Hi, my name is Bri and my pronouns are they/she :)

I debated in high school for 2 years: I briefly debated PF before I switched to LD.

Because I didn't have the full 4 years of debate experience, I was a very traditional debater and that has carried over to my judging style. I love a good clash between cases! Make sure you thoroughly argue against the other side.

Speed is fine, if you spread just make sure your opponent and myself can actually understand what you're saying. If I can't understand you, I will not flow it.

Cross X is for asking questions and I will not flow arguments during that time.

Racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. will NOT be tolerated and I will automatically drop you.

email: bribano98@gmail.com

Judge adaptation is important! It is a major variable of debate.

I am a parent judge who has become a coach and have been judging debates for many years now. I have been mostly judged Lincoln-Douglas and Public Forum with experience in Congress. I see my role as a judge is to determine who has won the debate. I weigh the framework in LD most. If the debate evolves into a contention level debate, I largely determine who wins by who has presented the best case with factual evidence. In short, convince me your side is right. It is important to provide evidence and absolutely critical to think on your feet and exploit holes in the opposing debaters evidence. Most LD/PF debates are won or loss in CX/Crossfire (and what you do with this information later in the debate). Providing evidence isn’t enough though, it must be used effectively to support arguments. This is where the heart of debate is for me. I am not influenced by my personal opinion on the topic nor do I weigh debaters personal stories, although heartfelt, into the decision. I listen to what is said and do not make conclusions beyond what is communicated. I am fine with speed provided it is clear. If I am unable to understand the debater due to speed of speech or failure to enunciate, I am unable to use that portion of the debate in my decision. It is your responsibility to speak clearly. In most cases, less words with more thought will be more effective with me than cramming all you can into your time limit. I want to see you truly debate your opponent and not just read a case.

I will keep time but will not manage it for debaters. When time is complete, I will allow thoughts to be finished but do not factor in communication past time limits into my decision.

Speaker Points-I treat speaker points uniformly within a tournament based on the talent but am not consistent from tournament to tournament. What I mean by that is that in tournament A, I’ll likely provide the best speaker a 29 or 30 but in tournament B, that same speaker may have only earned a 28 due to stiffer competition. I rarely score below a 27.

Kritiks – I’m okay with Ks. I find they take skill to run and when run effectively are powerful but when run poorly are difficult and tend to be easily defeated.

Philosophy-I'm good with philosophy and can follow it.

Flow-I do not flow rounds. I do take notes. Just because your point is extended, it doesn’t mean it carries significant weight or you’ll win the round.

Attitude-There is a fine, but clear, line between confidence and contemptuousness. I am fine with aggressive debate but bullying an opponent isn’t acceptable.

Have fun. This activity will provide you tons of benefits but not if you are hating it. Enjoy your time.

My ultimate goal is to serve you well. Every debate has a winner and a loser; sometimes the difference is extremely minor. Celebrate your wins and learn from your losses. Compete against yourself and look to be better every round. There are three variables in every debate, you/your case, your opponent/their case and the judge. I won’t be perfect but there will be other judges a lot like me.

I am a first-year parent judge. I appreciate debaters speaking at a coherent and moderate pace. If I cannot comprehend a debater's spoken words, verbatim, that content will be dropped. I do not tolerate spreading in rounds.

Hi I'm Anitha. I'm a parent judge that's quite new to judging.

Some important notes:

• I'm not a big fan of spreading since I'm new to judging, but if you do spread, please add me to the email chain and coordinate with you partner beforehand.(anithagadekarla@gmail.com)
• I don't know anything about theory, tricks, and K debate; I would prefer traditional/lay debate styles that stick to the topic.
• Please provide me with clear voters in the final speech & well-explained warrants/extensions throughout the entire round. Otherwise, you risk confusing me.

Besides that, feel free to debate in the way you prefer. If you have any questions, you're welcome to email me at anithagadekarla@gmail.comor ask me at the beginning of the round.

HI! My name is Sofia Ishal I am an LD coach at Apple Valley and I did LD debate throughout hs. :)

I am now a sophomore at the University of Minnesota studying philosophy and sociology of law. I consider myself a lay-leaning judge but key technical aspects of debate matter to me.

Most of my debate influence/knowledge has come from my HS coaches: Nick Smith, Cori Roberts, Alharith Dahmeh, Amadea Datel, and Jacob Nails ( Influence in this order) I agree with most of their paradigms so take a look at theirs if you have time :)

I have Judged roughly 75 rounds ranging from Novice, JV, and Varsity four rounds of PF, and four rounds of World Schools Debate

JV/VARSITY:

I was not a circuit debater nor do I coach circuits so run anything circuity at your own risk; I know a semi-decent amount about circuit args theory, counter plans, K's, spec, etc. just do a clear job extending it and explaining why I should vote on it. with that being said I do not want to see circuit behavior during local tournaments. I am okay with speed, but anything faster than fast conversation may get lost in my flow. make sure that you are not sacrificing clarity for speed because that will not bode well with me. make sure you also lean into the persuasiveness of LD. A persuasive and big-picture 2AR or 2N will do more work to get my ballot than an overly techy 1AR.

Do not assume that I will catch everything on my speech doc if you do decide to spread it. If there is an email chain, add me: Sofiaishal2006@gmail.com.

NOVICE:

I have a very good understanding of basic and complicated Phil frameworks, but please do a good job extending it and telling me why I should weigh under it for the round. If you run anything circuit as a novice (theory, counter plans, kritics, etc.) and your opponent very clearly cannot interact with it due to lack of knowledge, I won't vote on it. and even if your opponent can interact with it, there is still a very small chance I will vote on it, And it will lead to very low speaker points. at this level of debate focus on improving your basic argumentation skills and effective communication techniques instead of just trying to learn the more circuity and complicated aspects of debate. I will always give feedback in novice rounds when asked for and will give a thoroughly written RFD

For both:

You guys should time yourself, but I will also keep time; if you go over, I will let you finish your sentence but will cut you off if you start making new points.

I'll start speaking around 27 and move up based on how the round goes :)

PF:

I have judged four rounds of PF LOL and have a semi-ok(emphasis on semi) grasp on how to evaluate a PF round, same attitude towards tricks and K's I was not a circuit debater... like at all so run any of these at your own risk :)

WSD:

I did not do WSD however I understand the speech times and the general gist of it. from what I noticed WSD tends to avoid a clash, pls pls pls have a clash, it'll make me so happy :). I am not familiar with all of the community norms but I will knock during the first and last min to signify protected time. Makes the extensions of previous arguments clear in rebuttal speeches and stray away from talking fast.

BQ

I did some BQ in high school but not a ton( and not a lot competitively) however having done and coached LD I am apt enough to judge BQ. My big thing is please have a clash and explain clearly link level arguments. In BQ definitions are going to determine a lot in the rounds so make sure you have clear and extended definitions and you should be good.

Disclosure:

I will disclose if both debaters are okay with it, and I write extensive comments on ballots.

Especially if I disclose, but in all cases, please ask me questions, but stray away from extensive post-rounding(In the case that I disclose), if there is anything I can do to make it make more sense to you, I am happy to do so. please feel free to email me: at Sofiaishal2006@gmail.com.

please be respectful to your opponent and stay away from racist, homophobic xenophobic, etc remarks; these will lead you to being dropped!!! Being rude is never acceptable EVER I have and will tank speaks.

I love judging laid-back rounds where the competitors are having fun and are friendly with each other so try to strive for this! debate before anything else is an activity meant to be enjoyed!!

Hi I'm Chandra. I'm a parent judge that's still quite new to judging. 

Some important notes: 

• I'm not a big fan of spreading since I'm new to judging, but if you do spread, please add me to the email chain and coordinate with you partner beforehand.(ckandanuru@gmail.com)
• I don't know too much about theory and tricks debate; I would prefer traditional/lay debate styles that stick to the topic.  
• Please provide me with clear voters in the final speech & well-explained warrants/extensions throughout the entire round. Otherwise, you risk confusing me.

Besides that, feel free to debate in the way you prefer. If you have any questions, you're welcome to email me at ckandanuru@gmail.com or ask me at the beginning of the round.

EMAIL: mcgin029@gmail.com

POLICY
Slow down; pause between flows; label everything clearly; be aware that I am less familiar with policy norms, so over-explain. Otherwise I try to be more-or-less tab.

LD

I am the head coach at Valley High School and have been coaching LD debate since 1996.

I coach students on both the local and national circuits.

I can flow speed reasonably well, particularly if you speak clearly. If I can't flow you I will say "clear" or "slow" a couple of times before I give up and begin playing Pac Man.

You can debate however you like in front of me, as well as you explain your arguments clearly and do a good job of extending and weighing impacts back to whatever decision mechanism(s) have been presented.

I prefer that you not swear in round.

About Me

I was on the debate team for five years in Lakeville, Minnesota. I competed in (mostly) LD for four years, then chose to spend my senior year coaching and judging for various reasons. As a debater, I spent a good majority of my time on the local circuit. I most frequently ran consequentialist frameworks so am best at evaluating those rounds. I went to ~10 national circuit tournaments throughout my entire debate career and only cleared when in the novice/jv divisions. I graduated high school in 2023, and now I’m coaching Novice LD for West Des Moines Valley while I attend Drake University in Des Moines.

Judging Overview

If you are jv/novice especially I will likely be timing you, but obviously it's your responsibility to watch your own time. At most you can finish a sentence after time runs out (which doesn't mean a 15-second-long run on sentence) and I won’t flow new arguments made after time runs out. If I need to cut you off, and if it is an issue it will show on your speaks.

I’m not a fan of spreading- flowing high speeds was never a strength of mine and that is important for you as the debater to understand. I appreciate speech docs for faster speeches especially and I’ll use them to supplement your argument- but if I can't comprehend what you're saying without reading the doc, I'll be reluctant to put in on the flow. If you aren't sure if your pace is going to be too fast, play it safe and go slower because if you're speaking faster than i can write, it just wont be on the flow. It is not my responsibility to yell "clear", it is your responsibility to speak clearly. If your opponent spreads that doesn't mean you need to, I don't expect debaters to respond to every point thrown at them-and I will know who read my paradigm :)

I love unique and fun arguments if they aren’t problematic, there’s real evidence to back it up, and it actually makes sense. Rounds with "strange" cases are more interesting to follow so if you have one please read it! If sources back you up then tech>truth all the way.

Pretty much nothing from crossX goes towards the decision (the exception would be if you say something offensive and it is worthy of dropping the debater) unless you bring it up in speech. I’ll listen but am likely also typing in comments from the previous speech or fixing my flow, so make sure you explain what was said truthfully and well.

Spend time on extensions! Explain what the card/arg is and why it matters in the round. Just saying that your opponent dropped something is not a strong extension and I won't be able to properly weigh it.

As of now, I am okay with basic circuit arguments- but when running them still make you explain it how you would to someone that isn't well versed in these things. Explaining it is everything- I won't sit there and try to figure out what you mean if it isn't developed enough in round. My debate background was on the local MN circuit.

I've voted off of a trick a total of 1 time. If you want to try to make this 2 times go for it- but odds are not in your favor. You're better off reading almost anything else.

Give voters at the end of your rebuttals!! Saving some time in your speech to tell me what the most important issues are will only help you and I believe it's a necessary part of debate.

If you are a higher-level debater and know that you are debating a novice, be nice. Win the round but make it a positive educational experience for them, as that is what debate is for.

Speaks are generally 28+ unless you run/say something that’s offensive or problematic. If you want to boost your speaks, talk clearly, show emotion, and just be nice :)

If you have any questions or plan to make an email chain (which I highly recommend)-kristinneary04@gmail.com

I am parent Judge and this is my 3rd year of Judging LD and PF debate. I am most comfortable when it is read in moderate speed so i can understand fully so please speak clearly. Please add your arguments with examples and cards. I do not encourage loud expression to each other while debating. Please bring empirical evidence which add your argument.

Be Clear. If I can't understand you, it doesn't matter what you've said. That's your responsibility as a debater. I will tell you if I can't understand your rate of speaking. The arguments themselves matter more than the quantity of the arguments in the round. If you are unable to explain your arguments, having more on the flow doesn't help.

Be nice. That's everyone's responsibility. We are a communications activity, as well as a community of people who have different experiences and perspectives. It's important that we all be respectful of each other, regardless of whether we agree with each other's arguments.

Sharing cases/e-mail chains: I do not support this trend. I believe it hurts the development of fundamental skills which are detrimental to the activity and hence to the debaters as participants. You will not be penalized you if decide to share information--that's your choice. However, I will not allow extra time in the debate to exchange information. You can either exchange info before the debate starts, use prep time or speech time but I will not allow additional time off the clock to facilitate exchanges.

Time-keeping: It is one of the jobs of the judge to keep track of speech and prep time. Debaters are free to time their own speeches and prep time but know that the judge is the ultimate determiner of how much prep and speech time is used.

Kelsey Schott (BA, MA, JD candidate) kelseyrschott@gmail.com; kelsey.schott@simpson.edu

US Director, Debate Camp (www.debatecamp.com)

Drake University Law School, JD Candidate '25

Communication Graduate Student, Assistant Debate Coach, Ball State University ‘21

Eastbourne College Debater in Residence, British Parliamentary Coach ‘19

Simpson College, competed in Parliamentary & Public Forum Debate ‘18

PF / LD

I will flow the entire round and use my flow to determine the round. I can follow speed most of the time and if I’m not writing you should slow down. Please make sure your opponents are okay with speed before the round to ensure fairness and education for everyone.

I like framework arguments especially when they’re done well. Both sides should address framework arguments if they are presented and carry them through all speeches for me to fully consider them. Please present net-benefits and impacts in the round. I favor debaters who articulate why their argumentation matters. I often vote off impacts and impact calculus.

Please use your summary speech to clarify and actually summarize the round. I view additional line-by-line argumentation in summary speeches unnecessary. You should use this speech for any clarifications on the flow that need to be made to solidify areas of heavy clash. I favor summary speeches that lay the groundwork for the final focus and introduce voters. Your final focus should only be used to give me reasons to vote for you. Give me a couple reasons why you won the round not why your opponents lost the round. I like our world vs their world analysis of the round to show me who outweighs on voters.

I will give speaker points on a 24-30 scale. Unless I am totally offended or you insulted an opponent, I will not go below 24. I will only give a 30 if I think you were one of the best speakers at the tournament. [unless otherwise directed by TAB]

I like rounds that are fun and contribute to the educational value of the activity!

I’m a parent judge, so speak with clarity so I can understand and flow. Please run lay stuff. Spreading will NOT be tolerated.

2017 Graduate with Public Forum experience (she/her)

Current policy professional in the energy space, knowledgeable about the issue. Evidence is important to me and will be essential to a winning argument.

Please do not spread.

Theory read in round will not grant you a win; any concerns about discrimination or abuse should be addressed prior to or immediately following the round. I am committed to equitable treatment of all debaters.

In high school I was a policy and public forum debater at Olathe Northwest in Kansas. After high school, I competed in college level Lincoln Douglas, IPDA, and public forum debate. My partner and I went on to win a PKD national championship in IPDA. Due to my experience in debate I would describe myself mostly as a gamesplayer. This means I will believe what you say until your opponent refutes it and vice versa. I place structure and tech almost above all in the debate. Check your framework and your impacts!

Besides the obvious hateful speech and arguments, mostly any arg, being a K or a performative speech, is okay with me.

If you are speeding and your opponents ask you to stop, I will also ask you to stop. Please do not use speed as a weapon.

Err on extending the cards and contentions that your opponents have dropped. I am a little old-school when it comes to this extension theory but its the way I was taught and I believe it is good practice.

I hate judicial activism. Please use your framework and explain why you win. I will not do the arguing for you, if you havent said it, it doesnt go on the flow. I will not flow arguments you do not make no matter how much I want to make them for you or no matter how much you claim you made them in your constructives.

If you have anything more specific please do not be afraid to ask before round.