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Deadline: Rolling Basis

The Mockingbird Scholarship

— Fall 2025 —

In order to increase equal access to speech and debate for all students in Alabama, the Alabama Branch of Outreach Debate is proud to announce the Mockingbird Scholarship, a need-based grant awarded to high school forensics programs in Alabama.

To support Alabama teams competing in local tournaments this Fall (2025), we are proud to present a budget of $2,000.00 in scholarships to be awarded to teams in need. This scholarship can be used to cover entry fees, hired judging fees, and other tournament costs.

The scholarship will be awarded to the following parties in order of priority:

  1. Small forensics programs in need of financial assistance

  2. Individual students from large and/or historically successful programs that require assistance (application completed by coach)

  3. Special circumstances at the discretion of our organization

This form is intended for coaches to complete on behalf of their team and/or individual students. Applications regarding multiple students from the same team should be entered under one submission.

For further information, please view our complete procedures and the FAQ below.

Apply:

Frequently Asked Questions

  • In most cases, Outreach Debate will write a check to the recipient school or team. If your team or school requires a different method of transfer, please state accordingly in the Additional Concerns section of the application form.

  • Yes — coaches are free to use awarded scholarships at their discretion as long as the scholarship committee determines their intended use aligns reasonably with speech and debate tournaments in Alabama.

    However, large travel cost requests may fall outside the budget of this scholarship and may not be awarded or only partially granted.

    If teams require assistance for both tournament and travel costs, we still encourage coaches to list both in their itemized list in the application. Requesting a large sum does not jeopardize an application as a whole.

  • Our scholarship committee consists of former and current members of the executive board of Outreach Debate. The committee reflects the following policies:

    1. Students and coaches from Alabama are strictly prohibited from serving on the committee.

    2. Review of applications will be blind, omitting school, coach, and student names.

    To learn more about the members of the committee, view our complete procedures.

  • Please apply as early as possible. For teams with demonstrated need, the Mockingbird Scholarship is primarily first-come, first-served.

    We prefer that teams apply at least two weeks prior to attending a tournament so that checks can be mailed and arrive in 4-5 business days.

    Teams with demonstrated need may also apply retroactively to our scholarship to cover costs that have already been spent. The Alabama Speech and Debate Association often allows teams to pay their dues after the tournament is over. As long as an accurate invoice is provided as proof of expenditure, teams may receive retroactive scholarships.

Have additional questions or concerns?

Send us an email at info@outreachdebateal.org