LAST CHANCE FOR REGISTRATION
SIGN UP BY JUNE 15!
THE CONYERS CUP
All high schoolers will compete in two styles: 3v3 Adversarial Debate on Saturday and Congressional Debate on Sunday. Squads will be randomly assigned for 3v3 rounds. When you arrive, you'll vote on the weekend's theme: Reparations for Slavery or Race-Based College Admissions. All debate topics for the tournament will be variations on that theme.
Middle schoolers will compete in Extemporaneous Speaking with Peer Questions on Saturday. The MS theme is "Public schools in the US should require that students wear uniforms." Students get a research packet in advance, then ~20 minutes to prepare a 4–5 minute speech on a prompt drawn from three options.
Breakfast and lunch will be provided both days. Parents and family are welcome to join on Sunday to eat, discuss, and watch the last rounds.
Middle School Extemp — Round 1
Middle School Extemp — Round 2
Squads strike resolutions from a list of 3 (negative side strikes first).
3–8 chambers of 10–15 students each (40–80 students total).
Part 1: Docket Construction
Each chamber is charged with writing 3–5 bills or resolutions that best address the issues raised in the resource packet.
Part 2: Congress Debate
Since bills were written to be effective rather than to generate debate, the splits might be more one-sided than usual. The important thing is that you get a chance to speak at least once in the round, so look for that opportunity even if the splits are bad. Some options include: A) give a NEG speech to stress-test the ideas, i.e. what might an opponent say? B) give a NEG speech that calls for a change in the bill, e.g. "I can't vote for this bill until we double the budget and fix Section 3!" C) Give an AFF speech even though someone just gave one, i.e. break cycle. If you can actually add new arguments and evidence, it's not the worst thing.
Judges
- 1 well-trained parliamentarian to keep order, facilitate prep, flow the debate, and rank top 9 debaters (does not help with prep)
- 2 judges to award speaker points and rank top 9
- Tournament directors judge dockets for clarity, practicality, and impact
Same Congress format — but each chamber debates a different room's docket.
- Parliamentarian flows the debate and ranks top 9
- 2 judges award speaker points and rank top 9
All prompts & questions will be variations on this theme. A research packet will be provided in advance.
Round 1 — Prelims
- Students meet in the prep room, then are dismissed to the cafeteria.
- The Prep Room Proctor calls each student up to choose 1 of 3 prompts related to student uniforms.
- Each student gets 20 minutes to prepare a 4–5 minute speech answering the question.
- After the speech, the previous speaker asks 1 minute of questions.
- When finished, the student sits down and takes notes during the next speech.
- The student questioner hands their notes to the judge after their questioning block — notes are graded too, to build listening & note-taking skills.
- Rooms hold 5–6 students with 1–2 judges each.
Finals & Awards
- 3–4 students per finals room (multiple finals rooms if needed)
- Same format as prelim rounds
- 3:30 Prep starts · 3:55 Speeches start · 4:20 Speeches end · 4:30 Ranks & points due · 4:45 Awards start
Awards
Judging & Speaker Points
Judges report each student's rank, time, speaker points, written feedback, and reason for decision (RFD). Ranks do not have to match points.
Speaker points are awarded across five categories:
| Category | What's evaluated |
|---|---|
| Delivery | Vocal variety, pacing, confidence, eye contact |
| Organization | Clear CWDI structure (Claim, Warrant, Data, Impact) |
| Answering Questions | Composure and substance when responding to the next student |
| Notes & Asking Questions | Quality of notes taken during the previous speech and questions asked afterward |
| Time | See table below — judges record the time, the ballot adds the points |
Time Points
| Speech Length | Points |
|---|---|
| 4:30 – 5:00 | 6 |
| 4:00 – 4:30 (or over 5:00) | 5 |
| 3:30 – 4:00 | 4 |
| 3:00 – 3:30 | 3 |
| 2:30 – 3:00 | 2 |
| Under 2:30 | 1 |
*These awards are for high schoolers. Middle schoolers will be awarded medals for winning their rounds.
Individual Prizes
The Adversarial Champion and the Congress Champion will each get a Coolidge Cup qualification.
School Sweepstakes
Debaters earn points individually. The top 3 scores from each school contribute to that school's sweepstakes total. (If schools bring more than 3 students, we may increase the number of contributors.)
How Points Are Earned
| Category | Points |
|---|---|
| Speaker points (per prelim round) | 1–6 pts |
| Winning a 3v3 round (per debater) | 3 pts |
| Congress 1st–9th place | 9 down to 1 pt |
| Best Legislation 1st–5th place | 5 down to 1 pt |
| Finals points | Up to 12 pts |
Submit a Nomination
Admin Login
Sign in with your director account to manage registrations and nominations.