Definition of a Novice in Debate

Because state rules/customs vary on the question of what "novice" means, the Newman Invitational defines a novice as follows:

A novice is a student in his/her first year of high school debate. This does not mean the first year in that particular type of debate, but the first year in ANY type of debate (PF, LD, Policy, Worlds). For example, someone who competed in Public Forum or Policy debate as a freshman is not a novice in Lincoln-Douglas as a sophomore. A student who competed in middle school can remain a novice in our high school divisions, provided that the middle school rounds were in middle school debate divisions. However, if the middle schooler competed in high school divisions, then they would not be eligible to compete in the novice divisions.