Absolutely not! While many of our families are home schooled, we have participants from public schools and charter schools. All are welcome!
Community judges are any adult in the community that is willing to help judge one or more rounds of a tournament. Parents, grandparents, librarians, pastors, etc. all make great judges. Start by inviting them. If they are willing to learn more or are ready to sign up, send them to our website and ask them to click on the ‘Judges’ link.
No matter the type of tournament, the dress standard is the same: Dress For Success! For young men, that looks like a collared shirt, slacks and a tie. For young women, that looks like slacks or a skirt paired with a blouse or a dress. All participants are to be clean and well-groomed.
Joining is easy. Click on the link at the top of this page that says ‘Join.’ That will take you to the registration page where you can provide the necessary information and pay the fee. The fee is paid annually and covers the cost of meeting space and club operations.
We always start with a student-led devotional that involves a thought, quote or scripture. Next we receive instruction about speech writing and debate techniques. We spend the rest of the time writing and/or practicing.
There is an annual fee to participate with Inspire Gilbert Speech and Debate. This fee covers the cost of meeting space and club operations. For 2025-2026 the registration fee is $300 per family. Each family also needs to affiliate with ASDA (our parent organization). That fee is currently $50 per family per year. In addition to annual registration fees, tournaments will have separate fees based on which events a student is competing in.
Each tournament requires many volunteers. Parents serve as staff and judges at tournaments. Parents also stay as chaperones and students cannot compete without an adult present at tournaments.
Participants are divided into these categories by age. Anyone 12-18 yrs old is Varsity level. Those 11 yrs old and in sixth grade can choose to compete in Juniors or to move up to the Varsity level. Those under 12 are Juniors. Varsity participants can compete in both speech and debate categories. Juniors only participate in speech. Varsity students judge the Juniors competitions.
You can start with any style, but many participants start with Original Oratory (OO). This is a prepared speech about any topic that is important to you.
If you are interested in limited preparation speeches, you can start with Impromptu of Belief & Values. You get your topic when you come into the room and get several minutes to prepare a short speech.
Memorized speeches are the goal for every student. The scores in a tournament are reduced for using a script. Memorizing is a skill that is developed as students participate and practice.
In the speech and debate world, we have a lot of abbreviations. Here are some you will likely hear:
Memorizing is a skill that anyone can learn. Practice, practice, practice. Some people read their speech everyday and start anticipating what word comes next. Others record themselves and then listen to it over and over again. There no one ‘right’ way…use what works best for you. Go one line at a time and work your way through your speech. When you feel like you are close to having it memorized, practice giving the speech to your family or friends.
All the rules can be found in the ASDA Handbook. Here are a few important ones:
ASDA is unique among speech leagues for being the most inclusive. Students of any faith and school tradition are welcome to compete, based on age affiliation requirements.
ASDA is also a lower-cost option than most speech and debate leagues, making it an affordable option for all families.
Yes. Many people include religious topics, but it is not in any way required. Remember that part of your goal is to connect with the judges and to have them understand your speech. If you use jargon or ideas unique to your religion, you may want to consider also giving an explanation so the judges can follow your ideas or meaning.
This varies a lot by person and by the type of speech. If you are competing in a prepared speech category, you are encouraged to write a speech about something you feel strongly about. You will have weeks to prepare and write your speech. As you go through competitions, you can make small edits and changes based on judge feedback. Your speech will likely continue to evolve until just before the final competition.
On the other hand, if you participate in an limited-preparation event, you will be limited to several minutes to prepare your speech. While this may sound scary, it is a challenge that many find fun. During club time we practice the skills that will help you prepare a limited-preparation speech with confidence.
Seven. Not all events are offered at each tournament. You can find out before hand which events are offered during registration and then choose which ones to enter.
Here are some of the speech events for 2025-2026:
Tournaments usually take place on a Friday evening from 5 pm – 9 pm and all day Saturday, 7 am – 7 pm approximately. During a tournament, speech and debate rounds alternate. If you have prepared a platform speech, you will give the same speech in multiple rounds, for a different set of judges each round. For limited preparation, you will get a new topic for each round and have new judges. If you are competing in debate and speech, you will busy throughout the entire tournament and will need to bring food and snacks, plus water bottles. You may order food to be delivered to the tournament site, but you may not leave the tournament to purchase food as the rounds are scheduled back to back.
Parents stay throughout the duration of a tournament. They perform staff duties and are also judges. Each competitor actively recruits community judges before each tournament they compete in.
Tournaments may also include a social after the awards ceremony, often called a ballot party. The ballot party is an opportunity to connect after the tournament, while reviewing judge feedback together, and have fun in a casual atmosphere.
Parents are involved in multiple ways. At our in-person club, parents learn alongside their kids. They give feedback, they keep their students accountable of assignments and help them through the writing process.
During a tournament, at least one parent is needed on site for the duration of the tournament to help judge or work a staff position. Oftentimes more than one parent is needed to judge during a tournament.
In a tournament, you are limited to no more than 3 speech events. You are allowed to select different speech events at different tournaments during the same school year. If you want to prepare more than three, you will need to compete in more tournaments and select different events for different tournaments.
At the National Championship Tournament, you may compete in any event that you qualified for. This means that if you qualify for all seven speech events, you can compete in all seven.
The end of year showcase is an opportunity for our club to show the community what to expect from competitive speech and debate. This is a recruiting tool we use and also a celebration of all the growth the students had from club. Anyone is welcome to come watch the showcase.
There are two types: Lincoln-Douglas and Team-Policy.
Accordion Content
Preparing for a debate takes a significant amount of time. The topic or policy for the year is release at the end of the previous year. Many participants spend months researching and understanding the topic or policy so that they are prepared to argue various positions during the upcoming year.
Before a tournament, parents may be able to help you research, understand and make sense of an argument. One you form your own arguments, parents may be sounding boards to help you practice your debate skills.
At a tournament, parents are needed to help judge various debate rounds as well as volunteer in other areas of the tournament.
Debate tournaments are highly structured. There are multiple rounds for each category. As you progress through the tournament, you will be assigned to various rooms depending on what category you participate in and how well you did in the previous round. If you don’t have a scheduled room, you can free to observe your peers. This can be a great way to get exposure to other categories or to get tips and tricks for next time.
Each tournament also includes a social (usually before the tournament starts) and a showcase (after the judging has concluded). These are opportunities to connect and have fun.
There is no right or wrong answer. Participate in whichever category resonates with you. Lincoln-Douglas debates values, while Teen Policy debates policy changes. Both have similarities and differences, so jump in a try one out.
The end of year showcase is an opportunity for the winners of the tournament to perform a modified version of their winning debate for everyone. Participants are expected to listen quietly and respectfully to their peers. This is a terrific opportunity for participants to see what it takes to win a national competition. Pro Tip: take some notes of what you want to incorporate into your debate for next year.
ASDA’s official rules can be found in the association handbook. Here is a snippet of the rules:
At a tournament, you are limited to one debate category.
