Support the league
The league covers what it can. Topic packets, curriculum, scheduling, NSDA charter membership, and every student's honor society membership come at no cost to a school or a family. What we cannot do on our own is put a judge in every round or reach every school that should have a team.
Every round needs someone to listen to students make their case and decide who made it better. That is what a judge does.
You do not need any speech and debate background. We train every judge before they sit in a round, and the training covers both events, what to listen for, and how to give students feedback they can use.
A meet runs two to three hours. Most are after school and a couple fall on Saturdays, across a season that runs January through March with a half-day championship at the end. You can judge one meet or all of them.
The first season starts in January 2027, so dates and training are still being set. Tell us you are interested and we will let you know when they are.
Judge at a meet
Bring your workplace or group
Many employers give staff time for community service, and many community organizations look for projects worth doing. Judging a meet fits either one. It takes a single afternoon, the training is short, and a group can cover several rounds at the same meet.
We would rather talk than send a proposal. If your workplace or your organization might support the league with volunteer hours, funding, or both, get in touch and we will work out what fits.
Know a school we should reach?
The hardest part of starting a league is the first conversation with a school. If you know a principal, an assistant principal, or a teacher at a Los Angeles middle school, an introduction from you does more than anything we can send them cold.
Make a Gift
Everything the league provides is free to the schools that join. Topic packets, curriculum, scheduling, judges, NSDA charter membership, and every student's honor society membership come at no cost to a school or a family. Keeping it that way, and reaching more schools across Los Angeles, is what funding pays for.
Gifts go to the National Speech & Debate Association, which is a 501(c)(3), so they are tax deductible as allowed by law.
Not all of it has to be money. Snacks at a meet or awards at the championship are both useful, and in-kind support can go to a specific meet or a specific school in a way a cash gift cannot.
If you want to support a particular school rather than the league, we cannot route that through the NSDA, but we can put you in touch with the right person at the school.
The NSDA's donation page has a field for noting a specific fund. Write NSDA Middle School League of Los Angeles there, so they know the gift is meant for the work here.
Let us know if you give. Once you leave for the NSDA's page we have no way of knowing, and we would like to thank you.