Winter Debate Symposium 2026

Feb 14, 2026 · BP

The field

Average

A standard open. Solid competition with a mix of experience levels.

57 teams (This edition), 69 teams (2025)

Motions

Winter Debate Symposium 2026 (2026)8 motions

Round 1THP major league sports use single elimination rather than best of series playoff format.
Round 2This house believes that international development institutions (e.g. the World Bank) should not finance natural resource extraction projects in corrupt states
Round 3THBT "I'm the Prize" feminism has done more harm than good
Round 4This house regrets the commercialization of spiritual wellness practices (i.e. meditation retreats advertising healing crystals nature rituals and other practices traditionally used by indigenous cultures etc.)
Round 5This House opposes the glorification of good citizenship
SemifinalsTHBT Japan should revise Article 9 of the Constitution
Grand FinalTH, as Gen Z, would erase the narrative of Generational Blame in forwarding advocacies.
Novice FinalsThis house believes that post-colonial states should emphasise their pre-colonial history and culture as opposed to focusing on the impacts of colonialism in their history curricula.

What gets set here

Social & Identity38%

Sport13%

International Relations13%

Religion13%

Politics13%

Education13%

Practice Social & Identity motions ›Read: Generating arguments ›

You vs this tournament

What gets set here, next to how you have scored on each category across your own imported rounds.

Social & Identity · 38% of motions hereno rounds on record yet
Sport · 13% of motions hereno rounds on record yet
International Relations · 13% of motions hereno rounds on record yet
Religion · 13% of motions hereno rounds on record yet
Politics · 13% of motions hereno rounds on record yet
Education · 13% of motions hereno rounds on record yet

This week's plan

Built from what this tournament sets most. Import more tabs and this plan tunes itself to your weak spots.

0 of 7 done. Ticks save on this device.

T-7Read the roomGo through this page once so nothing on the day surprises you.
T-6Work through "Generating arguments"Foundations for Social & Identity motions, the biggest slice of what gets set here.Open the lesson ›
T-5Prep sprint: one Social & Identity motion, 15 minutes, full caseMechanism, actors, weighing. Time it like the real thing.Pull a motion ›
T-4Case-prep past motions this tournament actually setStart with: THP major league sports use single elimination rather than best of series playoff format.Motion archive below ›
T-3One practice round with a partner or clubmateAsk for a Social & Identity motion and your weaker bench.
T-2Second sprint: SportPull a motion ›
T-1Light review and logisticsReread the numbers above, check the schedule, sleep. No new material the night before.

Breaking here

16% of teams break

Teams usually guarantee their break on 11 points.

Break on speaks? Average at least 75.9.

Last edition: 9 of 57 teams broke.

~??% estimated break chance

??.?–??.? estimated speaker score

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Break categories

This tournament runs a separate break for each category. From the most recent edition:

Open break9 teams
Novice break6 teams

How scoring works here

75.3 avg speaker score

Most speakers land between 73.9 and 76.7.

This is 0.2 points above tournaments of similar calibre.

What finishing high has taken:

Top speaker pace 78.6

Top-10 pace 76.6

Top-20 pace 76.0

Median average speaks at each finishing spot, across 1 edition.

Comparable: Tilburg Open 2026 (75.3), Munich Open 2026 (73.6)

Top speeches

The highest individual speaker scores recorded at this tournament.

Debater	Speech	Motion	Score
Sudarshini G.	DPM	THBT "I'm the Prize" feminism has done more harm than good	81
Shadman C.	OW	This house believes that international development institutions (e.g. the World Bank) should not finance natural resource extraction projects in corrupt states	80
Honshooja	PM	THBT "I'm the Prize" feminism has done more harm than good	80
Nethra R.	DLO	THBT "I'm the Prize" feminism has done more harm than good	80
Krish P.	LO	THBT "I'm the Prize" feminism has done more harm than good	80
Gazi H.	DPM	This house believes that international development institutions (e.g. the World Bank) should not finance natural resource extraction projects in corrupt states	80
Soumyabha D.	MO	This house believes that international development institutions (e.g. the World Bank) should not finance natural resource extraction projects in corrupt states	80
Rubaiyat S.	PM	This house believes that international development institutions (e.g. the World Bank) should not finance natural resource extraction projects in corrupt states	79
Daksh G.	GW	This house believes that international development institutions (e.g. the World Bank) should not finance natural resource extraction projects in corrupt states	79
Abdul B.	MO	This house believes that international development institutions (e.g. the World Bank) should not finance natural resource extraction projects in corrupt states	79
Fabianus W.	GW	This House opposes the glorification of good citizenship	79
Vikramaditya G.	DPM	THP major league sports use single elimination rather than best of series playoff format.	79

Scout a CA

Search for a Chief Adjudicator to see what topics they tend to set and review past motions.

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Prep with these too

Same kind of motions, same kind of field. Worth running through their past motion sets too.

Kasiyana Open 202573% topic match
UNSW Sports IV 202560% topic match
15th NALSAR Debating Championship 202556% topic match
Amsterdam Open 202555% topic match
Nova Open 202651% topic match