CDA History
High school debate in Connecticut goes back over 60 years, though much of the detailed history of league names, participating schools, tournaments and debaters has been lost.
The Connecticut Debate Association in its current form was reorganized from its predecessors in 2002. We have tried to recreate as much of our history as best we can. If you have materials from past years that you would like us to archive, please email us, CDA History.
With the 2022-23 season, CDA moved to a Parliamentary debate format developed by the college American Parliamentary Debate Association. This format is used by a number of high school leagues in the US, and is similar to formats used internationally and at the college/university level. The resolutions, packets, and commentary for prior years are based on the modified policy/cross-examinataion format then in use. The change was made because the older format did not permit any connection to the wider world of debate outside Connecticut.
We have two separate pages of information for each CDA season. The Schedules/Results page provides the tournament dates, locations, invitation, packet and results. The Materials page has the resolutions debated, the research packet and additional material such as notes and commentary on the final round or topic. The Materials page also includes information from various tournaments in the Northeast relevant to the CDA style of debate that may be of interest to CDA members.