Tournament Circuits

The National Speech & Debate Association (NSDA) was founded in 1925. NSDA offers a system of incentives for students to participate in debate and forensics. Students may earn points in accordance with their success at tournaments. After a student earns over 25 points, they become eligible for lifetime membership in NSDA. The points are cumulative for the students’ career. Only NSDA members are allowed to compete in NSDA District tournaments (which qualify for the NSDA National Speech & Debate tournament). Prominent NSDA alumni include Chadwick Boseman, Zac Efron, Jordan Peele, Brad Pitt, Pinterest Founder Ben Silberman, President Lyndon Johnson, Josh Gad, Stephen Colbert, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, Academy Award winner Don Ameche, Emmy Award winner Daniel J. Travanti, actress Shelly Long, television host Oprah Winfrey, news anchor Jane Pauley, Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Stephen Breyer, Elizabeth Warren, and thousands of other leaders in politics, business, education, law, and public service. Since its founding in 1925, NSDA has enrolled over 1.2 million members in all fifty states, U.S. possessions and several foreign countries. Currently over 140,000 high school students and over 3,000 high school teachers are active members.

The Texas Forensic Association (TFA) is a statewide organization that was founded in 1972 and hosts the largest state speech/debate tournament in the nation. High schools across the state apply each year to be TFA State qualifying tournaments. Students who place in these tournaments earn TFA State points. Students who earn the necessary TFA State points in each event qualify to participate in the TFA State tournament. The location of the tournament rotates between each of the five TFA regions. Greenhill School has the distinction of winning the state tournament more than any other school in the history of the organization.

The Tournament of Champions was founded in 1972. All teams attending must earn the right to compete based on “bids” earned at select events throughout the country. At the TOC, Lincoln Douglas, Policy, Public Forum and Congressional debaters, and individual event speakers, compete for the right to be called the TOC Champion.

The National Debate Coaches Association is a national organization for coaches. The goals of the National Debate Coaches Association rest on two pillars – coach education and coach retention. The ultimate vision is to provide opportunities for high school coaches to strengthen their abilities to provide stronger learning environments for their students. The NDCA also hosts an annual NDCA Championships held in April of each year in the debate events.