This applies to both students who compete in main events and students who are only competing in supplemental events.
    • Pattern Limits: There are limits to the supplemental events that students may be re-registered in. Students cannot cross enter Extemp Debate and any other supplemental speech event. Students may be re-registered in up to two supplemental speech events but no more than one event per pattern:
      • Pattern A: Extemp Commentary, Original Spoken Word Poetry, Prose, Expository
      • Pattern B:  Impromptu, Poetry, Storytelling
      • OR Extemp Debate
Learn More
Scholarships
    • Scholarships earned at the National Tournament can be claimed after Nationals by graduated students who have enrolled in post-secondary school after the tournament via the National Tournament Scholarship Claim Request Form. Proof of enrollment is required and scholarship funds will be sent to the registrar.

Judges for Hire

Group of Judges in a room watching students perform

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Belonging and Inclusion Station

Belonging and Inclusion Station

Each competition venue will have a dedicated Belonging and Inclusion Station. The Belonging and Inclusion Station (BIS) is a resource that supports participants who may feel excluded during the tournament. It also helps safeguard against potential violations of the NSDA Harassment and Discrimination Policy. All participants are encouraged to visit the BIS.

Reasons someone might visit the BIS include:

  • Someone is overheard making inappropriate remarks or jokes. 

  • A powerful performance (that violated no rules) triggers emotions in a contestant or judge, and they need space to process their feelings.

  • A contestant feels alone at the tournament and wants to withdraw from the tournament.

Report to the Tournament Office to speak to a Belonging and Inclusion Advocate or learn more about the concept on our website.

Accessibility

If you would like to request an ADA-related accommodation for one of your school’s participants, please complete the Accommodations Request Form. For questions regarding accessibility at the tournament, please contact Dr. Paul Porter at paul.porter@speechanddebate.org.

Middle School National Tournament

National Speech and Debate Tournament Centennial Logo

June 17-20, 2025

The 2025 Middle School National Tournament will also be held in-person in Des Moines on June 17-20.