Summit Summer '26 Scrimmage
2026 — NSDA Campus, US
Tournament Invitation
Tournament Invitation can be Found Here:
https://tinyurl.com/SummitSummerScrimmage
Divisions
LD & PF offers two divisions: Open and Novice. Novice is limited to students in middle school or students with no more than one year of competitive high school experience. World Schools, Speech, Extemp, and Congress are offered in open division only.
Events Offered
Debate (Synchronous, NSDA Campus)
Lincoln–Douglas | Public Forum | World Schools
Speech (asynchronous)
Original Oratory | Informative | Program Oral Interpretation | Prose | Poetry |Humorous Interp | Dramatic Interp |Declamation
Limited Prep (asynchronous)
Extemporaneous Speaking | Congress Sponsorship Challenge
Format & Schedule
Debate: Lincoln–Douglas, Public Forum, and World Schools Debate
Four synchronous preliminary rounds on Friday, August 7, at 10:00 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 3:00 p.m., and 6:00 p.m. ET
LD & PF will use the September/October topic, released on Aug. 1
World Schools will use the following topics:
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Round 1 & 2: Motion: This House would ban prediction market platforms. Info Slide: Prediction market platforms allow people to wager based on the predicted outcome of future events, such as elections, economic trends, sports results, or world events (eg Kalshi, PredictIt, Polymarket). Users profit if their predictions are correct.
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Round 3 & 4:Motion: This House prefers a world where advanced AI systems were never developed (e.g., ChatGPT and development since).
Speech
Competition is asynchronous. Students record and submit video entries by Thursday, August 6 at 5:00 p.m. ET. Ballots are due back Saturday, August 8 by 12:00 p.m. ET. All entries receive three rounds of critique; any event with 12 or more entries will advance to a final round. Events with fewer than 4 entries may be combined with a similar event style (for example, Open Interp, Open Public Address, or Open Limited Prep).
Extemp & Congress
These events follow a modified, limited-prep asynchronous format. Topics and legislation are posted Thursday morning and are due back by 8:00 p.m. ET that evening; students are encouraged to use no more than 30 minutes of prep time per speech. For Congress, students select a total of three topics and submit a three-minute speech for each, either affirming or negating the chosen bill. One bill will be used per round.
Fees
|
Public Forum |
$25/team with a judge provided — $75/team without |
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Lincoln–Douglas |
$15/entry with a judge provided — $50/entry without |
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World Schools Debate |
$30 /team with a judge provided — there are no hired judges for WSD |
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Speech |
$10/entry with a judge provided. Speech judges can be hired for $10 per entry |
|
Extemp & Congress Limited Prep |
$10/entry Speech judges can be hired for $10 per entry |
Students who attended a Summit online camp session in speech or debate compete free of charge.
Entry fees can be paid via Zelle (jenny@summitdebate.com) or Venmo (@Jenny-Cook-17) or Revolut (@jenny_cook).
Key Dates:
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Video Entries (Speech, Extemp, Congress) Due: Thursday, August 6 at 5:00 p.m. ET
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Legislation & Topics Posted: Thursday, August 6, 5:00 AM ET
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Debate Rounds: Friday, August 7, beginning at 10:00 a.m. ET
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Ballots Due Back: Saturday, August 8 by 11:00 a.m. ET
Entry & Eligibility
Entry is free to all students attending Summit's Online camp cohort but open to all students grades 5-12.
Judging
Teams must provide 1 judge for every 2 entries in all debate events or 1 judge for 4 entries in speech. There are hired judges available in LD, PF, and Speech events.
All judges must be at least 18 years of age and have graduated from high school and must complete the NSDA Intro to Speech or Intro to Debate certification, depending on what they are judging.
Prizes and Recognition
Certificates will be available for all entries. The top entry in each event will receive a choice of gift card as a prize. More details will be provided once the total number of entries are confirmed at the close of registration.