The whole season on paper.

Charlotte Urban Debate League: program handbook

Version September 14, 2026. Everything referenced here is free at cltdebateleague.org. Questions: 704-650-2313 or info@cltdebateleague.org.

1. What a program needs

• A room and a weekly meeting time. Ninety minutes is ideal; an hour works.
• One adult who shows up. No debate experience required.
• Four students to start. Six is comfortable. Twenty is a club.
• A projector or a laptop for the timer, and paper for flows.
• A way to get to a Saturday tournament. CUDL covers this for partner schools.

Not needed: a budget for briefs, a research subscription, a coach with a competition record, or a travel fund.

2. Season calendar

Dates from the Tarheel Forensic League schedule and the NSDA, checked September 13, 2026. Releases after October 1, 2026 follow the NSDA's pattern and are expected, not confirmed. The live tracker has every tournament in the state and a calendar download.

3. Course outlines

Pick one format for year one. Each lesson runs 75 to 90 minutes and has a warm-up, instruction, a drill, a round, and homework in the full plans.

4. The first month, week by week

1. Week one. Recruit. Announcements, a table at lunch, and a personal invitation to the students who write well and never speak. First meeting: a game, then what the club will do.
2. Week two. Watch a recorded round together and flow it on printed sheets. Everyone gives a one-minute speech.
3. Week three. Read the CUDL topic primer as a group. Students draft cases in pairs.
4. Week four. First practice round, then the debrief in the practice round plan. Register for a tournament.

5. Equipment and materials list

• Printed flow sheets, two colors of pen per student.
• The speech timer on a projector, or a phone timer.
• One printed copy of the current topic primer per student.
• A shared folder for cases, blocks, and ballots that survives graduation.
• Business casual clothes for tournaments, recommended not required. Talk to CUDL if that is a barrier.

6. What it costs

At a CUDL partner school: nothing. CUDL pays entry fees, supplies coaching and materials, trains judges to meet the tournament judge quota, and arranges transportation to CUDL-supported tournaments. Without a partnership, a school typically faces entry fees per student per tournament, a judge quota or judge fees, and transportation. That gap is the reason CUDL exists.

7. Tournament day

• Confirm the roster and entries two weeks out; collect permission forms.
• Print two copies of every case, or load them on a charged device with a backup.
• Arrive when the tournament says, not when round one starts.
• Teach students to read a pairing: code, opponent, room, judge, side.
• Collect every ballot and read them all within two days.
• Thank the volunteers who judged.

The full tournament day checklist covers packing and the timeline.

8. Keeping the program alive

• Name student captains by the end of the first semester and give them real jobs.
• Train a second adult so the club survives a schedule change.
• Put a trophy in the front office and a line in the newsletter. Both recruit.
• Ask CUDL for a workshop when you hit something you cannot teach.

9. Getting help

Call 704-650-2313, email info@cltdebateleague.org, or use the schools form. A coach follows up within two business days. Partner schools get a coach in the building every week of the season at no cost.