Tournament of Champions (debate)

The Tournament of Champions (TOC) is a national high school debate tournament held at the University of Kentucky every year on the last weekend in April. The Tournament is considered the national championship of the “National Circuit,” with debaters having to apply to compete. It is considered one of the most prestigious and competitive American high school debate tournaments. The tournament uses a bid system, in which placing high enough in certain nationally or regionally respected tournaments earns debaters a bid, with at least 2 bids needed to compete. Some popular bid tournaments include Greenhill (TX), Harvard (MA), and Harvard-Westlake (CA). In addition to attaining 2 bids, competitors can automatically qualify by placing high enough at last year’s Tournament of Champions (or one of the two other national tournaments). Or, they may be accepted as an "at large entry", where they must apply to receive a bid after the season finishes.

The tournament was created by Dr. J.W. Patterson, the former director of debate at the University of Kentucky. Incepted in 1972, it serves as the pinnacle of high school debate, allowing the best debaters in the United States to compete without other, less experienced debaters affecting the rankings. Judges at the Tournament of Champions are all qualified, with none of the "lay" or "parent" judges commonly found at other tournaments. The Tournament currently holds competition in policy debate, Lincoln–Douglas debate, public forum debate, and Congressional Debate.

The Tournament of Champions is run independently by the University of Kentucky, however, it does use the rules and regulations provided by the National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA).

The Tournament of Champions was developed by J.W. Patterson, who has since performed the duties of tournament host. Patterson's previously had coaching high school policy debate at Muskogee Central High School in Oklahoma before joining the University of Kentucky However, when considering the need for another national championship tournament, he came to the conclusion that the major national tournaments in the early 1970s had three major problems: Quality of judges, internal politics and long lag times. Thus, Patterson created the tournament with the hope that his competition would redress the issues with other national championships.

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