Providing quality debate opportunities to students across Orange County and beyond, the Orange County Debate League offers 5 middle school tournaments (open to students in grades 5 through 8) each year. Schools must pay annual dues to participate, but paying dues allow the school to participate in all 5 tournaments.
Information regarding our middle school tournaments can be found below. Should you have questions regarding the tournaments, please contact us questions: info@ocdl.org.
Feel free to share tournament information with others.
Tournament Dates for the 2020-2021 Middle School season:
Workshop – September 19
Scramble – October 24
Holiday Tournament – December 5
Winter Classic – January 30
Spring Tournament – March 13
OCDL Championship – May 15
OCDL and mspdp championship resolutions:
- The pandemic lockdowns have done more good than harm
- Eliminate school gifted and talented programs
- Saudi Arabia is more an enemy than an ally to the United States
- Amend the US Constitution to permit a recall of the President (OCDL Final Round Topic)
Guidelines and OCDL Rules of Judging:
Each tournament will be 4 rounds and follow a modified parliamentary format. Download the OCDL middle school debate guide here to learn about modified parliamentary debate.
Judging Requirement:
The OCDL asks all teams to provide one judge per two teams attending the tournament, with a minimum requirement of 1 judge. Judges provided by each school must be certified. Lay judges will be NOT be allowed. Formal training and certification is offered at each tournament and workshop.
