Dear Community:

The debate teams of University of Texas at Dallas Debate Team and the University of Texas  San Antonio are pleased to invite you and your debaters to attend the annual Texas Two Step on January 6-11, 2020. The Two Step will feature two 6 rounds tournaments and will include three divisions of debate on the 2019-2020 CEDA/NDT topic. The tournaments will clear to an appropriate number of elimination rounds for each division.  However, we will collapse the Novice division into the Junior Varsity division if necessary.

UTD will serve as host locations for both halves of the swing. Participation in both debate tournaments is a prerequisite to winning the coveted “Texas Two-Step Award” given to the team with the best prelim record at the two tournaments. All rounds will be held on the University of Texas-Dallas campus.  The UTD hosted tournament will take place from January 6-8, 2020. The UTSA hosted tournament will take place from January 9-11, 2020.

Please complete all elements of the entries by 2:00pm on Friday, January 2, 2019. We will submit final orders for all food purchases that afternoon so correct information by the entry deadline is necessary. Please use the Tabroom.com for entering the teams, judges, and food preferences.

Sincerely,

Scott Herndon, Director of Debate, UTD

Ashely Denney, Director of Debate, UTSA

Hotel Accommodations –

Please note a change in hotel accommodations for this year’s tournament. The tournament hotel is the Marriott Courtyard, Richardson. This is an outstanding property, close to campus, with excellent accommodations. Room rates are 79.00/night for occupancy up to 4, in double queen rooms. The rate includes high speed internet and a full breakfast every morning of the tournament. There is a block of rooms available and we respectfully request that teams stay at the tournament hotel. The block runs until December 16, 2019. When making reservations please reference UTD Debate Tournament to guarantee the block rate.

Renaissance address:

1000 South Sherman Street

Richardson, TX, 75081

Book online - https://www.marriott.com/event-reservations/reservation-link.mi?id=1572464261078&key=GRP&app=resvlink

REGISTRATION:

We will accept entries for both tournaments through, Friday, January 4, 2019, at 2:00 pm. If there are any problems, email Scott Herndon (saherndon@gmail.com). Each half of the swing will be listed separately on Tabroom.com. Please plan to pay fees for each separately.

FEES:

The entry fees will be $70 per person for each tournament. The entry fee is for everyone in attendance regardless of division or coaching role. For schools that hire judges that are not employed by another program, they are responsible for paying the hired judges entry fee.

The UTSA half will only accept fees through our online store – no cash or checks. Link to the store will be coming soon.

DIVISIONS:

We will have three divisions of debate at the tournament this year. Open division is open to any undergraduate student with eligibility. The junior division and Novice divisions are open to anyone who meets theCEDA eligibility standards for junior or novice participation.

JUDGING:

Each team seeking to enter should provide a qualified judge who will be available to judge at least three (3) preliminary rounds and who will comply with tournament rules. A judge covering the requirements for two teams should prepare to judge six (6) preliminary debates. A qualified judge is a currently active coach, graduate student, or former college debater. EVERY judge will be committed through the 2^nd elim debate in the Open division.

We will have very few hired judges available this year. Please inform the UTD staff at least two weeks in advance if your team will need to pay the fee for uncovered teams. Funds gained by such fees will go towards to the hiring of qualified judges. Judges will be assigned on the basis of mutual preference with an emphasis on promoting diversity in the judging pool.

Please indicate to the tournament administration if a judge cannot judge all three divisions. Please repeat any such limitation in person at registration. Judges assigned to a debate by the tab room will be responsible for submitting a correctly completed ballot at the end of that debate. Judges should not leave the tournament unless their commitment has been fulfilled.

FORMAT AND RULES:

We will use the 9-3-6 format, with ten minutes preparation time per team in open and junior divisions. Rounds 1-2 will be preset. The rest will be powered. Debate teams consist of TWO persons from the same school. Hybrid teams are acceptable, if entered prior to the beginning of round 1, and may advance to elimination rounds. In the event of illness, a single debater may debate 2 rounds alone but may not be allowed to clear based on the tournament director’s discretion. We will NOT break brackets in elimination rounds. We will enforce a 2:45 limit on decision times for judges beginning with the posted start time of the round. The tournament will defer to the Council of Tournament Directors guide to resolving other matters.

All coin flips should be transparent. Please do not pick-up the coin prior to your opponent having a chance to verify the result of the flip. Failure to allow transparency in the process will result in tab administrating a new flip.

Hospitality

As usual the Texas Swings like to offer an amazing hospitality spread. Across the two tournaments the following will be offered.

Breakfast will be provided daily at the hotel.

4 lunch

2 dinner

Awards

Tab

Matthew Vega will be running the tab software. We will be using MPJ. Rounds one and two preset.

Student/Coach/Participant Conduct

All participants debate at the invitation of the University of Texas-Dallas and according to its tournament rules as well as any rules of their sponsoring institutions. We abide by all rules and norms of CEDA and the AFA, including but not limited to CEDA's sexual harassment policy.

Structural Ableism

Please notify us directly and not just on Tabroom if you have an attendee who needs limited room movement.

Moreover, do not hesitate to let us know what else the tournament can do to make the experience better for debaters and coaches. 

And, we will post information about the location of our quiet room and availability of gender-neutral restrooms as the tournament approaches. 

Schedule – Tournament 2