You and your squad are cordially invited to attend the Derby High School Panther debate tournament on Friday - Saturday, Nov. 9-10, 2018. Each school will receive 6 entries in each division with a judging obligation of one “qualified” judge per two teams entered in Novice and JV. We will also host an Open division on Saturday ONLY, but judging will be provided by mostly parents of our students.

The goal of this tournament will be to allow Novice and JV teams an opportunity to debate in front of experienced judges. That means that judges in novice may be current 3rd or 4th year debaters, but they should be experienced with flowing and they should expect to hear counter-plans and Kritiks from the novice teams. They should be mature enough to provide thoughtful POSITIVE written feedback after the round, while understanding that these are novice teams trying to learn this style of debate. There will be a required judges meeting prior to round one for all novice judges. All judges will be required to enter a judging paradigm on Tabroom. This will also be a valuable experience for your 3rd-4th year students. We will use electronic balloting.

JV judges should also expect to hear some rapid delivery and complex arguments. This means adults who will be capable of evaluating the round and providing helpful feedback to the debaters after the round. These judges should have past experience in coaching, debating at the varsity level, or have enough knowledge about this style of debate to be a qualified critic. Parents should NOT judge in JV division! The tournament reserves the right to remove judges from the pool who do not meet this criteria and remove two teams from that school's entry unless a replacement is provided. VERBAL DISCLOSURE OF THE DECISION AND EXPLANATION OF VOTING RATIONALE WILL BE REQUIRED IN JV. All judges will be required to enter a judging paradigm on Tabroom and have a linked account. We will use electronic balloting in JV and Novice

JV is any team comprised of two individuals in which this is the second year of policy debate for BOTH members. Novice debaters may be placed in JV, but are really encouraged to consider the novice division. KSHSAA Deviation: We will allow teams comprised of a 3rd year debater and a novice. This should not be used to gain a competitive edge, but instead should be a team who will gain a learning experience from debating in JV.