Tournament History

The First and Second Year National Championships began as the brainchild of Paula Nettles, Woodward's former Director of Debate. After departing Parkview High School for Woodward in 1987, she inherited a fall invitational tournament that attracted a sizable field of competitors from throughout the region. Identifying the need for competitive opportunities in the spring semester for younger debaters, however, Nettles moved the tournament to March and billed it as the Georgia First and Second Year Championships. Teams from outside Georgia quickly began requesting invitations and before long the tournament had grown into a true National Championship.

The inaugural First and Second Year National Championship tournament was held in 1988. Since then, it has been held every spring (except in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced its cancellation). The 2021 and 2022 tournaments were hosted online, but competitors returned to Woodward's campus in 2023 for the 35th annual tournament.

Year-by-year results (including champions, runners-up, and top speakers) are listed on our team website. More complete results for policy divisions from the pre-Tabroom.com era areavailable here. Results from the Tabroom.com era are available by searching "Woodward" on Tabroom. If you have results we're missing, please email debate@woodward.edu.