Tournament of Champions

Dr. Patterson founded the "Tournament of Champions" in 1971 with the intention of bringing together the best debaters in the United States and creating an event that would serve as the pinnacle of the high school debate season.

The first year of the Tournament 64 teams, 128 students in total, traveled to Lexington, Kentucky from all over the country to compete in Policy Debate.

Over the years, the Tournament has expanded to include competition in three more divisions: Lincoln-Douglas Debate (added in 1986), Public Forum Debate (added in 2004), and Congressional Debate (added in 2005).

 

In addition to four divisions of debate, the Tournament has also added a large number of individual speech events.

In the spring of 2020, the "Tournament of Champions" once again pioneered a new path in the world of speech and debate as the host of the first virtual national competition at a either high school or college level.