The Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation is pleased to announce the 2027 Coolidge Presidents’ Cup. This two-day debate tournament will be held in November 2027 in Washington, District of Columbia. The Presidents’ Cup is one of the signature events of the Coolidge Debate calendar, bringing high school students together for team debate competition and an opportunity to qualify for the Coolidge Cup National Championship.
All competitors will need a Tabroom.com account for tournament registration. A free account may be created through Tabroom.com.
Cash Scholarship Prizes
Teams advancing to the quarterfinals will receive cash scholarship prizes. Prize amounts do not accumulate from round to round, and each team’s award will be divided evenly between its two debaters. Teams must participate in the round for which the prize is awarded to claim the prize.
Tournament Structure
The Presidents’ Cup is a two-day tournament. All teams will compete in five preliminary rounds on the first day. Competitors will be paired randomly for round one and paired high-low within brackets thereafter. Beginning in round two, teams will generally debate an opponent with the same win-loss record.
The top 16 teams will advance to single-elimination competition on the second day, provided enough teams finish the preliminary rounds with a 3-2 record or better. Elimination competition will proceed through octafinals, quarterfinals, semifinals, and the championship round.
Each debater on the top eight teams will earn an invitation and paid travel to the 2027 Coolidge Cup National Championship in Plymouth Notch, Vermont.
Topic
Coming soon.
Division
The Presidents’ Cup will have one Open/Varsity division for students in grades 9-12. Students from any school may compete, including independent entries and homeschool students.
The tournament strongly encourages two-person teams. Maverick entries consisting of a single debater may compete in the preliminary rounds but cannot advance to elimination rounds.
Format and Style
Students will compete in the Coolidge 2v2 “doubles” debate format. Those new to Coolidge Debate are strongly encouraged to review our debate education resources, which explain the format, style, and rules.
Judges
Schools, clubs, and individual students are not required to provide judges, but we encourage them to recruit volunteers. Consistent with the mission of Coolidge Debate, participating judges should emphasize clear, logical, evidence-based arguments intended to persuade a broad civic audience. Parents, grandparents, adult family members, teachers, coaches, and other members of the community are welcome to serve. Experience is not necessary, but volunteers should become familiar with the Coolidge format and its emphasis on accessible and persuasive debate. We urge those interested in serving to review our information for judges. Brief judge training sessions will explain tournament procedures and answer questions.
All competitors need a Tabroom.com account for tournament registration. A free account may be created through Tabroom.com.
Independent entries, including students attending without the formal support of a school, and homeschool entries should register using the form that will appear below. Coaches entering students as an official school team or club should register, modify, and cancel entries directly through this tournament’s Tabroom.com page.
Changes or cancellations for independent and homeschool registrations may be directed to [email protected].
All judges need a Tabroom.com account for tournament registration. A free account may be created through Tabroom.com.
Judge registration will be available through the form below.
Questions
For questions about the tournament, registration, or judging, contact Jonathan Peele, Coolidge Foundation Director of Speech and Debate.