Key Dates

Registration due: April 1 (registration will only be accepted through Tabroom - no emailed entries) 

Event on: April 10

Coach Notes

1) Please bring judges. For every 2 teams that register, we need 1 judge. Typically, we have to recruit 30+ judges per event. This is a substantial drain on staff time and budget, and trades off with our ability to continue to develop new campus resources/support programs. Please broadcast our need for judging to your alumni, other teachers, parents of students, etc. - all of them are welcome to judge, and we will place them in divisions based on their experience level. They can commit for a full or partial day. 

If you are able to engage a judge, please instruct them to create a Tabroom account, then add them on your team’s judge list using their email (this prevents them from judging your own students). Instructions for this step can be found in the the “Tabroom Team Administration” instructions. If you have questions, please contact cece@dallasurbandebate.com

2) We are using a "room check" before each round to ensure teams don't lose out on a debate because of a missing opponent. After consulting debate folks nationwide on online best practices, we have chosen to implement a "room check" system. 30 minutes before each debate, staff will circulate to each room to confirm that all students and judges are present. If your teams are not present at room check, they will be removed from the tournament and the debate will be re-paired. Needless to say, it is ESSENTIAL that you communicate this room check expectation to your teams. 

SCHEDULE

830am       Coaches begin checking in with their teams

Every team has a dedicated gathering room in the tournament venue named after their campus. You can use a regular Zoom call instead – we just need you to make sure your entries are accurate. 

930am       Registration changes/confirmations due 

                  We need your entries to be accurate by 930am so we can pair 

debates on schedule. We prefer you update your registration via Tabroom, but email is fine if you’re having issues. 

945am       Round 1 pairings released

Pairings tell students what rooms to go to & what side they’ll debate on. If your students have Tabroom accounts, they’ll get an automatic email with these details. 

If they don’t have Tabroom accounts, you’ll need to look at the pairings on the tournament website – email us for help if you don’t know how! 

1000am     Round 1 room check

During room check, staff will visit rooms to confirm everyone is present. If your team is missing, we’ll attempt to contact you so you can look for them. 

At ~1015am, we will call these teams absent and start merging incomplete rooms to form new debates.  

1030am     Round 1 begins 

1130pm     Lunch / break time

1215pm     Round 2 room check 

1245pm     Round 2 begins

200pm       Round 3 room check 

230pm       Round 3 begins

330pm       All participants to “Auditorium” for awards & closing comments  

We will announce the top team/top speaker in each division. We will stay after dismissal to answer questions or give more detailed results upon request from coaches or students. 

Full rankings & feedback will be released on Tabroom in 1-2 business days, and physical trophies will be sent via inter-office mail.