Minnesota Debate Teachers Association
Jamboree / Debate Season Opener
Wayzata High School
Saturday, September 22, 2018

Welcome to the 2018-2019 Debate Season!  Since 2011, the Minnesota Debate Teachers Association has sponsored the "MDTA Jamboree" to serve as a season opener for the debate community.  This tournament is more than just a tournament - there are demonstration rounds and teaching sessions for novices, as well as training sessions to educate adults that are new to judging.  

TOURNAMENT BUILDING MAP

Tournament Overview

We will offer Varsity, JV, and Novice divisions in Policy Debate, Public Forum, and Lincoln-Douglas Debate, and an open division of Congressional Debate.  Junior Varsity entries should be in their second year of debate. YOU ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO REGISTER YOUR SECOND YEAR DEBATERS IN THE JUNIOR VARSITY DIVISION INSTEAD OF VARSITY. While this decision is ultimately up to each school, a major goal of this tournament is to solidify the foundation for a true JV division that will allow debaters to grow into fully developed varsity competitors.

Policy will feature three rounds of competition in JV and Varsity.  There will be three divisions of beginning debate - Novice Open, Novice Packet, and Novice Rookie - and all three will watch a "showcased" Varsity round during round 1, to be followed by a post-round discussion facilitated during round 2.  After that, there will be an opportunity for new debaters to have a round of competition.  If novice students wish to take part in the exhibition round and discussion without competing, that is fine, but there will be no structured novice activities afterward unless they compete in their respective division.  Especially with the new novice divisions, please make sure you are registering your policy entries in the correct events.

Varsity and JV Lincoln-Douglas and Public Forum will feature five rounds of competition. Novice LD/PF Novice will first watch a "showcased" Varsity round in their event during round 1, to be followed by a post-round discussion facilitated by Minnesota coaches during round 2.  After that, there will be a novice division that features three rounds of competition.  Just like policy debate, if novice students wish to take part in the exhibition round and discussion without competing, that is fine, but there will be no structured novice activities afterward unless they compete in the novice division.

Congressional Debate will feature a 30 minute "Introduction to Congress" lecture, followed by a two-hour sessions.  There will be a second 30 minute "Question/Answer" session follow by another two-hour session.

Congressional debate at the MDTA Jamboree is meant to be an educational event.  We anticipate there will be many students who are new to congress, and possibly new to school as well.  We are sharing the cards/research compiled by the students who competed at nationals.  We are also sharing links to the final rounds of congress at nationals....it is meant to be informational to help new schools and students.  You can access both legislation and research on the main page of this website.

Judge Training Clinics will also be offered for new judges in the debate community. You are invited to bring as many adults as you chose to learn about any form of debate; we will conduct separate trainings for the various events if there is a demand for it. Judges will then have the opportunity to judge a round of debate, and then use the last parts of the day to discuss the round and their ballot with experiences coaches and judges. There will be more details on this as we get closer to the tournament.

Thank you to the following coaches that will be directing our novice and judge clinics!:

Rachel Baumann, Rosemount - Policy Judge Clinic
Andy Charrier, Eastview - LD Judge Clinic
Katie Scholz, East Ridge - PF Judge Clinic

Tom Fones, St. Paul Academy - PF Demonstration Round/Novice Workshop
Celisia Stanton and Andrew Urevig, Robbinsdale - LD Demonstration Round/Novice Workshop
Jake Swede, Urban Debate League - Policy Demonstration Round/Novice Workshop

Ross Eichele, Eagan - Congress Clinic

Resolutions

Policy Debate will use the 2018-2019 topic - Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially reduce its restrictions on legal immigration to the United States.

Varsity and Junior Varsity Lincoln-Douglas Debate - Resolved: In the United States, reporters ought to have the right to protect the identity of confidential sources.

Novice Lincoln-Douglas Debate - Resolved: Civil disobedience in a democracy is morally justified.

Public Forum Debate - Resolved: The United States should accede to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea without reservations.

Congressional Debate will use legislation that will be pulled from the 2018 NSDA National Tournament.

Schedule

7:30 am School opens to competitors
7:45 am - 8:45 am Registration (in student commons)
9:00 am Round 1 CX; LD/PF (V/JV); LD/PF Observation (N)
9:00 am Intro Session Congressional Debate
9:30 to 11:30 am Session I Congressional Debate
10:00 am Round 2 LD/PF (V/JV); LD/PF Round Analysis (N)
11:00 am Round 2 Policy
11:00 am Round 3 LD/PF (V/JV); Round 1 LD/PF (N)
11:30 am Q/A Session Congressional Debate
12:00 pm LUNCH ALL EVENTS
1:00 to 3:15 pm Session II Congressional Debate
1:00 pm Round 4 LD/PF (V/JV); Round 2 LD/PF (N)
1:30 pm Round 3 Policy
2:30 pm Round 5 LD/PF (V/JV); Round 3 LD/PF (N)
4:15 pm Awards in Auditorium (All Events)


Registration

Registration is due by Wednesday, September 18th at 5:00 pm.  All fees are locked on Friday, September 21st at 5:00 PM. Please continue to send changes through Friday. On the day of the tournament, please phone any changes to Zach Prax: 952-201-0201.

 
Fees and Judges

To encourage participation, we only have entry fees in varsity and JV divisions; this is set at $12.50 per entry in any event (so, one LD entry is $12.50, and one policy entry is $12.50).  Each Congress entry is $5.00.  This means that your novice entries and judge trainees are free.

All rounds will be single flighted. That means that in all divisions, you must provide one judge per every two entries or fraction thereof. In Congressional Debate, you must provide one judge per every five Congressional Debate entries.  Judges may not cross divisions; if you have one LD entry and one PF entry, you must bring one judge in each of those events. There will be a VERY LIMITED supply of hired judges available for hire at a rate of $95 per judge. There is no guarantee of receiving a hired judge, but we will accommodate every possible request in the order of receipt.

 
Concessions

A concessions stand will be available for students will many different lunch options as well as a large assortment of snacks and drinks.  We will also have a hospitality room available for coaches and judges at the tournament.  The Wayzata Speech Team will be hosting concessions and the hospitality room for the tournament.