Dear Debate Coach:

You and your debaters are cordially invited to the annual Topeka West High School Invitational Debate Tournament. Our tournament will be held OCTOBER 19-20. We will have JV and open divisions. We will try to provide some time-keepers in the open division, but debaters in both divisions should bring their own time-keeping devices.

The tournament format will be 5 preliminary rounds, 2 on Friday and 3 on Saturday and out-rounds in the open division, and in the JV division a 5-round Saturday-only tournament. The JV division will be limited to first and second year debaters. Please note our 3:00 registration and 3:30 Round One start time, and plan your arrival time accordingly.  Registration will be in the library, which is right up the hill from the circle drive of the east (Fairlawn Rd) parking lot..  You may corral your debaters in the cafeteria. There will be signs to direct you when you arrive campus.

Schedule:

Friday, October 19

Registration in the library - 3:00

Round 1 - 3:30

Round 2 - 5:00

Saturday, October 20

JV Round 1/Open Round 3 - 8:00

JV Round 2/Open Round 4 - 9:45

JV Round 3/Open Round 5 - 11:15

Sweeps, breaks announced - 1:00

JV Round 4/Open Quarters - 1:30

JV Round 5/Open Sems - 3:00

Open Finals - 4:30

Appropriate medals and trophies will be awarded in room for the Open Division. JV awards will be presented to the coach in the tab room.

A sweepstakes trophy will be awarded to the school with the most wins by not more than four teams, including at least two teams in open division.

We expect all teams to have two persons. “Mavericks” will not compete for wins or awards. Only teams composed of the same two debaters for all five preliminary rounds are eligible for elimination rounds.

Entries will be accepted first from schools whose tournaments we attend, then from schools who invite us to attend, then on the basis of order of entry.

Due to room constraints, we are capped at 65 teams – a maximum entry of 4 will be granted; others will be “extras.” Flint Hills schools will be granted 5 entries. Extras will be awarded first to Flint Hills schools and schools that give us extras, then on a first-come first-served basis.

Entry fees will be $5.00 per team unless you charge more. In that case, entry fees for you will be whatever you charge. Entry fees will be owed for all teams entered, including any cancelled after October 15.  For your fee you will find judges in all rounds who are at least high school graduates and who have previous experience debating/judging or are level-headed adults. We expect to continue the tradition of running an on-time tournament in a pleasant atmosphere. We look forward to hosting you this year.

Matt Baer

785-845-0283   

Topeka West High School