Welcome to the pinnacle of parliamentary debate excellence: the National Tournament of the National Parliamentary Debate Association. This prestigious event brings together the finest collegiate debaters from across the nation to showcase their skills, intellect, and passion for discourse. Held annually, the NPDA National Tournament offers participants a platform to engage in rigorous argumentation, persuasive advocacy, and intellectual exchange. With a tradition of fostering camaraderie and sportsmanship, this tournament embodies the highest standards of competitive debate while celebrating the diversity of thought and expression. Join us as we crown champions and shape the future of parliamentary debate at the national level.
2026 National Tournament
The 2026 NPDA Championship Tournament will be held at Mercer University in Macon, GA
The tournament will be held from February 28th – March 3rd, 2026. Please see the official 2026 NPDA Championship Tournament invite below for additional information.
2026 Topic Submissions
The 2026 NPDA Topic Committee is soliciting topic suggestions for the 2026 NPDA Championship Tournament. While the Topic Committee retains full discretion for the final choice and wording of topics, we welcome the community’s suggestions and will review all submitted topics for consideration to be included in this year’s tournament.
This year’s Topic Committee is NPDA President Adeja Powell, Tournament Director Dalton Richardson, Kevin Cummings of Mercer University, and Ben Reid of McKendree University Alumnus. The Topic Committee will be prioritizing topic balance across 3 areas: U.S. International Relations, U.S. Domestic Policy, and Non-U.S. Actors. The NPDA Topic Committee will only consider policy resolutions.
Topic submissions should take great care to consider stable topic wording, an even division of ground, and researchability. Topic submissions do not need to be accompanied by a formal topic paper; however, topic submissions that display strong adherence to the minimum requirements listed above will be more likely to be considered for use at the national tournament.
Please send topic submissions to 2026NPDATopics@gmail.com. The deadline for topic submissions is Friday, February 20th by 5pm EST.
2025 National Tournament Results
Past National Tournament Champions
| Year | Team | School |
| 2025 | Alexa Grechishkin & Isabel Mathy | Whitman College |
| 2024 | Tristan Keene & Brenna Seiersen | Parliamentary Debate at Berkeley |
| 2023 | Tristan Keene & Brenna Seiersen | Parliamentary Debate at Berkeley |
| 2022 | Jacob Tate & Maximus Renteria | Rice University |
| 2021 | Amanda Miskell & Ryan Rashid | Parliamentary Debate at Berkeley |
| 2020 | Mitch Deleel & Adeja Powell | McKendree University |
| 2019 | Co-champions: Jessica Jung1 & lila lavender2/Tom Kadie1 & Henry Tolchard1 | Parliamentary Debate at Berkeley1/Western Washington University2 |
| 2018 | Kyle Bligen & Jazmine Buckley | Mercer University |
| 2017 | Co-champions: Ryan Kelly & Kaitlyn Bull/Will Starks & Quintin Brown | Washburn University |
| 2016 | David Hansen & Katelyn Johnson | William Jewell College |
| 2015 | Matt Casas & Anthony Joseph | Kansas City Kansas Community College |
| 2014 | Joshua Rivera & Benjamin Campbell | Southern Illinois University Carbondale |
| 2013 | Josh Rivera & Mike Selck | Southern Illinois University Carbondale |
| 2012 | Lauren Knoth & Josh Ramsey | Washburn University |
| 2011 | Hank Fields & Matt Gander | University of Oregon |
| 2010 | Brian Horton & Adam Testerman | Texas Tech University |
| 2009 | Max Alderman & David Pena | University of Nevada, Reno |
| 2008 | Kristen Owen & Anthony Putnicki | Texas Tech University |
| 2007 | Tim Kamermayer & Griffith Vertican | Point Loma Nazarene University |
| 2006 | Josh Anderson & Rachel Safran | University of Puget Sound |
| 2005 | Ian Samuel and Marie Tenny | University of South Carolina |
| 2004 | Glenn Prince and J. D. Shipman | University of South Carolina |
| 2003 | Michael Owens & Joshua Wilkerson | University of Wyoming |
| 2002 | Ben Garcia & Chris Richter | University of Alaska Anchorage |
| 2001 | Danny Barak & Will Trachman | University of California, Berkeley |
| 2000 | Ryan Kennedy & Jacob Stutzman | Truman State University |
| 1999 | Geof Brodak & Bill Herman | Colorado State University |
| 1998 | Heath Curtis & Rebekah Gilbert | Concordia University, Seward |
| 1997 | Dan Nelson & Marcus Paroske | Regis University |
| 1996 | Ryan Levy & Scott Ruthfield | Rice University |
| 1995 | Meredith Marine & Neal Sample | University of Wyoming |
| 1994 | Marcus Paroske & Tammy Schultz | Regis University |
Past National Tournament Top Speakers
| Year | Speaker | School |
| 2025 | Rija Naqvi | Rice University |
| 2024 | Jas Liu | Whitman College |
| 2023 | Brenna Seiersen | Parliamentary Debate at Berkeley |
| 2022 | Arshita Sandhiparthi | University of the Pacific |
| 2021 | Cam Wade | Mercer University |
| 2020 | Raine McDonagh | Lewis & Clark College |
| 2019 | Fiker Tesfaye | Texas Tech University |
| 2018 | Logan Kelley | Texas Tech University |
| 2017 | Grace Miller | University of Nevada, Reno |
| 2016 | Ashe Tippins | Western Washington University |
| 2015 | Jazmine Buckley | Mercer University |
| 2014 | Marten King | Whitman College |
| 2013 | Miranda Morton | Whitman College |
| 2012 | Ben Reid | McKendree University |
| 2011 | Max Alderman | University of Nevada, Reno |
| 2010 | Will Van Treuren | University of Colorado, Boulder |
| 2009 | MaryAnn Almeida | Willamette University |
| 2008 | Kevin Calderwood | Southern Illinois University Carbondale |
| 2007 | Ryan Lawrence | University of California, Berkeley |
| 2006 | Joelle Perry | Western Kentucky University |
| 2005 | Marie Tenny | University of South Carolina |
| 2004 | Ian Samuel | Truman State University |
| 2003 | Kyle DeBeer | Colorado College |
| 2002 | Audrey Mink | California State University, Long Beach |
| 2001 | Katie Angliss | Point Loma Nazarene University |
| 2000 | Andrew Vogt | Colorado College |
| 1999 | Bill Herman | Colorado State University |
| 1998 | Daniel Nelson | Regis University |
| 1997 | Marcus Paroske | Regis University |
| 1996 | Ryan Levy | Rice University |
| 1995 | Nick Coburn-Palo | Weber State University |
| 1994 | Andrea Roth | University of New Mexico |
NPDA Distinguished Service Award Winners
- Konrad Hack, Concordia University Irvine (2018)
- Joe Gantt, Lewis & Clark College (2021)
- Zach Schnieder, McKendree University (2022)
- Shannon LaBove, Rice University (2024)
- David Worth, Rice University (2025)
NPDA Coach of the Year Award Winners
- Adeja Powell, Mercer University (2025)