STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Georgia Forensic Coaches Association (GFCA) hosts multiple State Championship tournaments each spring, giving Georgia’s top speech and debate students the opportunity to compete for a state title. The Varsity State Championships feature the best competitors statewide, with only the top 10% qualifying to attend. GFCA also offers a First & Second Year State Championship to recognize emerging talent, a dedicated Student Congress State Championship, and a Supplemental Speech State Championship designed to expand access through an asynchronous format. Together, these championships celebrate excellence, achievement, and opportunity across all GFCA-governed speech and debate events.
Varsity State Championships
Since 2011, the Association has held a Varsity State Championships for all events. Every spring, the top students from all over Georgia travel to debate current events, speak their message and share stories.
The 2027 Date Will Be Announced Spring 2026
Over 1,100 students competed in speech and debate during the 2024-2025 season, but only the top 10% qualified to compete at the Varsity Speech & Debate State Championships. Simply earning a spot at state is a remarkable achievement—bringing home a trophy signifies excellence among Georgia’s best.
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GFCA Member Schools may enter up to four debate entries and six speech entries in each event at the Varsity State Championships, subject to the school providing judges to cover their entries. Entries must have attended at least two tournaments hosted by schools in Georgia. For a full breakdown of eligibility rules for this tournament, you can read the Constitution & By Laws.
For more questions regarding qualifying to the State Tournament, email the Director of Operations.
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October 15: Tournament Location Announced
December 1: Lincoln Douglas Topic Announced by the National Speech & Debate Association
December 15: Registration opens on Tabroom.com.
January 1: Public Forum Topic Announced by the National Speech & Debate Association.
1 Week Before Tournament: Registration closes; All registration materials are due. This includes entry details, dietary restrictions, and judges you will bring to the tournament with completed and updated judge paradigms.
Week of Tournament: Mutual Preference Judging Sheets open in all debate events. School Eligibility Forms are due.
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JUDGE QUALIFICATIONS
For the Varsity Speech & Debate State Championship, all judges must be adults and no longer enrolled in high school and meet criteria as established below.
In order to be eligible to judge Policy Debate at the Varsity Speech & Debate State Championship, individuals must have judged at least four (4) rounds at the middle school and/or high school level in Policy Debate since June of the year before the state tournament and at least (8) rounds at the middle school and/or high school level in Policy Debate in the current and/or preceding school year.
In order to be eligible to judge Lincoln-Douglas Debate at the Varsity Speech & Debate State Championship, individuals must have judged at least (8) rounds at the middle school and/or high school level in that debate event in the current and/or preceding school year.
In order to be eligible to judge Public Forum Debate at the Varsity Speech & Debate State Championship, individuals must have judged at least (8) rounds at the middle school and/or high school level in that debate event in the current and/or preceding school year.
In order to be eligible to judge Individual Events at the Varsity Speech & Debate State Championship, individuals must have completed requisite NSDA Judge Accreditation modules as determined by the Executive Committee by the start of the State Championship.
In order to be eligible to judge Student Congress at the Varsity Speech & Debate State Championship, individuals must have completed requisite NSDA Judge Accreditation modules as determined by the Executive Committee by the start of the State Championship.
JUDGE ENTOURAGE RULE
At the Varsity Speech & Debate State Championship, any adult attending the tournament that contributes to the competitive debate effort in Policy, Public Forum, or Lincoln Douglas for a school must be entered into a judge pool for a minimum of two preliminary and/or elimination rounds; for Speech, anyone attending the tournament that contributes to the competitive effort for a school must be entered in the judge pool for a minimum of one preliminary round or elimination round. This includes any volunteers contributing debate or speech work. If the judge’s rounds are included in their team's obligation owed, the judge will be obligated for elimination rounds. This rule does not apply to coaches contributing to the running of the tournament as determined by the Director of Operations. Parents (who are not also coaches) do not need to be in the pool. Any school found violating this rule will lose their judge bond and mutual judge preferences will be removed for all competitors.
JUDGE OBLIGATION
Because this is a State Championship and we want to guarantee the best possible, see the bylaw below (3.2.5.2)
At the Varsity Speech & Debate State Championship, judges fulfilling a school’s obligation are obligatedtwo full roundspast that school’s exit from the tournament in that judging pool.The round obligations are for preliminary rounds only.All judges are obligated for the first two elimination rounds unless covered by additional judges in missing timeslots. If judges need to be timeblocked, other judges should be entered to fulfill that timeblock obligation. For example, if a school owes 6 rounds of policy debate for a 5 round preliminary tournament, the school would need to supply two judges to fulfill those preliminary round obligations and both judges would be obligated to judge at least the first two elimination rounds. If a judge cannot cover the elimination round obligation, an additional judge should be supplied to cover that obligation.
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Payment is due by the start of the tournament. There are two ways to pay:
1) You can pay electronically via this website through our store.
2) You can mail a check (or deliver at registration):
Richard Bracknell
GFCA Director of Finance
201 Trojan Drive
Carrollton, GA 30117
First & Second Year State Championships
Since the early 2000’s, the Georgia Forensic Coaches Association has held a First & Second Year State Championship. In 2011, they expanded the event to include all speech & debate events governed by the state. Hosted early in the spring, the tournament offers younger students the opportunity for their own chance at winning a State Championship.
The 2027 Date Will Be Announced Spring 2026
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All dues-paying member schools are eligible to send students to the First & Second Year State Championship. There is no official qualification metric however there are restrictions on who can enter based on experience level. For a full breakdown of eligibility rules for this tournament, you can read the Constitution & By Laws.
First Year Division Eligibility: Students may only compete in the “first year” division in the school year in which they entered their first high school speech or debate division in Georgia.
Second Year Division Eligibility: Students may compete in the “second year” division in their first or second year of high school speech and debate divisions in Georgia.
Can middle school students enter the First & Second Year State Championship?
Yes! Seventh and eighth grade students can enter the First & Second Year State Championship understanding that their entry uses their eligibility for high school speech and debate divisions and thus, would not be eligible for divisions the following year.
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October 15: Tournament Location Announced
December 1: Lincoln Douglas and Public Forum Topics Announced by the National Speech & Debate Association
December 15: Registration opens on Tabroom.com.
1 Week Before Tournament: Registration closes; All registration materials are due. This includes entry details, dietary restrictions, and judges you will bring to the tournament with completed and updated judge paradigms.
Week of Tournament: Mutual Preference Judging Sheets open in all debate events. School Eligibility Forms are due.
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Payment is due by the start of the tournament. There are two ways to pay:
1) You can pay electronically via this website through our store.
2) You can mail a check (or deliver at registration):
Richard Bracknell
GFCA Director of Finance
201 Trojan Drive
Carrollton, GA 30117
Student Congress State Championships
Since 2011, the Association has held a State Championship for Student Congress. Every spring, the top students from all over Georgia travel to debate current events, speak their message and share stories.
March 14, 2026 2027
Woodward Academy
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GFCA Member Schools may enter up to eight entries in Congress at the Varsity Speech & Debate State Championship. Schools can enter more students on a waitlist and we will allow them based on overall numbers. Due to the supplemental nature of this event there is no entry qualification rule.
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Payment is due by the start of the tournament. There are two ways to pay:
1) You can pay electronically via this website through our store.
2) You can mail a check (or deliver at registration):
Richard Bracknell
GFCA Director of Finance
201 Trojan Drive
Carrollton, GA 30117
Supplemental Speech State Championships
Hosted after the main event State Championships, the Supplemental State Championship exists to provide all students and all schools an accessible state championship. Held completely asynchronous, the tournament provides benefits for students looking for practice for supplemental events at Nationals or students who were unable to attend the traditional State Championships. Whether its date conflicts or financial barriers, asynchronous opportunities open the door for many schools and students who may not be able to participate.
March 24-29, 2026
Asynchronous Recordings
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All dues-paying member schools are eligible to send students to the Supplemental State Championship. There is no official qualification metric to qualify for an event. For a full breakdown of eligibility rules for this tournament, you can read the Constitution & By Laws.
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What are the events and are there resources?
The Supplemental State Championship exists to provide access for students to practice events they may do at Nationals. We’ve linked any resources we have to coaching these events underneath. We will continue to add as we approach the tournament.
After Dinner Speaking - a 8 minute humorous speech with the goal of advancing a relevant point while entertaining an audience.
Declamation - a 10 minute presentation of someone' else’s work. Offered as a main event at the NCFL Grand National Tournament.
Expository - a 5 minute informative speech without a visual aid. Offered as a supplemental event at the NSDA National Tournament and NIETOC.
Original Spoken Word Poetry - a 5 minute original poem through the creative arrangement of words through their sound ,rhythm and meaning. Offered as a supplemental event at the NSDA National Tournament.
Prepared Commentary - a 5 minute speech responding to societal, political, historic or popular culture events. Offered as a supplemental event at the NSDA National Tournament.
Pro Con Challenge - a 10 minute presentation of arguments for and against a topic. The 2024 topic is “Resolved: The State of Georgia should establish an independent redistricting commission to draw its Congressional district boundaries.”
Poetry Interpretation - a 5 minute performance of poetry. Offered as a main event at the Tournament of Champion and the NCFL Grand National Tournament; and, as a supplemental event at the NSDA National Tournament and NIETOC.
Prose Interpretation - a 5 minute performance of thought through language recorded in sentences and paragraphs including fiction and non-fiction. Offered as a main event at the Tournament of Champion and the NCFL Grand National Tournament; and, as a supplemental event at the NSDA National Tournament and NIETOC.
Radio Broadcasting - a 3 minute thematic radio news broadcast meant to inform and/or entertain an audience.
Storytelling - a 5 minute performance of a story intended for children. Offered as a supplemental event at the NSDA National Tournament.
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Payment is due by the start of the tournament. There are two ways to pay:
1) You can pay electronically via this website through our store.
2) You can mail a check (or deliver at registration):
Richard Bracknell
GFCA Director of Finance
201 Trojan Drive
Carrollton, GA 30117