Liberty University Debate Tournament

November 5-7, 2021

Liberty University, Lynchburg, Virginia

Format:

Topic: Resolved: The United States Federal Government should substantially increase prohibitions on anticompetitive business practices by the private sector by at least expanding the scope of its core antitrust laws.

Sanctioning: The tournament will be sanctioned by the ADA and CEDA and will be run in accordance with their rules. The most recent copy of the ADA rules can be found at https://americandebateassociation.com/standing-rules/.

Hybrid Format: We will host a hybrid tournament with both in-person and online entries. Rounds 1 and 2 will prioritize pairing in-person teams against one another and placing in-person judges in those debates. In power-matched debates, pairings and judge placement will happen as usual with no distinction between in-person and online teams and judges.

In-person judges will be provided a room for debates where one or more of the teams are online. In debates where one team in in-person and the other is online, judges will watch the debate from the judge’s room but can go to the room of the in-person team to reveal and discuss the decision.

Schools attending in-person will be provided with a squad room for the duration of the tournament. You are welcome to use that room to eat, work, and hangout.

Preliminary rounds: There will be six preliminary rounds. Rounds one and two will be pre-set. Rounds three through six will be power matched. Three divisions of debate will be offered: novice, junior varsity, and open.

Elimination rounds: An appropriate number of elimination rounds will be offered in accordance with the ADA rules and based on the size of the tournament. We anticipate breaking ½ of each division or 16 teams in each division, whichever is smaller.

Observation/Recording: Recording rounds, releasing videos, or videos without prior permission of the participants is prohibited. For online debates, debaters and judges should have their cameras on at all times whenever possible. Anyone registered as a debater or judge on tabroom is allowed to watch any debate unless the participants ask them to leave. Anyone not registered as a debater or judge must get prior approval from each participant before being allowed to watch the debate. This includes parents, high school students, and coaches who have zero judging commitment.

In-person Tournament Safety: At present, Liberty University does not have a vaccine or mask requirement for guests. We will notify tournament participants should that change. However, for the safety of all tournament participants we ask that you wear masks inside except when in your assigned squad room and when debating.

We will provide competition rooms large enough for both teams and the judge to maintain physically distance. For the safety of all participants, observers will be allowed online but will not be allowed in physical competition rooms. During elimination rounds, teams are welcome to use their assigned squad room to virtually observe debates.

All competition rooms, squad rooms, and food will be in DeMoss Hall. We will do our best to keep the entire tournament on the 4th floor, but we will likely have to use rooms on other floors, particularly on Friday. All snacks will be individually wrapped and all food will be boxed or served by people wearing masks and gloves. We ask that food be eaten in your squad room, in your assigned debating rooms, or in a covered area we will provide on the lawn behind DeMoss Hall.

Entries:

Eligibility: Eligibility for participation in each division is governed by ADA and CEDA rules. In cases where eligibility rules between the ADA and CEDA differ, the more restrictive rule will be applied. Our intent is to ensure that the novice and junior varsity division are eligible to earn both ADA and CEDA sweepstakes points.

Definition of a Debate Team: For the purposes of ADA tournaments, a debate team is defined as the two-person team that begins the first round of the tournament and who debate together throughout the course of the tournament. If one of the debaters of a team cannot debate in any given round, that round will be forfeited. To debate in a round is defined as to give one constructive speech and one rebuttal. Speaker points in forfeit situations will be averaged, but the team forfeiting is ineligible to clear to elimination rounds if speaker points are the determining factor for their clearing. The debate may still occur for educational purposes. However, that team will still be eligible for speaker awards and elimination rounds. Hybrid teams are allowed at the discretion of the tournament director and are allowed to clear to elimination rounds at the discretion of the tournament director. A tournament’s policy on hybrid teams must be indicated in the tournament invitation.

Hybrids: Hybrid teams may participate in preliminary rounds and are eligible to clear.

Deadline: Please enter the tournament by November 2, 2021 using tabroom.com. After that date e-mail entry changes directly to Nick Ryan (nryan2wc at gmail).

Tournament Registration: Please email nryan2wc at gmail when you start your travel to Lynchburg to confirm that there are no changes to your tabroom entry. If you are paying by credit card, please call Tina Gilbert at (434) 582-2080 before 5pm on Friday, January 24 to pay your entry fees. If you are paying with cash or check, you can stop by the tabroom during the tournament.

Judging:

Entry Requirement: Each school must provide 3 rounds of qualified judging for each team entered in the tournament.

Please use tabroom to coordinate your hired judging. The tournament will have a limited number of rounds per available for hire at $50 per round. If you need to hire judges, please enter early.

All judges will be required to judge through the quarterfinal elimination round or one round after your last team is eliminated whichever occurs later.

Judge philosophies, as a precondition of entry, must be posted to judges’ Tabroom.com accounts no later than November 2. Judges are expected to have significant prior experience with policy debate. If a judge does not have significant prior experience with policy debate, they are ineligible to judge without advanced permission from the tournament.

Judge Placement: Judges will be placed using mutual preference in all divisions in a manner consistent with ADA and CEDA rules.

Speaker Points: We will use a 30 point scale with .1 increments. No ties are allowed.

Decision Time: In preliminary rounds, judges are expected to render a decision within 2:15 of the announced start time. In elimination rounds, judges are expected to render a decision within 2:30 of the announced start time. At debate tournaments conducted online the time given to render a decision may be expanded by time allotted to resolve technical difficulties. If a judge needs to take additional time following a delay because of technical difficulties (Tech Time), the judge should promptly communicate the need to delay and the amount of time of the delay to the tournament tab room staff. If the judge is unable to make a decision within the appropriate time parameters for that round, the tab room should randomly decide a winner by coin flip.

Fees and Awards:

Awards: Awards will be provided to the top sixteen teams and the top ten speakers in each division. We will mail the awards to online participants at the conclusion of the tournament.

Fees: The tournament is free to all participants, whether online or in-person.

Food:

For those attending in-person we will provide dinner on Friday, Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner on Saturday, and Breakfast and Lunch on Sunday.

32ndLiberty University Debate Tournament

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

(All Times are Eastern)

Friday, November 5 (All Times are Eastern)

2:45 pm - Verify all your participants are online and ready (DIGITAL BUS)

3:00 pm - Round 1 & 2 Pairings

3:10 pm - Round 1 Check-in Deadline

3:35 pm - Round 1 Report Time.

3:45 pm - Round 1 Start Time

6:00 pm - Round 1 Decision Time

5:45 pm – In-person Dinner DeMoss 4172

6:15 pm - Round 2 Check-in Deadline

6:35 pm - Round 2 Report Time

6:45 pm - Round 2 Start Time

9:00 pm - Round 2 Decision Time

Saturday, November 6 (All Times are Eastern)

8:45 am – In -person Breakfast – DeMoss 4172

9:15 am - Verify all your participants are online and ready (DIGITAL BUS)

9:30 am - Round 3 Pairings

9:40 am - Round 3 Check-in Deadline

9:55 am - Round 3 Report Time. 

10:00 am - Round 3 Start Time

12:15 pm - Round 3 Decision Time

12:00 pm – In-person lunch – DeMoss 4172

12:30 pm - Round 4 Pairing

12:40 pm - Round 4 Check-in Deadline

12:55 pm - Round 4 Report Time

1:00 pm - Round 4 Start Time

3:15 pm - Round 4 Decision Time

3:30 pm - Round 5 Pairing

3:40 pm - Round 5 Check-in Deadline

3:55 pm - Round 5 Report Time

4:00 pm - Round 5 Start Time

6:15 pm - Round 5 Decision Time

6:00 pm – In-person Dinner – DeMoss 4172

6:45 pm - Round 6 Pairing

6:55 pm - Round 6 Check-in Deadline

7:10 pm - Round 6 Report Time

7:15 pm - Round 6 Start Time

9:30 pm - Round 6 Decision Time

9:45 pm - Bracket released at the conclusion of round 6

Sunday, November 7 (All Times are Eastern)

8:45 am – In-person Breakfast – DeMoss 4172

9:15 am - Verify all your participants are assembled (DIGITAL BUS)

9:30 am - Octafinals Pairing – and immediate report

9:35 am - Coin Flip Blast

9:40 am - Flip Deadline

9:55 am - Octafinals Report Time

10:00 am - Octafinals Start Time

12:30 pm - Octafinals decision time

12:00 pm – In-person lunch – DeMoss 4172

12:45 pm - Quarters Pairing – and immediate report

12:50 pm - Quarters Flip Blast

12:55 pm - Flip Deadline

1:15 pm - Quarters Report Time

1:30 pm - Quarters Start Time

4:00 pm Quarters Decision Time

4:15 pm Semifinals Pairing – and immediate report

4:25 pm - Flip Deadline

4:40 pm - Semifinals Report Time

4:45 pm - Semifinals Start Time

7:15 pm - Semifinals Decision Time

In-person dinner on your own

7:30 pm - Finals Pairing – and immediate report

7:40 pm - Flip Deadline

7:55 pm - Finals check in

8:00 pm - Finals Start

10:30 pm - Finals Decision Time