How to Qualify for the Washington State Speech & Debate Tournament

How does Washington Speech & Debate Circuit Work?

The Washington Speech & Debate Circuit is known publicly as the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA). The WIAA circuit has a set of competitive tournaments that they host every year, which you can find here.

When and Where are WIAA Tournaments?

WIAA local tournaments typically occur on the weekends (occasionally including Friday) from the middle of October to the end of March and occur all throughout the state at venues, such as The Bear Creek School, Ephrata High School, and Tahoma High School.

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

The Washington Speech & Debate State Tournament offers the following events for competition: Congressional Debate, Lincoln Douglas Debate, Public Forum Debate, Policy Debate, Dramatic Interpretation, Duo Interpretation, Extemporaneous Speaking, Humorous Interpretation, Impromptu Speaking, Informative Speaking, Original Oratory, DOI, and Spoken Word.

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

To qualify for the WIAA State Tournament, your school must have met a set list of requirements: competed twice in at least one event by the second week of December, paid their district dues on time and in full, and notify their district chair of their intent to compete after that second tournament. Assuming that your school has met the aforementioned requirements, you must qualify in your local district for the state tournament. There are six total districts in Washington. 

How to Qualify for Speech Events

To qualify for the WIAA State Tournament in Speech events, you must reach a specified elimination round of a WIAA-sanctioned tournament. WIAA specified the elimination round that you must reach based on the specific elimination round that such a sanctioned tournament breaks to and/or awards placements to. WIAA typically awards state qualification bids to the first break elimination round. If you successfully break to the first break elimination round or place for an award at such a WIAA sanctioned tournament, you are awarded a state qualification bid. However, a singular qualification bid does not qualify you to the state tournament directly. WIAA sets a district limit on how many student teams can participate in the state tournament from each district. If there are too many Speech teams that have qualified, teams with multiple state qualification bids are preferred. Any remaining qualifiers typically participate in the district’s runoff tournament to determine who qualifies to participate at the state tournament.

How to Qualify for Debate Events

To qualify for the WIAA State Tournament in Public Forum Debate, you must reach a specified elimination round of a WIAA-sanctioned tournament. WIAA specifies the elimination round that you must reach based on the size of the specified division at such a tournament. The elimination round guidelines are as follows: sixteen (16) or fewer entries (finalists), seventeen (17) to thirty (30) entries (semifinalists), thirty-one (31) to forty-five (45) entries (quarterfinalists), and forty-six or more entries (first elimination round). If you reach the specified elimination round at a WIAA-sanctioned tournament, you earn one (1) qualification bid to the state tournament. However, a singular qualification bid does not qualify you to the state tournament directly. WIAA sets a district limit on how many student teams can participate in the state tournament from each district. If there are too many Public Forum Debate teams that have qualified, teams with multiple state qualification bids are preferred. Any remaining qualifiers typically participate in the district’s runoff tournament to determine who qualifies to participate at the state tournament.

How to Qualify for Congressional Debate

Contrary to other debate events, Congressional Debate uses a season-long points system as their qualification process to the WIAA State Tournament. The points system is as follows: 10 (ten) if you place from first (1st) to third (3rd) place, 7 (seven) if you place from fourth (4th) to sixth (6th) place, 5 (five) if you place from seventh (7th) to twelfth (12th), and 3 (three) if you place 13th or lower. However, this points system is only used when there is a final round of Congressional Debate at a WIAA state sanctioned tournament. If there is not a finals round, the following system is used, in alternative: 7 (seven) points if you place from first (1st) to third (3rd) in your preliminary chamber, 5 (five) points if you place either fourth (4th) or fifth (5th) in your preliminary chamber. However, both of these points systems may vary at a minor level from district to district. Overall, the top 5 (five) point scorers qualify to the WIAA State Tournament directly. Any student with at least 20 (twenty) points throughout the season is eligible to participate in the district runoff tournament, which will fill the remaining competitor slots.

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!