Judges' Briefing: Took place online on 19 Nov 2024 (Download slides here and minutes here)
Senior League Draw Rounds 1/2
Schedule
Thank you for considering to apply for the 2025 German National and Development Teams.
Download this PDF from the tournament organisers for more info
Applications close: noon CEST on TUE, October 1st
Date of selections: October 12/13th 2024
Platform: Zoom
Selections will consist of: a written case, three impromptu debates, and an interview.
Who can apply:
Applications for the national team are open to all debaters who attend a school in Germany and will be 14 years or older in July 2025. Younger students may be only eligible for the development squad.
What is the timeline for the selections:
- Applications close on October 1st
- The motion for the written case will be sent to you on October 1st, and you have until 8 pm CEST on October 6th to hand it in
- On October 9th, we will send out the invitations for the interview. Notice that this step is new
- All other tasks (impromptu debates, interview) will be completed during the selections weekend.
A detailed schedule and additional information will be sent to applicants via e-mail.
What you should expect:
The selections process will consist of three impromptu debates, a 15 minute interview, and the submission of a written case (argument ideas for a motion).
To make the application process as accessible as possible, selections for the national team will be held online this year using the video conference app Zoom.
We will be selecting debaters for both the National Team and the Development Team. The National Team will attend the World Schools Debating Championships (WSDC) in July 2025. They are set to be held in Panama City, Panama.
A large part of the training sessions and tournaments that both the national team and the development squad attend will be held online, although we will attend in-person tournaments wherever possible. Please bear in mind that these might clash with school commitments. However, we will try to limit the impact on schooling as much as possible.
If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch at
National Team Coaches: Kieren Schmidt, Samuel Scheuer, Gabrielle Lin
Development Team Coaches: Leander Mathissen, Leonie Lehmann
Development Team Coaches: Leander Mathissen, Leonie Lehmann
Schools wishing to participate in Junior League and/or Senior League in the new school year can now register at http://www.schoolsdebate.de/index.php/register-for-events.
Junior League is open to teams of students in grades 9 and below, while Senior League is intended for students in grades 10 and above. You may find more information about the tournaments here.
Junior League 2024/25 is organised by Kiara Schembs, Salah El Kaleh, and Franziska Mohr. They can be reached via e-mail to
Senior League 2024/25 is organised by Sunny Lorenz, Leander Mathissen, Caroline Pottgiesser and Alex Seitz. They can be reached via e-mail to
NOTE: SUGGESTIONS FOR PREPARED MOTIONS ARE ACCEPTED UNTIL OCT 5!
We rely on your suggestions to select balanced and interesting motions. Please submit your suggestions using this form: https://forms.gle/6h5rRAAbZiYzWU9V9.
These are the relevant dates for the leagues:
Both Leagues:
Registration - Sun, Sep 1 - Sat, Oct 5 2024
Release of Prepared Motions - Sun, Oct 13 2024
Judges Briefing - Tue, Nov 19 2024 (evening, online)
Senior League:
Rounds 1/2 - Sat, Nov 30 2024
Rounds 3/4 - Fri, Jan 31 2025
Würzburg Weekend, Rounds 5-8 + Octofinals - Mar 21-23 2025
Finals - Sat, May 31 2025
Junior League:
Rounds 1/2 - Fri, Jan 17 2025
Rounds 3/4 - Sat, Feb 15 2025
Rounds 5/6 - Fri, Apr 4 2025
Finals Weekend in Tübingen - Jun 27-29 2025
Registration will close Oct 5, 2024 for both leagues.
A new version of the tournament rules has been released in accordance with the decisions made at the 2023/24 Senior League Annual Meeting.
Changes include the adoption of conferral judging in Senior League, provisions for the power pairing algorithm, and various clarifications regarding participation fees, eligibility for the break, and other matters.
The updated document can be found here. Changes compared to the previous version are highlighted in green.
This E-Mail has been sent to all member schools of DSG on 22nd JUL 2024
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Dear Coaches,
another school year comes to a close, so we want to give you an update both for the season this year and the one next year.
1. Winners
Congratulations again to all the teams who made it to the Finals Day (15th June 2024) in Senior League and Finals Weekend (5th-7th July 2024) in Junior League.
Senior League 2023/24 was won by Goethe-Gymnasium Karlsruhe against the Runner-Up from Parler-Gymnasium Schw. Gmünd debating the motion TH prefers a world in which the concept of money was never invented.
Junior League 2023/24 was won by Goethe-Gymnasium Emmendingen against the Runner-Up from Karls-Gymnasium Stuttgart debating the motion THBT friends are more important than family.
2. Dates for the Upcoming Season:
Both Leagues:
Registration - Sun Sep 1 - Sat Oct 5 2024
Motion release - Sun Oct 13 2024
Judges Briefing - Tue Nov 19 2024 (evening, online)
Senior League:
1/2 - Sat Nov 30 2024
3/4 - Fri Jan 31 2025
WüBu - Mar 21-23 2025
Finals - Sat May 31 2025
Junior League:
1/2 - Fri Jan 17 2025
3/4 - Sat Feb 15 2025
5/6 - Fri Apr 4 2025
Finals - Jun 27-29 2025 (Tübingen)