How to run a debates league

Most one-day tournaments take the form of a league competition. The top two teams from the league stage then go forward to the grand final.

• A team should be given a point every time it wins a debate. Teams that top the league are the teams with the most points at the end of the league stage (eg after each team has debated three times)
• Every team does not need to debate against every other team. Tournament organisers can have the teams debate as many or as few times as they feel appropriate.
• When the teams only compete a few times (eg in a one-day competition where there are 12 teams but only three debates) it may end up that several teams end up on the same number of wins.
• To stop lots of teams ending up with the same number of wins, organisers should try to allocate teams that have done similarly well. For example, teams that won their first debate should debate each other in the second round.
• At the end of the league stage, there may still be teams on the same number of points (eg there may be three teams who have won all three of their debates). In this situation, to decide on the two teams progressing to the final, organisers will need to look at the marks the judges gave the individual speakers throughout the tournament and see who got the most individual points.