Warrior Invitational at Albright Middle School
2022 — Houston, TX/US
SPAR
Event Description:
SPAR (Spontaneous Argumentation) is a limited preparation debate event where students debate a different resolution or topic each round. Each spar panel consists of approximately six competitors. Two students will spar at a time. The judge will assign first or second speaker for each debate. Then there will be a coin flip and the winner of the flip chooses the topic from the choice of two. The loser of the flip chooses the side – for or against, which of the two options in the ‘vs’ topics, etc. Each pair will consider a single issue/resolution which is presented to the debaters by the judge right before each pair debates. The debater to speak first will have one minute of prep before speaking must commence. The first speaker will give a two-minute speech in favor of their position on the topic; immediately after that speech, the second speaker will refute the first speaker’s position and support their own position in a two-minute constructive. Strict adherence to the exact wording of the topic is not required, but the debaters should at least regard the topic as a common frame-of-reference.
Following the opening statements, there will be a three-minute open cross-examination period – anyone in the room can ask questions of the debaters. The pair should question each other, and should be prepared to take at least a few questions from the audience of other competitors. Since speakers do not have to offer questions or accept them while they are speaking, this aspect of the process may vary from round to round. Judges should look for debaters who aggressively offer questions and confidently accept at least one or two questions from competitors in the audience during their CX. Questions and comments should be a forum through which the speakers can develop their arguments for rebuttals. Debaters who do not take full advantage of the questioning process will not do as well as those who do. Each speaker will have one rebuttal to complete the round. Judges should make sure that no speech exceeds the allotted time so that the round may end on time. No preparation time during the debate is allowed.
Times: First speaker-2; Second-2; CX-3; First-2; Second-2.