How to Qualify for the Pennsylvania State Speech & Debate Tournament

How does the Pennsylvania Speech & Debate Circuit Work?

The Pennsylvania Speech & Debate circuit is known as the Pennsylvania High School Speech & Debate League (PHSSL). The PHSSL circuit has a set of competitive tournaments that they host each year, which you can find here.

When and Where are PHSSL Tournaments?

PHSSL local tournaments typically occur on the weekends (occasionally including Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday) from mid October through late March and occur all throughout the state at venues, such as Gettysburg High School, Peters Township High School, and Neshaminy High School.

What competitive events does the Pennsylvania Speech & Debate State Tournament offer?

The Pennsylvania Speech & Debate State Tournament offers the following events for competition: Congressional Debate (House & Senate), Extemporaneous Debate, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Parliamentary Debate, Policy Debate, Public Forum Debate, Commentary, Dramatic Interpretation, Duo Interpretation, Extemporaneous Speaking, Humorous Interpretation, Impromptu, Informative Speaking, News Broadcasting, Persuasive Speaking, Poetry Reading, Program Oral Interpretation, Prose Reading, and Storytelling.

How to Qualify for the PHSSL State Tournament for Each Event?

Contrary to other states, every Speech & Debate event has the same qualifying methodology in Pennsylvania. There are two ways to qualify for the PHSSL Speech & Debate State Tournament.

The first way is to qualify is through your district tournament. Currently, there are fifteen (15) competitive Speech & Debate districts in Pennsylvania and are as follows: district 1 (Mercer, Lawrence, Butler/Venango), district 2 (Butler, Armstrong, northern Allegheny), district 3 (southern and southwestern Allegheny County), district 4 (Westmoreland, Fayette, and Indiana), district 5 (Somerset, Bradford, Fulton), district 6 (central Pennsylvania), district 7 (south-central Pennsylvania), district 8 (northeastern Pennsylvania), district 9 (Susquehanna Valley), district 10 (Philadelphia suburbs), district 11 (eastern Pennsylvania), district 12 (Bucks and eastern Montgomery), district 13 (Cambria, Blair, Laurel Highlands), district 14 (Chester and Delaware), and district 15 (Pittsburgh and immediate suburbs).

Each of these competitive districts will host their own independent district tournaments throughout the competition calendar. To qualify for the PHSSL Speech & Debate State Tournament, you must attend your district tournament (the district that you compete in) and reach a certain elimination round. The elimination round that you must reach is based on the amount of entries in your particular event at the district tournament. The guidelines are as follows: two (2) qualifiers if fewer than ten (10) entries, three (3) qualifiers if there are ten (10) to twenty (20) competitors, and four (4) qualifiers if there are more than twenty-one (21) entries.

The second way to qualify is through a qualification bid system. To qualify through this method, you must accumulate at least three (3) qualification bids to the PHSSL State Speech & Debate tournament. You must also earn these bids at tournaments that meet the following pre-requisites: have at least three (3) rounds in your particular event, at least three (3) schools participating in your particular event, and at least five (5) competitors in your particular event. To earn a bid, you must reach a certain elimination round. The elimination round that you must reach is based on the entry count of the specific division. The guidelines to do so are as follows: five (5) to nine (9) entries (one (1) bid), ten (10) to sixteen (16) entries (two (2) bids), seventeen (17) to twenty-three (23) entries (top (3) bids), twenty-four (24) to thirty (30) entries (four (4)), thirty-one (31) to forty (40) entries (top five (5) bids), forty-one (41) to forty-nine (49) (top six (6) bids), fifty (50) to sixty-nine (69) entries (semifinalists), and more than seventy (70) (quarterfinalists). Earning three (3) bids successfully based on the above criteria qualifies you for the PHSSL State Speech & Debate Tournament.

How to Prepare 

If you’ve read all the way until here, you have started to wonder: how do I prepare? There are multiple ways to do so, from running practice rounds with your teammates and other members of your community to spending countless hours revising your scripts to ensure that they are ready for competition. What’s important is that you remain consistent! 

Outside of working with your peers, receiving consistent coaching is key to success. A great option can be programs like Civic Debate Academy’s National Debate Club, which provides access to a team of students with similar goals, robust coaching, preparation materials, and practice rounds. If you want to learn more, click here!