CANCELLED!!!

You and your debate team are invited to join us in the heart of Louisville for the 1^st EVER Derby City Novice National Championship.  The tournament will be held at the James Graham Brown School April 18-19,2014.  We will offer 6 rounds of competition in Lincoln Douglas, Public Forum, and Policy Debate.  The tournament will take place on Friday and Saturday and during the world renowned Kentucky Derby Festival.

Registration is available on tabroom.com and will be open until April 11, 2014.  At that time, all entries and fees will be frozen.  We hope you will consider bringing your novice entries to the Derby City for the first ever national championship.  We promise quality hospitality, judges, and competition.

Below you will find information pertinent to registering.  We hope to see you there.  If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at cjvinc08@gmail.com.

Eligibility:

Anyone in their first season of Policy, Lincoln Douglas, or Public Forum debate are eligible to participate in in the Novice National Championship.  A season shall be defined as the 2013-2014 school year.  1^st year “high school debaters” who previously competed in middle school the previous season, are considered novice eligible for this tournament.

Events:

We will offer six rounds of competition in Lincoln Douglas, Policy, and Public Forum Debate.

Entry Fees:

Lincoln Douglas: $30 per entry

Public Forum: $45 per entry

Policy Debate: $45 per entry

Hired Judges: $100

School Fee: $25 (This will be waived if you are local or are staying at the tournament hotel)

Judges:

You must supply one judge for every 2 entries in each event.  That means you are required to bring one judge for every 2 policy entries, every 2 Lincoln Douglas entries, and every 2 Public Forum entries.  That means that if you have one Lincoln Douglas and one Public Forum entry, you are responsible for bringing two judges.  We do have some hired judges available at $100.  Please indicate if you would like to hire when you register.

Varisty debaters who are in their 3^rd and 4^th year are eligible to judge rounds.  If your judge is a student debater, please indicate when registering on tabroom.com

Deadlines:

The deadline for all entries is April 11, 2014 at 6:00PM.  At that time all entries and fees will be frozen.  Any add/drops past that deadline should be submitted via email to brownschooldebate@gmail.com or cjvinc08@gmail.com.

Judges should also be submitted by that time.  Any school that is missing judges on April 11 are subject to having the hired judge fee assessed.  Please, we want your judges not your money. 

Meals/Hospitality

The tournament will sell dinner on Friday night and sell concessions, breakfast, and lunch throughout the day on Saturday.  There will also be a hospitality room for coaches and judges throughout the entire tournament.  It will be stocked with a lot of goodies and food.

HOTELS:

There are several hotels in the area.  While we are still waiting to secure a block of hotels with a special tournament rate, we recommend the following hotels:

Fairfield Inn & Suites Louisville Downtown

100 East Jefferson Street
Louisville, KY 40202

Ph: 502-569-3553

We are hoping to secure a rate with them within the next few weeks.

Awards:

Trophies will be awarded to each entry reaching elimination rounds.  In addition, we will also give speaker awards to the top students in each event.  The number will be dependent on how many students are entered.

In addition, we will take nominations for outstanding novice debater of the season.  This award will be given to a novice debater who has shown outstanding leadership, commitment, and hard work to debate.  To nominate someone for this award, please email a 1 page letter of recommendation to brownschooldebate@gmail.com by no later than April 8, 2014.

Schedule( Tentative)

LD/PF

Friday April 18

Registration 12:30-3:00PM
Opening Assembly 3:30PM (Auditorium)
Round 1: 4:00PM

Round 2: 5:30PM
Round3: 7:15PM

Saturday April 19
Round 4: 8:00AM
Round 5: 10:00AM
Round 6: 12:00PM
Awards: 2:00PM
Elim #1: 3:00PM
Elim #2: 4:30PM
Elim #3 (If Necessary): 5:30PM

Policy

Friday April 18
Registration: 12:30PM-3:00PM
Opening Assembly: 3:30PM
Round 1: 4:00PM
Round 2: 6:00PM

Saturday April 19
Round 3: 7:30AM
Round 4: 10:00AM

Round 5: 12:00PM
Awards: 2:00PM
Elim #1: 3:00PM
Elim #2: 5:00PM
Elim #3: 7:00PM (If necessary)

Christopher J. Vincent
Director of Speech & Debate
James Graham Brown School