The Coolidge League at the Luddy Schools is a regional debate league in North Carolina and the mid-Atlantic, open to all high schoolers and middle schoolers. While it is a joint project of the Coolidge Foundation and the schools founded by Robert L. Luddy (the Thales Academies, Franklin Academy, and St. Thomas More Academy), tournaments welcome students in grades 6 through 12 from any school willing to travel to them.

Overview of the Tournament
Date: Saturday, March 7, 2026.
Times: A detailed schedule will be available soon. Check-in starts at 8:00 AM, the morning seminar begins at 8:30 AM, and the awards ceremony concludes by 4:15 PM.
Format:Coolidge 2v2 “Doubles” Debate.
Location: Franklin Academy High School, 648 Flaherty Avenue, Wake Forest, NC, 27587.
Eligibility: All students in grades 6 through 12.
Cost: Registration is free and includes lunch for debaters and judges.
Registration: Students from Luddy schools and other teams attending as official representatives of your school will be registered by your coach on Tabroom. Independent (attending without the formal support of your school) and homeschool students, please register using the below form. Registration closes Thursday, February 26, at 11:59 PM EST.
Attire: Business professional.

Resolution and Research Brief
At this tournament, students will debate our spring 2026 topic, “Resolved: The United States federal government should repeal the Wagner Act.” We have prepared a research brief to assist students in their preparation, though students are welcome to make well-researched, logical arguments beyond the material found in the brief.

Tournament Overview
Participants will begin Saturday with a topic seminar from a subject matter expert. You will debate against other teams in four rounds throughout the day, getting a chance to argue both sides of the resolution. Competitors will be paired randomly for round one and paired high-low within brackets thereafter. To clarify, this means students debate an opponent with the same win-loss record as their own from round two onwards.

We ask that you find a partner in advance and register as a team. If you do not have a debate partner, you may register solo, also known as "maverick." Such entries are discouraged but permitted and may be asked to partner with another maverick entry at the tournament officials' discretion. Maverick entries must also provide an adult judge.

All students in grades 6 to 12 from any school are invited to compete, including homeschool students and independent entries (students attending without the formal support of their schools).

Format and Style
Students will compete in the Coolidge 2v2 debate format. If you are new to debating in this league, we highly recommend reviewing our debate education resources that provideinformation about this particular format, style, and rules.

Divisions
The tournament will have three divisions: Middle School, High School Novice, and High School Open/Varsity.

• All students in grades 6-8 must enter the middle school division. Only students in grades 6-8 may compete in this division.
• High school students with no experience or minimal experience may elect to participate in the novice division. (We define a novice as a high school debater who is in their first year of any speech and debate competition.)
• High school students with experience debating in either the Coolidge Debate League or other leagues must participate in the open/varsity division. Any student in grades 9-12 may choose to enter the Open/Varsity division. Teams must compete in the division of their most experienced partner (e.g., a team of a novice and a varsity debater must compete in varsity).

Judges
We need volunteer judges for our debate tournaments! We welcome citizen judges of all types, including parents, grandparents, teachers, coaches, and other members of the community. Experience with debating or judging is not necessary. If you are interested, please take a look at our information for judges. We will hold a short judge training session on the morning of the tournament, where we will answer all your questions. Register below to volunteer as a judge.

Questions
If you have any questions about the tournament, the league, or judging, please contact Coolidge Foundation Director of Speech and Debate, Jonathan Peele.