IMPROMPTU NOW STARTS AT 2:30

The Hyde Middle School Invitational 2024

Dear Colleagues:

Saratoga Speech and Debate cordially invites you and your team to attend The Hyde Invitational, held on the weekend of March 9th and 10th, 2024.This tournament will be held on the NSDA Campus platform.

Events and Divisions

Middle School

Debate

For middle school debate students, we offer the following divisions: Open MS Policy Debate, Novice MS Policy Debate, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, and Public Forum Debate.

Speech

For middle school students, we offer divisions of Dramatic Interpretation, Informative/Expository, Extemporaneous, Humorous Interpretation, Declamation/Oratorical Interpretation, Original Oratory, Prose and Poetry (to combine both Original Prose & Poetry and Poetry Interp), Program of Oral Interpretation. Middle School Spontaneous Argument (SPAR) and Middle School Impromptu are also offered on a separate schedule. All events will be asynchronous, except SPAR and Impromptu. Videos for asynchronous events are due Friday at 6 pm.

Elementary School

For your youngest competitors, we have a division of Elementary Impromptu Speaking and a division of Elementary Spontaneous Argument (SPAR).

Elementary school students are also welcome to enter any of the middle school divisions.

Logistics

Location/Platform

This competition will take place online on the NSDA Campus platform.

All competitors must be linked to a Tabroom.com account associated with their school to access their competition rooms.

All rounds will be single-flighted to reduce screen time for both competitors and judges.

Time Zone

Due to our school’s location in California, all times for the tournament will be on Pacific time.

Registration, Waitlist, and Limitations

Registration

Entries will be accepted online. You can also locate the tournament name from the Tabroom homepage to register. You can also search for the tournament by entering "Hyde Invitational" into the search box. You can find the Hyde Invitational under the National Circuit (NatCir) for high schools on Tabroom.com.

Waitlist Process

Teams will clear the waitlist once their entries are covered by judging or by tournament-approved hired judging requests.

TBA entries will not clear the waitlist. Please register names for your entries by the TBA deadline.

If you feel you have teams waitlisted despite these conditions being met, please contact the tournament.

Independent Entries

Independent entries are welcome at The Hyde Invitational. All independent entries must have an adult coach or adult parent who can be reached if/when needed by the tournament.

Deadlines and Schedule

Dates and Deadlines

Online registration will accept changes until 6:00 PM on Thursday, March 7th. You can add or drop up until the day of the tournament; however, drops made after Wednesday, March 6that 6:00 pm will be charged their entry fee.

Judge changes are due at the Drop/Fees Freeze deadline - Wednesday, at 6:00 pm. If you would like to buy out of judging, you must request hired judging (via email or Tabroom) by Wednesday,6:00 PM. Requests made after this deadline may or may not be able to be fulfilled and may be charged a higher rate. Requests are not guaranteed to be fulfilled, so please get them in as soon as possible.

Hired Judging Request Deadline 3/6/2024 @ 6:00 PM PDT

TBA Deadline (entries must have names) 3/6/2024 @ 6:00 PM PDT

Drop Deadline - Fees/Obligations Freeze 3/5/2024 @ 6:00 PM PDT

Judge Deadline - Changes Freeze 3/6/2024@ 6:00 PM PDT

Add Deadline - New Entries Due 3/8/2024@ 6:00 PM PDT

Entry Name Change / Online Drops Freeze 3//5/2024 @ 6:00 PM PDT

Schedule

Saturday & Sunday - All Lincoln-Douglas / Public Forum Schedule

Registration/Check-in for schools entered in Debate will be on Saturday, March 9th from 7:00 am-8:00 am.

* If needed

Saturday - Middle School Policy Debate Schedule

Registration/Check-in for schools entered in Debate will be on Saturday, March 9thfrom 7:00 am-8:00 am.

Policy’s official competition will conclude with round 3. The 4th round is an optional practice debate intended for west-coast teams. East Coast teams may opt-in to this round if they choose. There will be no Policy Debate rounds on Sunday.

Saturday - Speech Schedule (Except SPAR + Impromptu)

Registration/Check-in for schools entered in Speech will be on Saturday, March 9th from 7:00 am-8:00 am. Events are asynch

Saturday - SPAR and Impromptu schedule

Registration/Check-in for schools entered in Speech will be on Saturday, March 9th from 7:00 am-8:00 am. Note times are asynch.

Fees and Fines

Entry Fees

We have set entry fees at what we feel is a reasonable rate. If you feel cost is a barrier to your team’s ability to participate, or if your school is a member of an Urban Debate League (UDL), please email us at sclemmons@hotmail.com. Discounts and waivers will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. The Hyde Invitational is committed to equity of access for all competitors and schools.

School Fee - $50 (Charged to all institutions that register)

Policy Debate Entry - $60

Policy Debate Judging - $125 per judge

Lincoln-Douglas Entry - $40

Public Forum Entry - $60

Debate Judging - $125 per uncovered entry

Speech Entry - $30

Speech Judging - $125 per judge

Judging Requests After Deadline - Additional $25 per judge/uncovered entry

Missed Ballot Fee - $50 per missed ballot

Payment Information

Please make arrangements for payment once your entries have cleared the waitlist.

Electronic Payment via PayPal is accepted at the following link: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/saratogahighsdclub

Checks can be made payable to "Saratoga High Boosters - Debate". Please mail to:

Saratoga High School
Attention: Steve Clemmons

20300 Herriman Avenue

Saratoga, CA 95070

If your school requires payment via W9 or Purchase Order, please contact sclemmons@hotmail.com for alternate arrangements.

Double Entry Limitations

Student Double Entry

Students can enter in one Debate event OR up to 2 Speech events with the following exceptions:

Students who enter Extemp can only do Extemp during the Speech pattern.

Middle school students who enter in SPAR or Impromptu cannot double enter unless they are entering in SPAR and Impromptu. These two events are on a separate schedule from the remainder of the speech competition.

Elementary school students can double enter in Elementary SPAR and Elementary Impromptu, or single enter in either of these events.

Judging Information

Judging Coverage Ratios

Each Judge covers up to 2 entries in Debate.

Each Judge covers up to 5 entries in Speech.

Judge Qualifications and Expectations

All judges are required to have a linked Tabroom account. This is to ensure they have access to both their ballots and the competition rooms on the NSDA Campus platform.

Judges for Middle School events may be current high school juniors or seniors with significant forensics experience.

Judges should have significant experience with digital forensics competitions. Schools are responsible for preparing their judges for the use of Tabroom.com and for what to expect in a digital forensics competition. As a result, there will be no day-of-tournament judge training. Rather we encourage the use of the following resources ahead of the tournament to become prepared:

We encourage all judges to review the NSDA Cultural Competency resources (www.speechanddebate.org/judge-training/) and take the course. If you have newer judges, we strongly recommend the Adjudicating Speech and Debate course available via the NSDA (www.speechanddebate.org/judge-training/).

Finally, we expect all judges to act in a manner that is inclusive, and equitable and offers constructive criticism to the competitors, regardless of their background or experience.

Elimination Round Obligations

All Debate judges are committed to judging one round beyond when the last student from that school/institution is eliminated from competition in that division.

This means that if you have 3 PF judges and one of your PF entries advances to the Quarterfinal round, ALL 3 judges are committed to judging the Semifinal round.

All judges are obligated through the first complete elimination round.

For example, if the tournament runs a partial octofinal debate all judges are obligated through the quarterfinal elimination round.

All Speech judges are committed to the Final round.

Partial Judge Shifts and Availability

The tournament intends that judges be available for a minimum of a full day.

You can adjust the day availability of your judge by first entering your judge, and then clicking on “All Rounds” under your judge’s “Availability” section.

If you have judges with partial availability please be sure to have another judge that can fill in for the other day. We can also accommodate partial day judge shifts if requested in advance. Please email these requests to cori.blackwood95@gmail.com.

Missed rounds will incur fees as we have to replace those judges with hired judges or school judges beyond their commitment. Missed round fees will be $30 per ballot.

Judge Double Entry

Due to the nature of the schedule, there is no intended judge double-entry at this tournament.

If you have a unique situation and wish to request a judge to cover one entry in each of the two conflicting groups, please contact the tournament.

Accommodations can often be made if requested in advance and will be handled on a case-by-case basis.

Hired Judging

Hired Judging Process

Schools that wish to buy out their judging requirement can do so at a rate of $125 per entry in Debate events, or $125 per judge in Speech / Policy / Congress events. This fee covers the cost of hiring a judge to fill that role for the weekend.

If you need tournament-hired judging, please notify the tournament so that we can begin the process of retaining a judge for the weekend. You can do so either by using the hire request feature on Tabroom.com or by emailing sclemmons@hotmail.com

Missing judges are not an indication of a hired judging request and will be charged at a higher rate of $150. This is the default rate on Tabroom when no hire request is made, and no judge is entered. Tabroom will reflect the correct rate for hired judging after hired judging requests are made and approved.

Hired Judging Deadline

The deadline to request hired judging from the tournament is Wednesday, January 24th at 6:00 PM PDT. Requests made after the deadline do not have a guarantee of being filled and will be charged a higher rate of $150.

Judges Wishing to be Hired

If you wish to be a hired judge for the Hyde Invitational, please fill out the Google Form: (https://forms.gle/6neMxLWrDnU7b3sK9).Filling out the form is not a guarantee of being hired.

We will be requiring every judge we hire to complete the NFHS Protecting Students from Abuse training course before the tournament: (https://nfhslearn.com/courses/protecting-students-from-abuse). Please email the completed certificate to sclemmons@hotmail.com

We also strongly recommend the NSDA Cultural Competency Course. You can access each of these courses via the NSDA Judge Training Webpage: (www.speechanddebate.org/judge-training/).

Event Specific Information

Policy Debate:

Topic

We offer the 2023-2024 NFHS Policy Debate Resolution

Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase fiscal redistribution in the United States by adopting a federal jobs guarantee, expanding Social Security, and/or providing a basic income.

Three Rounds Followed by Practice Round 4

Policy’s official competition will conclude with round 3. The 4th round is an optional practice debate intended for west-coast teams. East Coast teams may opt-in to this round if they choose. There will be no Policy Debate rounds on Sunday.

Novice and Open Division Eligibility

The Open MS Policy division is open to any student currently enrolled in Middle School.

The Novice MS Policy division is intended for students currently enrolled in Middle School who have not debated a policy debate round before July 1, 2023.

Evidence Expectations

In Policy Debate, evidence must be made available to view upon request from either an opponent or judge.

Public Forum:

Topic

We offer the February NSDA topic in Public Forum debate.

Coinflip Process

Teams will flip for sides and speaking order in all rounds. Coinflips will be conducted online via Tabroom.com. Flips will become live one minute after pairing release, and the winning team will have five minutes to choose a side or speaking order. If the time elapses, either team may choose.

Evidence Expectations

In Public Forum, the evidence must be made available for viewing upon request from either an opponent or a judge.

Lincoln-Douglas:

Topic

We offer the January/February NSDA topic for Lincoln-Douglas debate.

Resolved: The United States ought to substantially reduce its military presence in the West Asia-North Africa region.

Coinflip Process

Teams will flip for sides in elimination rounds. Coinflips will be conducted online via Tabroom.com. Flips will become live one minute after pairing release, and the winning entry will have five minutes to choose a side. If the time elapses, either entry may be chosen.

Evidence Expectations

In Lincoln-Douglas, evidence must be made available to view upon request from either an opponent or judge.

Argument Restrictions

The tournament does not take a position on what types of arguments can be advanced by debaters on either side.

Extemp:

Extemp prep will start 30 minutes before the extemp round begins.

Impromptu:

Topic Distribution

Impromptu topics will be emailed to judges 15 minutes before a round is scheduled to begin.

Spontaneous Argument (SPAR):

Side Assignments

Spar will be paneled similar to a Speech event with sections of 6 competitors per room.

Odd-numbered competitors will be Pro and Even numbered competitors will be Con.

Topic / Resolution Process

Judges will receive topics via email 15 minutes before a round is scheduled to begin. Each competitor will debate one other competitor about one topic. Each pair will be given 3 topics/resolutions by the judge.

The Pro will strike one resolution and then the Con will strike one of the two remaining topics, leaving the pair with one final topic for debate.

Vocabulary and Definitions

Please keep in mind that our competitors are young. Judges may provide definitions of words in the topics.

Format and Procedure

After topic selection, a pair of competitors will have two minutes to prepare their arguments before speaking will commence.

The Pro speaker will give a two-minute constructive speech in favor of the resolution; immediately after that speech, the Con speaker will give a two-minute constructive speech.

Following the constructives, there will be a four-minute open crossfire.

The debaters should question each other and should be prepared to take at least a few questions from the audience of other competitors. The competitors should ask these questions (i.e. not the judge). Any other SPAR competitors listed to speak in that round are permitted to ask crossfire questions (judges and other spectators are not permitted to ask questions).

Two rebuttal speeches of the Pro followed by the Con complete the round.

There is no preparation time during the debate.

Time Limits

Prep Time 2 minutes

Pro Constructive 2 minutes

Con Constructive 2 minutes

Open Crossfire 4 minutes

Pro Rebuttal 2 minutes

Con Rebuttal 2 minutes

Scoring / Ranking

At the end of the debate, judges will rank the speakers from 1 to 6.

SPAR competitors should be judged based on overall wit, persuasion, and quality argument construction.

Procedure for Imbalanced Sections

If there are an odd number of competitors (5), Competitor 1 will debate again on the opposite side against Competitor 5. Please disregard the second performance from Competitor 1 in selecting your rankings, but please include comments and feedback for the second debate.

Example 6-person round:

Competitor 1 will debate Competitor 2. Competitor 1 will be Pro

Competitor 3 will debate Competitor 4. Competitor 3 will be Pro

Competitor 5 will debate Competitor 6. Competitor 5 will be Pro

Example 5 person round:

Competitor 1 will debate Competitor 2. Competitor 1 will be Pro

Competitor 3 will debate Competitor 4. Competitor 3 will be Pro

Competitor 5 will debate Competitor 1. Competitor 5 will be Pro

Equity and Disputes

If, at any time during the tournament, there is a concern regarding equity or a dispute regarding a tournament procedure, we are requiring the individuals to fill out a Google form so they can be contacted by the Ombudsperson and Equity Officer. The equity form will be located on our tournament tabroom page. The decisions of the Equity Officer / Ombudsperson are final.