Event-Specific Judging Instructions

Thank you for volunteering as a judge!

You will be checking in at the tournament at 8:00 a.m. in Judges Lounge. Our league provides complimentary snacks, beverages (including coffee), and lunch for our judges and coaches.

Please read through the instructions below and let any of the GGSA officials or your coach know if you have questions.

Note: There will be a judges' Parli training/refresher online the Thursday before the tournament from 7:30-8: 30 p.m.. Pay attention to a Tabroom blast for additional details. Newbies and rusty veterans welcome! Here is the G-meet link: http://meet.google.com/pjy-zxfd-qse US) +1 315-313-6127‬ PIN: ‪132 529 188‬#. Contact Vy Linh Nguyen at vnguyen@headroyce.org if you have questions beforehand.

FOR ALL JUDGES

*All GGSA judges will need to have an account through Tabroom in order to judge at tournaments. When creating your Tabroom account, please make sure to include your cell number. Most tournament notifications will be sent as text messages.

*Once you have created your Tabroom account, make sure you strike any child you have competing at tournaments. You do this by accessing your home page on Tabroom which is done by clicking on your email address in the top right corner of the Tabroom website. You can then choose Standing Conflictson the sidebar on the right, search your child and choose them as a personal conflict.

*You could also choose to create a Judge Paradigm to let contestants know about you and what is important to you when ranking them in rounds. The paradigm link is located next to the standing conflict link on your Tabroom homepage.

*No oral disclosures--just submit your decision and a written RFD.

Implicit Judge Bias Information: Take a moment to get familiar with implicit bias.

Cultural Compenency Training Handout: Familiarize yourself with cultural competency.
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Judging Instructions

Congress Judging Instructions for Congress 1, Congress 2 and Congress 3 GGSA preliminary tournaments.

​Parli Debate Judging Instructions with Ballot & Debate Examples

Instructions on How to Complete an Online Debate Ballot Using Tabroom

Instructions on How to Complete an Online Congress Ballot Using Tabroom

*Some Noteworthy Parli Rules:
1) Novice teams have 30 min. of prep time, with 5 minute constructive speeches and 3 minute rebuttals (555533). JV/V has the usual 20 min. of prep and speech times of 788845.

2) Students may also use the internet, computers and devices but ONLY during prep time. NO real-time communications or research during the debate is allowed. In the Novice Parli division, debaters may consult with teammates or other debaters at the tournament during prep time.

3) Generative artificial intelligence should not be cited as a source; while something like ChatGPT may be used to guide students to articles, ideas, and sources, the original source of any quoted or paraphrased evidence must be available if requested. Students are prohibited from quoting or paraphrasing text directly from generative AI sources like ChatGPT in events in which speeches must be the original created work of a competitor.

4) Pilot Evidence Rules for This GGSA Parli Tournament Only

A. Debaters should primarily rely on logic and general knowledge.

B. Reference to published sources is allowed but should be limited. All evidence should be transcribed on a team’s evidence document. Judges should weigh their decision primarily on an argument’s logical reasoning, not on citations or quotes.

C. Debaters are responsible for presenting evidence with integrity and accuracy.

1) Teams will share with their opponents and judge(s) their evidence document at the debate’s start. For in-person tournaments, the evidence document should be on paper. The opponents may retain the paper document during the round. For online tournaments, the document should be electronic.

2) Judges are not expected to read the evidence document upon receipt but may refer to it to confirm a team's compliance with evidentiary rules. The judge should consider information on the evidence document that is presented in a speech, but not as additional evidence to prove claims.

3) On the team evidence document, debaters should cite published sources and empirical evidence, providing full source citations--title, author, publication date, and the quotation this information is based on (be it in a sentence or paragraph). The transcription must be done during preparation time, by hand, and without ellipses. URLs should be included in an electronic evidence document, and must be made available on request after the round at in-person tournaments.