Virginia District Qualifier

for the 2026 National Tournament

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Virginia District Tournament (National Qualifier) Information

When, Where, Schedule…
The Virginia District Tournament will be held the weekend of FRI February 6th and SAT February 7th. The tournament will be held at James River High School, which is located at 3700 James River Rd, Midlothian, VA 23113. The tentative schedule is posted HERE. The plan is for Congress to be held during the school day on FRI, while speech and debate preliminary rounds to be held FRI evening into SAT morning, followed by eliminations. Please also know that we are expecting record numbers for competition this year, particularly in Congress. In the event that this “problem” affects our host’s ability to conduct Congress sessions during the school day, we will communicate an alternate plan of action/ locations as soon as possible.

Eligibility and Registration…
To be eligible to compete, every school must have an active paid membership through the NSDA. Each student competing must have earned a minimum of 25 points in the honor society, and have a paid individual membership. Additionally, each student must have their own personal accounts through tabroom.com and speechanddebate.org. These accounts must be linked and synced with your school’s primary account. I recommend you complete these items early to ensure your eligibility.

Registration fees are $30 per student per entry… Meaning a team of two students will cost $60, or a student who is double-entered would cost $60, etc. Entry fees will cover student meals (FRI Lunch for Congress competitors, and FRI Dinner / SAT Lunch for all competitors), and hospitality for all registered coaches and judges. The number of entries allowed per school is determined by your school’s strength. Information about determining your strength and allotment of entries can be found HERE beginning on page 90.

Registration for this tournament will open at 8am on Tuesday January 6th. Schools must register their teams via Tabroom. All registrations are due by 5pm on Friday January 30th.

If your school needs a W9 to cut checks, it can be found HERE. An invoice can be printed from your tabroom.com dashboard after your registration is complete. Please bring payment with you to registration.

Congress Information…
Every school must submit at least one piece of legislation (but no more than two) to cover their entries in student Congress. Unlike VHSL, there are no topics given ahead of time for student Congress- so students may author bills and resolutions on topics of their choosing. Any legislation submitted should follow the format/ templates provided HERE. Legislation that does not follow the provided formats, or contain dilatory information or excessive formatting, grammatical, and spelling errors may be withheld from the docket.

Additionally, we are unable to accept submissions directly from students. Any legislation submitted should be audited, edited for format, and approved by a coach on record (from an email listed on tabroom.com) before submission.

Legislation should be submitted to scott_mckeag@ccpsnet.net no later than 9pm on WED 1/21.

Lincoln-Douglas Information…
The tournament will utilize the Jan/Feb NSDA topic- Resolved: The possession of nuclear weapons is immoral.

Public Forum Information…
The tournament will utilize the Feb NSDA topic- Resolved: The Federal Trade Commission should establish a federal regulatory framework for sports betting.

Policy Debate Information…
The tournament will utilize the annual NSDA topic- Resolved: The United States federal government should significantly increase its exploration and/or development of the Arctic.

Big Questions Debate…
The tournament will utilize the annual NSDA topic- Resolved: Moral systems rooted in theism are preferable to non-theistic moral systems.

Changes to Extemp…
This year, the Virginia District will comply with the NSDA pilot program regarding the use of notecards during extemporaneous speaking rounds. More information regarding this rule/ program can be found in the organization’s Unified Manual found HERE on pages 63-64. Like Congress, Extemp in the NSDA does not publish tournament-specific topics areas ahead of time.

Judging Burdens and Requirements…
As you already know, we are heavily dependent on support from the community to make our activities possible. Because of this, we will strictly enforce our judging requirements for this tournament. Each school must bring the required number of judges to cover their entries. Judges should be qualified individuals, who are flexible and capable of judging multiple categories (debate judges should be willing and capable to judge all debate categories, and speech judges should be willing and capable of judging all speech categories). Judges will be expected to be present and onsite for the entirety of the tournament.

Judging obligations are as follows: Every school must provide 1 judge for:
Every 2 entries of Lincoln-Douglas debate, or fraction thereof
Every 2 entries of Policy debate, or fraction thereof
Every 2 entries of Public Forum debate, or fraction thereof
Every 5 entries of Congressional debate, or fraction thereof
Every 5 entries of Speech events, or fraction thereof

The Virginia District will also comply with NSDA’s request for judges accreditations. We are encouraging schools to begin this process for any potential volunteers that you may bring to fulfill the tournament’s judging obligations. Judges must complete all four Level 1 accreditations. These can be found on one’s tabroom.com account. Once logged in, click your email address, then select the blue box labeled “judge certifications” underneath JUDGING on the right hand side of the screen.

Balloting will occur digitally in all events. Judges must bring a laptop or similar connectable device in order to officiate rounds. Additionally, in order to view postings and receive feedback- all students, coaches, and judges must have accounts at tabroom.com that are linked to the school’s primary account.