2024 Events
UIL HS CX District Tournament - January 11
HS Workshop - January 20
MS Workshop - January 27
HS Tournament 4 - Feburary 10
MS Tournament 4 - February 24
HS Tournament 5 - March 2
TFA State (Houston) - March 7-9
UIL HS CX State (Austin) - March 15-16
MS Tournament 5 - March 23
UIL HS Speech/LD - April 5
UDNC (Chicago, Illinois) - April 12-14
MS City Championship - April 13
HS City Championship - April 27
Parrish Debate - TBD - May
Summer Day Camp - June 3-6
NSDA Nationals (Des Moines, Iowa) - June 16-21
Coaches should register teams on Tabroom by Thursday of the week before the event (9 days in advance).
Instructions for Tabroom can be found here. If you are a new coach, contact Gabe.sanchez@dallasurbandebate.org - we will set up your account for you.
If you fail to register by the published deadline, we cannot guarantee space for your students. After the deadline passes, we have to make logistical arrangements for the number of teams entered.
Information About Events
Debate tournaments are the heart of Dallas Urban Debate programs, and are typically held on Saturdays throughout the school year. Tournaments provide debaters an opportunity to put their advocacy, research, and critical thinking skills to the test by competing with teams from other DISD schools in an effort to convince a judge of their position. By practicing, winning or losing, reworking positions, adding new evidence or creating different arguments, debaters discover a paradigm for learning about any subject, however simple or complex.
We host 4 types of events each semester:
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Workshops - which introduce students to debate skills and strategies;
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Scrimmages - which give students a low-pressure opportunity to hone their arguments and strategies before competition begins in earnest;
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Tournaments - which are the core of our programs, and pit pairs of students from different schools against each other to advocate for their beliefs in a competitive setting;
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Championships - which are longer and more rigorous than tournaments. Students are allowed to engage in their own research at the varsity level these events, and we strive to bring in unique, topic-expert judging. Year-long awards will also be given at the Spring City Championship.