Start here to learn about high school debate in Illinois
Debate is an academic sport that uses arguments to earn points and win rounds. All competitors receive some topics for debate about one month before a tournament. In the weeks leading up to a tournament, each school’s debate team prepares by learning everything they can about a topic, brainstorming arguments that could be made on each side, finding expert sources for support, writing speeches, and practicing by debating each other. Tournaments are held on Saturdays at different high schools. All the schools who have been preparing to debate the topic(s) will compete against each other at the host high school. The debaters who do the best job persuading their judges win awards, and schools with many strong debaters compete for team sweepstakes awards.