Welcome to the registration site for the 6th Annual Parliamentary Debate Tournament of Champions for the California Cup.

All entries will be waitlisted pending both approval by the POI Advisory Board and confirmation of payment of entry fees.

Fully qualified debaters should enter on Tabroom only.

Team applying for an at-large bid should BOTH enter on Tabroom and submit their at-large application here: http://www.parli.org/2015-parliamentary-debate-toc-registration-form

Please read the following information before registering.

Point of Information and Sonoma Academy are proud to announce the Sixth Annual Parliamentary Debate Tournament of Champions. The tournament will take place April 11-12, 2015 at Sonoma Academy (2500 Farmers Lane, Santa Rosa, California).

Teams that meet the auto-qualification requirements listed below please register for the tournament at http://calcup.tabroom.com

All at-large bids must submit an at-large application by clicking the following:

http://www.parli.org/2015-parliamentary-debate-toc-registration-form

THE FOLLOWING DETAILS AND RULES APPLY TO ALL COMPETITORS. PLEASE READ.

I. Entry Deadlines

(1) The application deadline for both auto-qualified teams and at-large bids into the TOC field will be the end of March 10, 2015 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.

(2) The projected TOC field will be announced March 12, 2015.

(3) Teams that have accepted their bids must still fill out the entry form to confirm their attendance at the 2015 Parliamentary Debate TOC.

II. Entry Fees

(1) The entry fee for each unique team competing in the 2015 TOC for the California Cup will be $125 with checks made payable to “Point of Information" with payment for the 2015 Parliamentary Debate TOC due by March 28, 2015. There is also a single $25 fee paid by each school or organization fielding an entry or entries in the TOC. The entry fees are non-refundable after March 21, 2015. Any payments received after this date will not be refundable. Teams will know payment has been received when they are removed from the Tabroom.com waitlist and are entered into the field. Please mail payment to:

Jon Thorpe, 9500 Stearns Avenue, Oakland, California 94605

If payment is not received by the March 28, 2015 deadline your entry will be removed from the 2015 Parliamentary Debate TOC waitlist.

III. Eligibility

A unique team will auto-qualify for the 2015 Parliamentary Debate TOC if one of the following conditions is satisfied:

(a) The unique team accrued 23+ POI points by December 31, 2014 or 29+ POI points (excluding state qualifiers) by March 1, 2015 at the time of the entry deadline OR

(b) the unique team is first or second in its region on March 1, 2015 (click here for a list of Top-5 teams in each region) OR

(c) the unique team advanced to the elimination rounds at the 2014 Parliamentary Debate TOC OR

(d) A non-unique team is comprised of two debaters who have each individually accumulated, by March 1, 2015, more that 29+ POI points with other partners. The two debaters do not need to be from the same school or organization.

IV. At-Large Bids

Teams that do not meet Section III eligibility requirements are encouraged to submit an at-large bid. Admission of at-large bids into the tournament will be determined by the POI Advisory Board. There is no single factor that determines an at-large bid's admission. The board is tasked with admitting at-large teams that will most benefit the quality and reputation of the tournament.

At-large bids are encouraged, but not required, to submit a round-recording to assist the Advisory Board in the at-large process. The round must be a recording of an actual tournament round. Practice rounds or scrimmage rounds will not be considered.  

V. Judge Requirements

(1) Each unique team is required to provide one qualified judge who must be available to judge each preliminary round and one round past his or her school of affiliation’s dropping from the Parliamentary Debate TOC.

(2) A qualified judge is a head coach, an assistant parliamentary debate coach, a former high school parliamentary debater who previously qualified to California Cup or the State Tournament, or a current or former college debater. Exceptions may be made at the discretion of the tournament director.

(3) Each judge must provide a detailed paradigm by April 4, 2015.

(4) Failure to provide a paradigm will result in a $75 penalty applied to the registration fee of the unique team the judge is representing.

(5) Each unique team may purchase a tournament judge for $180.

(6) Each unique team providing a judge must post a $200 judge bond.

(a) This bond is in addition to any entry fees.

(b) If the team’s judge completes all judging assignments to which he or she is assigned, the $200 will be returned at the end of the tournament.

(c) If a team’s judge fails to report for a judging assignment, the teams forfeits its $200 judge bond to the tournament.

VI. Tournament Hotel

The Flamingo Conference Resort and Spa has set aside a block of rooms at a reduced rate for the 2015 Parliamentary Debate TOC. The contact information for the hotel is as follows:

Flamingo Conference Resort and Spa

2777 Fourth Street

Santa Rosa, California, 95405

Phone: (800) 848-8300

Local Calls: (707) 545-8530 

Fax: (707) 528-1404

Email:info@flamingoresort.com

VII. Tentative Schedule

Saturday, April 11:

9:30-10 Registration

10-10:15 Mandatory Team Assembly

10:15-11:50 Round 1

11:50 -1:25 Round 2

1:25 -1:55 Lunch

1:55 – 3:30 Round 3

3:30 – 5:05 Round 4

5:05 – 5:20 Break

5:20 – 6:55 Round 5

6:55 – 8:10 Coaches Reception/Debater General Assembly

Sunday, April 12:

9-10:35 Round 6

10:35-11:10 Lunch

11:10 – 12:45 Quarters

12:45 – 2:20 Semis

2:20 – 3:55 Finals

VIII. Rules

(1) All rounds will use CHSSA rules as a guideline with the following exceptions:

(a) Points of information are allowed in all constructive speeches. There is no protected time.

(b) Points of Order are only allowed in rebuttals. Points of Order can be made if the opposing side brings up a new argument in the rebuttal with the exceptions of examples illustrating previous arguments and PMR responses to new arguments made in the MOC. Points of Order are not included in speech times.

(c) During the 20 minute preparation time, a debater may not consult with anyone except his or her respective partner. However, there is no restriction on the type of prep material that may be utilized by debaters. All teams will have access to the internet during prep time.

(d) A handwritten case or argument prepared prior to the announcement of a round's resolution may not be brought into the round. The case itself may be used in round, but it must be transcribed onto a new sheet of paper during prep time. Violation of this rule may result in forfeiture of the round at the discretion of the tournament director.

(2) Rounds 1 and 2 will be paired before the tournament with sides locked. Rounds 3-6 will be power-matched high-low within the bracket. Teams from the same school or organization will not be paired during preliminary rounds. However brackets will not be broken in elimination rounds. If teams from the same school or organization are paired against one another in elimination rounds the coach has the option of allowing the teams to debate or a walkover. If teams from the same school or organization are paired in the final round, they must debate.

(3) Each preliminary round will be adjudicated by 2 judges. Each judge will disclose and provide an oral RFD. Each judge's RFD will not exceed 10 minutes in length.

(4) All rounds are open to the public and may be recorded. Participation in the tournament constitutes consent to being recorded and to publication of the recordings on the POI website. 

(a) Teams may not refuse entry to spectators.

(b) Judges have the discretion to ask spectators to be removed from the room if their behavior is disruptive to the round.

(5) Tiebreakers

(a) Total ballot counts will determine breaks to the elimination rounds.

(b) In the case of a tie, head-to-head (if applicable) will serve as the first tie-breaker.

(c) Total speaker points dropping 2x high and low will be utilized as the second tie-breaker.

(d) Total speaker-points will serve as the third tie-breaker.

* The Parliamentary Debate Tournament of Champions is the property of Point of Information.