Judging Information

Please read this page very carefully, particularly the sections dealing with hired judges. If you have any questions about judging requirements or hired judges, contact Dave McGinnis at mcgin029@gmail.com. 
 

JUDGING REQUIREMENTS 

Each school must provide one judge for every two policy teams or fraction thereof. 

•           For example, if you enter three policy teams, you must provide two judges; there are no "partial" judging assignments. 

Each school must provide one judge for every three public forum teams or fraction thereof.
Each school must provide one judge for every three LD debaters or fraction thereof.

Every school must provide at least one judge; no school can hire out its entire contingent, except by special arrangement with the tournament director. 

A team's judges are obligated for one round past the last round in which their team competes. This applies to a team's entire contingent of judges, regardless of the number of students who continue. For instance, a team whose debaters are eliminated in octofinals on Sunday night must provide judges for quarterfinals on Monday morning. 

In events that clear to triple-octofinals or partial triples, all judges are obligated through double-octofinals. (Judging obligations are not satisfied by partial elim "run-off" rounds.) Judges whose teams do not clear would normally have discharged their judging obligation with the first out-round, but the only way we can run triples and still ensure a healthy judging pool for doubles is to agree that all judges will stay through doubles regardless. Since any triples and doubles will both take place on Sunday, we trust this will not inconvenience anyone.

Judges should be experienced; at a minimum, they should be comfortable with flowing in their respective division. 

Judges cannot cross divisions. Please make sure each judge is entered in only one division. 

Schools will be charged an $100.00 per round nuisance fee for each round missed by any of their judges. Make sure your judges are available and on time. 

WHY IS THE NUISANCE FEE SO HIGH?

The purpose of the nuisance fee is not to pay for a replacement judge; it is to motivate you to make sure your judges arrive for their rounds. When a judge no-shows, it makes it much more difficult to pair rounds. Make sure your judges will be available for all rounds for which they are obligated. 

HIRING YOUR JUDGE OBLIGATION 

We will hire a limited number of judges to cover obligations for schools. Our fee is comparable to other large tournaments, but is still significant. Our goals are first, to encourage schools to provide judges, ensuring the highest quality and most diverse judging pool possible, and second, to allow us to pay our hired judges a reasonable wage. We also have to provide housing and transportation to many of our judges. Please be aware of the additional fees before you request hired judges. 

Judge coverage is not guaranteed. Request coverage through the Tabroom system, and you will be notified if it is available. 

Preference in providing coverage will be given to schools traveling more than 200 miles to attend the tournament. 

Cost for ONE uncovered LD debater - $140.00
Cost for ONE uncovered policy pair - $190.00
Cost for ONE uncovered public forum pair - $140.00

PLEASE NOTE: The hired judge fees are per COMPETITIVE UNIT (per LD debater, per policy pair, per public forum pair), NOT PER JUDGE.

For example, if you have three uncovered LD debaters, you will pay $420 for coverage - $140 per debater. 

If you have 2 uncovered policy teams, you will pay $380 for coverage - $190 per team.