Debate is the League’s longest-running contest, dating back to 1910. A small group of debate coaches met in Abilene and enthusiastically began an interscholastic forensic program to motivate their students and provide them with a practical application for the skills they were developing. It was then that UIL was born. Ten teams representing ten divisions of the state competed in the first state tournament. Over one hundred years later, the UIL Cross-Examination Policy Debate State Meet is celebrated as the largest high school debate tournament in the nation.
At the first state meet, educators voted to add declamation as a state-qualifying contest. Since that time, the League has expanded speaking competition to include two debate contests, two public speaking contests and two oral performance contests and congress. Thousands of students from across the state of Texas compete each year in Cross-Examination Debate, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Congress, Extemporaneous Informative Speaking, Extemporaneous Persuasive Speaking, Prose Interpretation and Poetry Interpretation.
Speech & Debate News & Updates
UIL MS Debate
Do you have middle school students that want to learn about argumentation and debate?
Would you like to get a feeder program for CX Debate started in your middle school that could strengthen your high school program?
Are you interested in providing debate competition at your middle school invitational or district meet?
See the resources designed especially for UIL Middle School CX Debate!
An Overview of the Fall 2024 Lincoln Douglas Debate Resolution
Whether we reside in rural or urban areas, the necessity for food is universal, making the Fall UIL topic a crucial exploration of American agricultural practices and their effects on both human and animal welfare. This topic invites a values-based analysis, encompassing environmental justice, the ethical provision of food, the protection of quality of life, and animal rights, among others. A fundamental step in addressing this topic is to define “agroecology.” According to the Soil Association, a UK-based organization advocating for alternatives to industrial farming, “Agroecology is an umbrella term that covers lots of agricultural practices that you may be more familiar with, like organic, biodynamic or permaculture. Organic farming is a form of agroecological farming. All organic farmers are required to meet a strict set of standards. These standards guarantee higher animal welfare, fewer pesticides and antibiotics and no GMOs [genetically-modified organisms]. Organic practices also support more jobs on farms, healthy soil and more on-farm” (https://www.soilassociation.org/causes-campaigns/a-ten-year-transition-to-agroecology/what-is-agroecology/). Therefore, affirmative cases are likely to emphasize the health benefits of rejecting GMOs, the promotion of animal welfare by opposing confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs), or environmental protection through the reduced use of pesticides and herbicides. Conversely, negative cases may argue that industrialized agriculture is essential for feeding a growing global population, that intensive farming methods protect the environment by producing more food on less land, or that well-regulated CAFOs can effectively balance animal welfare with minimal environmental disruption.
Fall 2024 LD Debate Topic
The 2024 Fall Lincoln Douglas topic is now posted.
Speech Events:
UIL Writer’s Study Report becomes National Policy Topic for
2024-2025
by Jana Riggins - Jan. 26, 2023 (State Director of Speech, Debate, Congress)
High school debaters during the 2024-2025 forensic season will research and debate the topic area developed by Winston Churchill Director of Debate coach Preston Stotle. “The United States federal government should significantly strengthen its protection of domestic intellectual property rights in copyrights, patents, and/or trademarks.”
Stotle spent nine months developing and later defending before the National Federation of State High School Associations’ national debate topic selection committee his study report.
Five topic areas were selected by the committee in August to be placed on a national ballot in October. The results of that initial vote narrowed the selection down to two debate areas: nuclear weapons reduction and intellectual property rights. Thirty-eight states and four national organizations participated in the voting process that ultimately selected Stotle’s topic by a vote of 25-17.
Speech and Debate: Opportunity Should be Provided for All Students
by Mellessa Denny - Oct. 26, 2017 (UIL Coach, Amarillo HS)
Debate is an essential opportunity that should be provided to all students. Studies and professional opinions touting the benefits of participation in speech and debate, also known as forensics, are easily found. Students develop skills in research, critical thinking, organization, persuasion and communication.
Speech and debate students see tangible benefits from participation while in school – confidence in speaking situations, spontaneity in interviews, improved writing in other courses, diverse perspectives. These skills also benefit the student after high school.
Annual speech coach registration
Should be completed at the beginning of each school year.