The Yarmouth Debate Team is pleased to invite you to a Congressional Debate Tournament on Saturday, November 2, 2019.

Registration deadline: Wednesday, October 30, at 11:55 PM
Judge hire request deadline: Wednesday, October 30, at 11:55 PM
Judge entry deadline: Friday, November 1, at 8:00 PM
Fees and judge obligations frozen (nonrefundable): Friday, November 1, at 8:00 PM
Drop deadline: Friday, November 1, at 8:00 PM
Nuisance fees for drops applied: Saturday, November 2, at 8:00 AM

Any questions, please contact John Russell, Tournament Director, by email, phone, or text: john_russell@yarmouthschools.org, (831) 204-8767 (cell).

Registration

Registration must be completed through Tabroom.com by 11:55 p.m. Wednesday, October 30.

Entry Fees

• $7.00 per entry (New schools $3.50)

Entry fees will not be capped for this tournament.

Drops

Drops and changes will be accepted until Saturday, November 2, at 8:00 a.m. Invoices will be prepared at that time. Late add requests are not encouraged and will be accepted only at the discretion of the tournament host. Drops after this time will be assessed an additional charge of $10 per entry.

Call or text the MFA hotline (207-370-4632) Saturday morning once you are en route to the tournament to confirm your team and judge attendance. Drops communicated prior to arrival will be waived the $10 penalty.

Events

• Congressional Debate: Senate and House, as needed

Event/division definitions

Congress

The docket will be posted no later than one week prior to the tournament.

Judge Requirements

Help the meet run smoothly and fairly by supplying your required, trained judges, including unaffiliated, in accordance with MFA rules.

Note judge conflicts or shadow needs in your judge registration on Tabroom.com. Email the tournament host for any complex judge situations. Remember a parent cannot judge the chamber in which their child is competing.

Fractional entries round up (i.e. 6 entries = 2 judges). 

• Congressional Debate: one judge for every 5 entries

Judges are expected to be available for ALL rounds of competition. Fines will be assessed for judges departing early unless cleared through Tabulation.

Hiring Judges

There will be a limited number of extra judges available for hire. Fees for purchasing judges will be $60 per judge.

Have all your judges finalized by 7:00 p.m. Friday, November 1. Submit requests to hire judges via Tabroom.com by Wednesday, October 30.

If you have extra judges, have them enroll in the judge hire exchange or contact the Tournament Director so the judge can be added to the judge hire pool. The host will release any unhired judges by 8:00 p.m., Friday, November 1.

If you have extra judges encourage the judge to register with Tabroom.com and enter themselves into the hire pool.

Online balloting

While paper ballots will be available, we are encouraging all judges to participate in online balloting through Tabroom.com. To participate, judges must:

• Have an account on Tabroom.com that is linked to your school’s judge list.

• Bring their own device for indicating their adjudications and comments.

To read ballots at the end of the day, students should also have an account linked to your team on Tabroom.com.

Food

Students: Breakfast items, lunch, and snacks will be on sale for students in the cafeteria. Students should not leave the school at any point during the tournament day.

Coach and judges: Complimentary breakfast, lunch and afternoon snacks will be provided for coaches and judges.

Awards

Sweeps: Top three places in each chamber of Congressional Debate

Individual awards for first through third in each category, and honorable mention as determined by Tab.

Note that ties in record will be broken first by MFA guidelines.

Tabulation of awards follows standards adopted by MFA.

Schedule

8:00-8:30 Registration (arrive early, please)
8:35 Judges meeting in Judges’ Lounge; Student meeting in Cafeteria
9:00 Rounds begin following briefings
4:00 Awards (sooner if possible)

Accommodations

We aim to make competition accessible and welcoming to all who wish to participate. Tournament participants can find gender-neutral accommodations in the hallway between the library and the 100 wing (where debate will occur).

Coaches or students should reach out to the tournament host to request gender-neutral or ADA accommodations.

Directions

Yarmouth High School, 286 W. Elm St., Yarmouth, ME

Please come in through the rear entrance of the building (the side with the large parking lot and the baseball diamond). That entrance can be reached via an access road on the north side of the main entrance facing Elm Street or, more conveniently, via another access road that connects to Portland Street just south of its intersection with US Route 1. This access road is approximately situated at 247 Portland St.