LIVEDOC FOR THIS WEEKEND (TOPICS/MOTIONS AND TOURNAMENT UPDATES)

(If that link is overwhelmed, try this one.)

BREAKING TEAMS ARE LISTED IN THE SIDEBAR

1/24/23

All judges should understand that they are obligated to judge one round past the elimination of all teams from their school, in all divisions. We will be assessing fines for judges who do not pick up their ballots promptly. Fines must be cleared before elimination rounds, and fines not paid during the tournament will carry over to next year. Please help us keep the tournament running smoothly by making sure all of your judges are responsive to communications for the duration of their obligation. Thank you!

1/13/2023

1. A list of tournament staff is posted in the sidebar. We have added one more member to the topic committee, Alastair Bowyer from St. Andrews in Scotland.
2. Please remember to submit release forms for all competitors. You can read step-by-step instructions here.
3. The tournament will allow Points of Clarification. We will follow the same rule for POCs as the NPDL-TOC 2023. Note that POCs should not be used to make arguments, even in the form of a question; they are for the sole purpose of understanding the other team's advocacy or interpretation.

Points of Clarification
A. A Point of Clarification is a question that a member of the opposing team asks a debater giving a PMC or an LOC. The question shall aim to clarify the speaker's advocacy or interpretation of the resolution.
B. The speaker may not decline a Point of Clarification.
C. Speech time stops for Points of Clarification and resumes once they are answered.

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INVITATION

We are delighted to invite you to the Berkeley International Parliamentary Debate Invitational, our seventh annual tournament. It will be held online on Saturday, January 28, and Sunday, January 29, 2023. In 2022, it was the largest high school parliamentary tournament of the year, with 170 teams from six US states, Canada and China! We look forward to hosting teams from every part of the parli community.

Location

The tournament will be entirely online. Saturday preliminary rounds will be hosted on NSDA campus, an online platform that requires an account on tabroom.com. Sunday elimination rounds will be on Zoom.

Format

Unless specifically noted, we will follow National Parliamentary Debate League Online Round Rules. American parliamentary debate features two 2-person teams in a round, with twenty minutes prep time, in which debaters may access the Internet.

Partner prep only, Internet allowed.

All rounds in all divisions will follow 788845 speech times. There is no 30-second grace period at the end of each speech.

This tournament has been autoapproved for NPDL points.

Eligibility

This tournament is open to high school and middle school (grades 6-8) students.

Both members of a novice team must be in their first year competing in any debate event. A coach may, in their discretion, enter a middle school student in novice if the student is in the second year of competition and has not broken to elimination rounds at a tournament. The JV division is intended for students who are too experienced to qualify for novice (often second-year debaters), but would benefit from competing in a division that does not include the most experienced debaters. Coaches may place any student in the JV and Open divisions at their discretion.

Registration

Register on Tabroom. No school fee. The entry fee is $65/team for Novice, $75/team for JV, and $80/team for Open. Adds and drops should be made by January 23, 2023 at 5 pm; after that, drops are non-refundable. There will be a nuisance fee of $25 for changes (other than names) after that date, and for any changes within 24 hours of the tournament. Payment must be received by January 24.

Do not mail checks to Berkeley High School: they will lose your money. Please follow payment procedures on the invoice.

Fee waivers are available based on need.

In order to use the virtual platform on Saturday, competitors and judges must have tabroom.com accounts, which must be linked to their tournament registration. NSDA Campus Instructions can be found in the sidebar.

All schools must be registered with an adult contact/virtual chaperone who can be reached by phone during the tournament.

Judges

One judge covers two teams. The fee is $75 per uncovered entry.

All judges must have Tabroom accounts including mobile phone numbers.

The tournament will follow Judge Conflict rules, which are found in Article XI.7 of the NPDL Legislative Code. If a judge proceeds to judge a round despite a conflict, it may result in a forfeit in favor of the disadvantaged team.

Independent and Hybrid Entries

All entries should be registered under the name of the school they attend, if possible. Hybrids should be registered under both schools. Exceptions will require written permission from the head coach of any affected school. No independent entries are permitted from a school that is entering teams under the school’s name, absent unusual circumstances, which should be discussed with the tournament director beforehand.

Equity

There will be an equity officer at the tournament. Procedures for reporting discrimination or harassment will be announced beforehand.

Any concerns about any aspect of the tournament can also be directed to the tournament director, before, during, or after the tournament.

Misc. Information

Topics, schedule updates, and other announcements during the tournament will be made through this Google Doc.

Please check regularly, as the schedule may be adjusted as the day progresses.

Feel free to email us using the link in the sidebar with questions and comments.

Thank you,

Berkeley High Speech and Debate

http://berkeleyhs.tabroom.com