I am currently a junior in high school and am on the debate team. I was wondering whether there was a point to competing in local tournaments (Alabama-based) even if I did well. I can usually break pretty easily on the local circuit (in LD), but would you suggest listing those on a resume? If not, then there really isn’t a point in going to a bunch of local tourneys, and I can try to break on national circuit in PF. What do you suggest? If I do well on local or state competitions, should I include them in my application or just stick to bigger ones?
Also, what constitutes as a “national” tournament? Because some in Alabama and Georgia have bids, so would they count?
The amount of space on the Common App to describe (1) honors and (2) activities is pretty limited. My D was a debater. When she listed Speech & Debate as an activity, all she could squeeze into the Activity section was the offices she held on the team, brief description of what she did for the team, and the fact that she was a 2x National qualifier and TOC qualifier. There is an additional information section where you could list specific tournament awards. In her case, she just said she was a regular finalist at local tournaments. But there is no “rule” about what counts on the common app. The ad coms read tons of applications from debaters and I assume they generally know there are ordinary local tournaments, more competitive bid tournaments, state championships, and national tournaments.
You ask what is the point of going to a bunch of local tournaments? That is what gives you the experience you need to break at bid tournaments or qualify for state or nationals. Plus you should be able to rack up points for doing well at local tournaments. On her college app, my D listed the fact that she made the Premier Distinction Degree in the NSDA National Honor Society and got the NSDA Academic All American Award. Both of those required having earned a lot of points by doing well at local tournaments.