2025-2026 Season

New teammates! New opportunities to travel! New styles of debate!

In 2024-25 we expanded our league and focused on team culture.
In 2025-26, we’re upping the rigor and focusing on educational outcomes.

Coolidge Cup

OCT - DEC

Adversarial debate. Get assigned AFF/NEG on a given resolution, then show the judge that you’re the most skilled at representing a contested idea. Practice and compete in both 1v1 and team versions, as well as spontaneous and prepared variations.

Learn the basics of argumentation, debate terminology, deep reading, competitive strategy, and the skills of convincing an audience while an opponent takes shots.

Compete in 3-5 online scrimmages, plus two in-person local tournaments. The winners will compete at away tournaments in DC and/or at Yale University.

Adversarial Debate 101

Coolidge Format

CFL Congress

DEC - APR

Adversarial-collaborative hybrid: another version of Congress that contains AFF/NEG volleys within a legislative group debate. Submit bills ahead of time, prepare both sides of other students’ bills, and argue them in round.

Learn about legislative capabilities and limitations, how to critique bills based on close reading, and how to navigate strictly moderated meetings that use Robert’s Rules of Order.

Compete in 6-8 online scrimmages and 3-5 local tournaments. The winners will receive half-qualifications for the State Championship.

CFL Congress Rules

Calendar

Fall Online Scrimmages

Date	Time (EST)	Style	# of Rounds	Registration Link
Thurs 10/16	3:40-5pm	1v1	1	Click here
Fri 10/17	6:15-8:15pm	1v1	2	Click here
Thurs 10/23	3:40-5pm	1v1	1	Click here
Fri 10/24	6:15-8:15pm	1v1	2	Click here
Thurs 11/6	3:40-5pm	2v2	1	Click here
Fri 11/7	6:15-8:15pm	2v2	2	Click here
Thurs 11/13	3:40-5pm	2v2	1	Click here
Thurs 11/20	3:40-5pm	1v1	1	Click here
Fri 11/21	6:15-8:15pm	1v1	2	Click here
Thurs 12/4	3:40-5pm	1v1	1	Click here

Date

Sat 10/11

Thurs 10/16

Fri 10/17

Thurs 10/23

Fri 10/24

Thurs 11/6

Fri 11/7

Sat 11/8

Thurs 11/13

Fri-Sun 11/14-11/16

Thurs 11/20

Fri 11/21

Thurs 12/4

Fri-Sat 12/5-12/6

Thurs 12/11 (R1)

Sat 12/13

Fri 12/12

Thurs 12/18 (R2)

Sat 1/17

Sat 1/31

Sat 2/7

Sat 2/21

Sat 3/7

Sat 3/14

Sat 3/21

Location

DREAM Charter

Online

Coney Island Prep

Online

Washington DC

Online

Yale University

Online

Berkeley Carroll HS

Online

TBD

St Francis Prep

Berkeley Carroll

TBD

Stuy

MELS

TBD

Online

Time

8:30am-6pm

3:30-5pm

6:15-8pm

3:30-5pm

6:15-8pm

3:30-5pm

6:15-8pm

8:30am-6pm

3:30-5pm

all weekend

3:30-5pm

6:15-8pm

3:30-5pm

all weekend

3:30-5pm

8:30am-6pm

6:15-8pm

3:30-5pm

8:30am-6pm

1pm-6pm

8:30am-6pm

All of our tournaments from October - December 5 will be in the Coolidge Debate style (see guide here).

The topic will be: Resolved: The United States federal government should abolish its Department of Education. (see research brief on topic here)

Level

HS & MS

HS + 8th graders can register in HS Novice

HS & MS

HS + 8th graders can register in HS Novice

By invitation only - HS

HS + 8th graders can register in HS Novice

By invitation only - HS & MS

HS only

HS & MS (BQCFL open tournament)

HS only

HS & MS (BQCFL open tournament)

HS (BQCFL open tournament)

HS & MS (Tri-State)

HS (Districts - NSDA Qualifier)

HS (Grands - NCFL Qualifier)

HS (Regionals - State Qualifier)

HS (Coolidge Spring Online Open)

Style

Coolidge 1v1

Coolidge 2v2

Coolidge 1v1

Congress

Coolidge 1v1

FAQ

Q: I saw on BDL’s Events page that there’s an online class for high school students Tuesday nights. Is that open to everyone?

A: Everyone is welcome, but you do need to register. More details here. As always, need-based financial aid will be available for anyone who needs it.

Q: What about the online tournaments? Can anyone sign up for those?

A: Yes, students outside of BDL partner schools are welcome to sign up for our online tournaments (all available at tabroom.com, you can view the links by clicking on the tournaments here). Everyone will be waitlisted upon registering until we ensure that we have enough judges.

Q: Wait, does that mean I’m not required to provide a judge at online tournaments?

A: That’s correct. BDL is committed to making tournaments educational experiences for students by providing experienced judges who are able to give strong feedback.

States and Beyond

The Catholic Forensic League (and its cousin the NSDA) are primarily designed for well-resourced schools. Building sustainable teams at our schools will require innovative funding and programs, especially if those teams want to travel.

This is also an opportunity, as other debate leagues also fall short in several areas: judging quality, transferability of skills, tracking growth, integration between schools, and celebrating student leadership.

Last year, there were 30 BDL students with 80+% attendance, and half of them didn’t go to States.
25 students had 90+% attendance, and only 14 of them went to States.
States is something special that not everyone will earn, but we want everyone to have a capstone tournament.

Qualifying for States

2024-25 Priorities

Partner schools earned 29 full quals for States

BDL hosted 7 online scrimmages and sent partner schools to 3-4 local tournaments

Piloted a Judge Lab to improve ballot quality

2025-26 Goals

Aiming for 30-40 full-qualifications. Most (20-25) will qualify at Congress scrimmages and locals, plus 10-15 will earn wild card spots based on other competitions.

~9 scrimmages and ~6 locals that offer half-quals in Student Congress

More half-qual opportunities than last season because the BDL is hosting TWO options each week! From October 16 through March 20,

each Thursday afternoon we’re hosting a single round of a two-round online tournament, just like last season
each Friday evening we’re hosting a complete two-round online tournament

Judge Lab expanded, feedback more clearly integrated into practice

We got a tech grant to improve the scrimmages! The last time we tried evening scrimmages, unstable wifi connections were disruptive for lots of kids. We have some ideas on how to improve that and some cash to make it happen!

Glidepath to Your Team’s Sustainability

Where are you going and how are you getting there?