Tournament Info

Dear Coach,

Greetings, and congrats on qualifying for the Kansas Debate Classic! The tournament is to be held on Friday, January 6 and Saturday, January 7 at Kapaun Mt. Carmel High School.  This event celebrates the vast majority of Kansas high school debaters by crowning a traditional policy debate champion across all classifications. There are currently 25 teams from 17 schools planning on attending.

Registration:  Please plan at arriving at Kapaun between 2:00 and 2:45 for registration.  The school doors are locked during the day, so you will need to buzz yourself in the front entrance (facing Central).  When you enter the school proceed to the auditorium for registration.  Schools are asked to stay in the auditorium area until after the welcome assembly, when school has been dismissed.

Format:  The tournament will be a 6 round competition, followed by quarter-finals and beyond.  We will use the 8-3-5 format.  Prep time will be 5 minutes per team.  Prep will end for teams on computers when the flash drive leaves their computer.  All debates will be open to any observer from schools attending the tournament.

Tab:  Tab is open and decisions are not to be disclosed by judges, except to the tab room.  Rounds 1 will be random, preset. Rounds 2-6 will be power-matched high-high.  Power matching pairings will consider brackets before sides.  Pull-ups will come from the top of the next bracket, and multiple pull-ups for the same team will not be allowed.  All judges are considered clean for out-rounds. The tournament will not break brackets for out-rounds and will utilize the standard hi/low format. Breaks are based on (in sequential order): wins, speaker ranks, speaker quality points,  opposition wins, opposition speaker ranks. Speaker awards are based on ranks, then quality points, then ranks -1 hi/lo.

Judges:  Each school is expected to bring one judge per 1 team, and two judges for 2-3 teams. The committee reserves the right to utilize community judges, including a “celebrity” (policymakers, former coaches, educators, professionals) pool for out-rounds who are receptive to a more traditional debate style.  Judges are encouraged in making decisions to keep in mind the following definition of traditional debate: “Debates should focus around the policy implications of plans attached to the resolution in a moderately conversational pace.” Coaches should carefully consider their judge choices, bringing individuals they would want to critique their own debaters who engage in a traditional style.  In line with KSHSAA state championship rules, no judges should be in their first year out of high school.  All school judges should be available one round beyond their school’s participation in the tournament.

All judges are required to fill out a paradigm sheet before the tournament.  A link to the paradigm is available at:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScdj1cCFKMGR_o6hECJuSKdd_7fJ2QdY_W5UKP8SlpoepHkQA/viewform

These paradigms will be shared with coaches on Tuesday, January 3rd.  

Fees:  Fee's will be $10 per entry. In addition to out-rounds participants, every student will receive a custom medal. Additional awards include speaker awards, out-round plaques, and an engravable traveling trophy to the tournament victor.

Coaches Meeting:  There will be a brief coaches meeting in room 100 after the start of round six.  The KDC Committee welcomes  your  feedback about the tournament as we look toward the future.  

Lunch: Concessions will be provided at the tournament with a variety of snack and drink options. For meals: a list of meal options close by will be provided for the coaches convenience.  

Hospitality:  A hospitality lounge will be available for all coaches, sponsors, and judges that will have snacks and drinks, as well as dinner on Friday, and breakfast and lunch on Saturday.

Internet: There will be internet access for all coaches and competitors.  Pairings will be released on Tabroom.com and a copies will also be posted in the commons area between rounds.

Schedule:

Friday January 6th

2:00 p.m. Registration (team pictures: if we don’t catch each team, we’ll get them between rounds)

2:55 p.m. Opening Assembly (for debaters, coaches, and judges)

3:30 p.m. Round 1  (pre-set)

5:30 p.m. Round 2  (direct powered)

7:30 p.m. Round 3  (direct powered)

Saturday January 7th

8:00 a.m. Round 4 (direct powered) Coaches Round

10:00 am. Round 5 (direct powered)

12:00 p.m. Round 6 (direct powered) Coaches Meeting

<concessions: lunch break>

2:00 p.m. Awards Ceremony (all teams are expected to be present). The ceremony  includes: (1) announcement of breaks, (2) speaker awards, and (3) participation awards.  

2:30 p.m. Quarter-Finals

4:30 p.m. Semi-Finals

6:30 p.m. Finals

Once again, congratulations on qualifying to participate in the 2017 Kansas Debate Classic.  We encourage all coaches to attend a coaches meeting at noon on Saturday to provide feedback for the future. If you have questions, feel free to contact Megan Hagaman (Salina South HS), Melissa Loepp (Nickerson HS), Chris Riffer (Blue Valley HS), Dustin Rimmey (Topeka HS), or rotating host Mike Harris (Kapaun Mount Carmel HS).

Sincerely,

The Kansas Debate Classic Committee