Guidelines

aka. the Tournament Playbook

Registration and Deadlines: All deadlines are available on Tabroom. Please check the Deadlines box (bottom right on the homepage) for more details. Please be aware of these deadlines as they will be strictly followed.

Limitation of Entries: Currently, our tournament is set to cap at 50 entries in each event. This may have to increase or decrease depending on availability of judging staff and resources. In the event that this changes, we will post an announcement and email to notify everyone of their entry status.

Discord Server: The Discord server is strictly for tournament communication, rooms, and prep. Please abide by the Discord Community rules, avoid sending spam, and pings. Please also be mindful that there are others in the Discord as well. Failure to abide by community guidelines may result in temporary mute or disqualification and removal from the tournament.

Postings: Postings will be paired the day before (at least 12 hours prior to the start) for the first round of the day. Thereafter, rounds will be paired at least 40 minutes prior to the start. Do not be late to rounds! (This includes competitors and judges!) Failure to show 15 minutes past the round start time will result in an automatic bye for the present side. If both debaters do not show, a double loss will be given.

First round of the day starting at 10:00 AM, pairings will post at 10:00 PM the night before.
Second round of the day starting at 2:00 PM, pairings will post by 1:20 PM at the latest.

Disclosure: This is an educational tournament, thus, we are highly recommending disclosure. To be honest, the topic is pretty much over anyways. You may refuse to disclose, as always, however, keep in mind that this may prevent you from receiving the fullest extent/benefits of this educational tournament!

Results: Results from the following round will immediately be posted when the following round is paired.

Protesting: Complete a protest form (not yet available). Protest forms must be completed within 30 minutes of a judge submitting their decision via. the Tabroom online ballot. Any protest requests after this window will be automatically declined. Keep in mind, it's okay to suck it up!

Loss of Connection: In the event a competitor loses internet connection, or their connection in the debate "room" is interrupted, the judge should start a timer (5 minutes) immediately following the loss of connection. During this time, both sides are not allowed to prep (honor system here y'all), and the time should be used for the disconnected side to re-connect. If there is no re-connection after this period, the connected debater will receive a bye. If one reconnection period exceeds 3 minutes, and a second one occurs, the connected debater receives a bye with no re-connect window. In short, don't disconnect...please! We don't want to give byes - but we have to in order to keep the tournament running on time.

Delays: We like to keep tournaments running on time, and so do you. In the event there is a delay, we will consistently update the schedule and put announcements on the website with the delay time and ETR (estimated time of repair). We do not anticipate this occuring, but just in case this does occur. Keep in mind that this tournament is virtual, so as long as pairings have been posted, you can still debate.

Judge Absences: We will try our best to have a backup judging pool available, however, if a judge does not show up to a "room" 5 minutes after the posted start time, message tab immediately on Discord and we will attempt to "call-in" a backup judge. In the event we cannot, a double bye will be awarded to both opponents.

Equity, Inclusion, and Safety: Debate should always be a safe space - no matter what your race, gender, sexual orientation, etc. We take violations seriously. Please report any incidences to tab or the support team. There's no room for that negativity at our tournament...or you're outta here.