2019 Coolidge Cup championship round debaters Ezra Schrader (left) and Joshua Anumolu (right)
Overview
The Coolidge National Debate Tournament Series provides educational competition opportunities throughout the academic year, culminating in the Coolidge Cup National Championship each summer during the week of the Fourth of July. Sponsored and administered by the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation, each of the tournaments in this series serve as a qualifying opportunity for the Coolidge Cup. To qualify and prepare for the Coolidge Cup, students are encouraged to travel to and attend as many tournaments in the series as possible. Participation at each tournament in the series is open to students enrolled in grades 9-12 during the current academic year. Unless otherwise prohibited by state or local sanctioning bodies, schools are welcome to register for each tournament as a team and individual students are welcome to register as independent entries. The Foundation also enthusiastically welcomes and invites participants from homeschools, non-traditional school settings, and schools without formal interscholastic debate programs.
2024-2025 Coolidge National High School Debate Tournament Series
| 10/19/2024 | Coolidge Illinois Open | Willows Academy, Chicago, IL |
| 11/2-3/2024 | Coolidge Presidents’ Cup* | Coolidge House, Washington, DC |
| 12/7/2024 | Coolidge Connecticut Open at Yale | Yale University, New Haven, CT |
| 1/25/2025 | Coolidge Texas Open | Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX |
| 2/15/2025 | Coolidge Arizona Open | Trivium Preparatory Academy, Phoenix, AZ |
| 3/29/2025 | Coolidge Online Open | Tabroom.com virtual classrooms |
| 4/26/2025 | Coolidge North Carolina Open | Thales Academy Holly Springs, Raleigh, NC |
| 7/2-4/2025 | Coolidge Cup National Championship | Coolidge Historic Site, Plymouth Notch, VT |
Additional tournaments are likely to be added. Please continue to check this page for more opportunities to compete in the Coolidge debate format!
*Tournament Formats
For 2024-2025, debaters will compete in four preliminary rounds in the Coolidge 1v1 “singles” debate format at each tournament in the series with the exception of the Presidents’ Cup, which will use the 2v2 “doubles” debate format and offer five preliminary rounds.