Bay Area Closeout Middle School Invitational
2017 — Berkeley, CA/US
March 23, 2017
Dear Middle School Forensics Colleagues:
The Bay Area Urban Debate League invites you to attend our one day, full opportunity tournament. The tournament will be hosted on the UC, Berkeley campus and centrally located out of Dwinelle Hall.
This event will take place Saturday – May 6, 2017. Debate competition takes place in the morning on Saturday. Individual Events and Student Congress competition takes place in the afternoon Saturday. We offer two divisions (novice and open) of LD debate and public forum. We also offer individual events and Congress. High school students are welcome to fulfill your judging commitments.
Food will be available for purchase close by on Telegraph so that your students, coaches, staff, family, and friends will have food available to them for purchase without having to stray too far our tournament. We will also offer a limited amount of refreshments and snacks for purchase and light meals as hospitality for judges.
On behalf of the staff and students of the Bay Area Urban Debate League, we hope you will join us for our tournament this May!
Sincerely,
Toni Nielson, Executive Director, Bay Area Urban Debate League, tnielson@baudl.org, Office: 510.451.4020
Mya Whitaker, Program Director, Bay Area Urban Debate League, mwhitaker@baudl.org
Rashid Campbell, Director of Debate, Bay Area Urban Debate League, phone: 510.759.5383
TOURNAMENT ENTRY DEADLINE IS 5:00 PM, Friday, April 28 2017.
After that time, all available spaces will be filled based on tournament director discretion and availability. Get your entries in early to be a part of the excitement!
TOURNAMENT RULES AND ENTRY GUIDELINES ELIGIBILITY:
A novice is a first-year competitor, honestly appraised by her or his coach as a beginner. A student who has never competed in debate, but has competed in individual events, may be entered in novice debate and open individual events. (Please note that any student, who has competed more than a year in any of the debate events, should not be entered as a novice in a different debate event).
ENTRY LIMITS: A school may enter as four teams in each debate event or individual event. We have a limited amount of space available and intend to single flight LD & PF so that students can participate in elimination rounds. Students are permitted to double enter in individual events, but not to enter individual events if they are in Congress. Students may not double enter in LD and PF, but may choose to compete in Individual Events or Congress, in accordance with the previous sentence.
RULES FOR TECHNOLOGY AND EVIDENCE USE: LD debate/Public Forum debate/Congress Debate: Students are permitted to use computers in rounds in order to flow speeches, prepare speeches or access pre-prepared evidence files. Students may have a live Internet connection only for the purpose of accessing files on Dropbox, Cloud, or a similar system for electronic storage. Students may not access, cut, or site new evidence and sources found from the Internet during the round. If a student violates this policy, the tabulation room should be immediately notified. Students may only use phones in debate rounds for the timing of their speeches. Accessing the internet, searching for research, and consulting coaches via phone call or texts in-round are strictly prohibited.
EVENT DESCRIPTIONS:
Public Forum (PoFo) will use the May topic, released on April 1. Time Limits/speaking times for public forum are: Speaker 1 (Team A, 1st speaker ) 4 min., Speaker 2 (Team B, 1st speaker) 4 min., Crossfire (between speakers 1 & 2) 3 min., Speaker 3 (Team A, 2nd speaker ) 4 min., Speaker 4 (Team B, 2nd speaker ) 4 min., Crossfire (between speakers 3 & 4) 3 min., Speaker 1 Summary 2 min., Speaker 2 Summary 2 min., Grand Crossfire (all speakers) 3 min., Speaker 3 Final Focus 2 mins., Speaker 4 Final Focus 2 mins. Each team may use up to two minutes of prep time. A coinflip will determine the sides/speaking order. We will clear to quarters if the size of the division warrants it.
Lincoln-Douglas Debate (Topic will be the May/June topic). Time limits for LD are 6-3-7-3-4-6-3, with 3 minutes of preparation time per debater. For debate, elimination rounds will begin with octo-finals or quarterfinals as entry size warrants. We will clear to quarters if the size of the division warrants it.
Student Congress - Congress legislation is posted on tabroom.com. Student Congress will follow a modified version of Parliamentary procedure based on NFL and CHSSA rules. All interpretations of procedure made by the chair of each session are considered final. Sessions will last 45-60 minutes. Students will present 3 minute speeches of proponency or opponency, followed by one minute of cross-examination. The time period should allow most, if not all students, to speak. Due to the dynamic nature of this event, we cannot guarantee that each student will have an opportunity to speak. Priority slips will be used to determine speaking order and priority. One set of priority slips is issued per competitor for the 3 preliminary rounds. Lost or misplaced priority slips will not be replaced!
Individual Events
INFORMATIVE SPEAKING: Any appropriate subject may be used, but the primary purpose of the speech must be to inform, explain, demonstrate, or impart knowledge about an idea, concept, process, or procedure. Visual aids may NOT be used. This speech is a maximum of 5-minute maximum.
INTERPRETATION (DI, HI, Poetry, Prose) - Selections may be prose, poetry, drama, or screenplays of a serious or humorous nature. All selections must consist of published material. There is a 10-minute maximum.
DUO INTERPRETATION - Selections may be prose, poetry, drama, or screenplays of a serious or humorous nature. All selections must consist of published material. There is a 10-minute maximum.
IMPROMPTU SPEAKING: Topics are varied from round to round and can include philosophical quotations, fortune cookies, postcards, etc. Each speaker will draw 3 topics and choose one as the subject matter of the speech. The speaker has 7 minutes maximum to divide between preparation and speaking time as s/he chooses (2 minutes preparation followed by a 5 minute speech is considered standard). Students are permitted to use one blank note card in order to make speaking notes during prep time and to use those notes during the presentation of the speech.
ORIGINAL ORATORY: Any appropriate subject matter may be used, but the primary purpose of the speech should be to alter or change beliefs, attitudes, or behavior. There is a 10-minute maximum.
STORYTELLING: Students select a published story that meets the designated theme of Generosity. This event is five minutes. Students may use a chair. Manuscripts are not permitted.
DECLAMATION: Students bring history to life- literally- by delivering a speech that has been delivered by someone else. From the historical greats to contemporary public orations, students have a maximum of 10 minutes to perform.
JUDGING COMMITMENT:
Schools are required to meet their judging commitments.
· Each school is obligated to provide ONE QUALIFIED JUDGE (full 5 preliminary round commitment plus appropriate elimination rounds) for every twp LD entries or fraction thereof. Please note, a judge in one division of debate CANNOT simultaneously cover the same commitments in another division of debate. Judges are obligated through the 1st elimination debate and one round past when the school is out of competition.
· Each school is obligated to provide ONE QUALIFIED JUDGE (full 5 preliminary round commitment plus appropriate elimination rounds) or for every two Public Forum entries or fraction thereof.) Please note, a judge in one division of debate CANNOT simultaneously cover the same commitments in another division of debate. Judges are obligated through the 1st elimination debate and one round past when the school is out of competition.
· ONE QUALIFIED JUDGE per FIVE PRELIMINARY IE "slots" plus appropriate elimination rounds (regardless of pattern). Judges are obligated for Finals.
· Each school is obligated to provide ONE QUALIFIED JUDGE per SIX PRELIMINARY Congress entries or fraction thereof (plus appropriate elimination rounds). Schools with Congress entries MUST provide AT LEAST one person to serve as a Presiding Officer. This person must be at least two years out of competition and should have some Congress experience OR should read the P.O. information at the tournament
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ARE ACCEPTABLE JUDGES. IF YOU CANNOT FULFILL YOUR JUDGE COMMITMENT, PLEASE PURCHASE JUDGING FROM THE TOURNAMENT EARLY SO WE CAN MANAGE YOUR JUDGING NEEDS.
ENTRY FEES:
School Fee: $50
Each LD Entry: $40
Each Public Forum Entry: $40
Each Congress Entry: $15
Each I.E. Entry: $15
Hired Debate Judges: $20 per round
Hired I.E. Judges: $20 per round
Drop fees (after May 2)** $20 per entry
No Show Judge fees - prelims*** $20 per round No Show Judge fees - elims*** $40 per round
Make Checks Payable to: Bay Area Urban Debate League.
You can also pay online at: http://www.baudl.org/donate.
Parking: We are using the UC, Berkeley campus. There is parking behind Dwinelle for a charge of $20-$25 a day. You must pay at the machine in the lot. There is also parking available in the Big Red Garage (2430 Durant Ave, Berkeley) for a similar daily cost. BAUDL is not responsible for providing parking. BAUDL cannot forgive, pay, or waive parking citations.
2017 Bay Area Close Out Tournament Schedule
Friday, May 5th – 4PM-7PM, Online Registration, Phone in Drops/Changes to 510.451.4020.
Saturday, May 6th –
CORE DEBATE SCHEDULE
8AM: Onsite Registration
9:00AM Round 1: LD and Public Forum
10:30AM Round 2: LD and Public Forum
11:30AM Round 3: LD and Public Forum
12:30PM Round 4: LD and Public Forum
2:00PM Speaker Awards *Breaks Announced
2:30PM Elimination Rounds Begin, Quarters (if warranted by entry size of division)
CORE IE & CONGRESS SCHEDULE
2:00PM Round 1: Individual Events and Congress
3:00PM Round 2: Individual Events and Congress
4:00PM Round 3: Individual Events and Congress
ASAP Awards