Definition of Novice

Definition of Novice:

For the purposes of the Bargain Belt Invitational - ALL middle school students, regardless of experience, are eligible for our Novice division. All students in their first year of high school competition, regardless of prior experience are eligible for the Novice division - this means ALL 9th graders are eligible for Novice divisions.

It is possible for a student to be Novice in Speech, but Varsity in Debate or vice versa. These are the two categories we recognize for Novice Eligibility - Debate and Speech. For the purposes of Novice Eligibility, Congress is considered a Debate event. Eg. A student with a prior year of High School PF experience may not enter Novice Policy, but may still enter Novice OO if they have never competed in a speech event while in a prior High School year. We want to additionally specify that 'year' means academic year, and not calendar year.