NYPDL March Online Invitational

2025 — Online, NY/US

NYPDL March Online Parliamentary Debate Invitational

Dear Parliamentary Debate Leader,

On behalf of the New York Parliamentary Debate League, we invite you and your debate team to the New York Parliamentary Debate League March Online Invitational on 3/15-3/16. The tournament will take place on Tabroom and Zoom, so all debaters and judges must first set up a free Tabroom account at this link.

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Rules

This tournament will be held in the format established by the American Parliamentary Debate Association (APDA). We will release three resolutions 15 minutes prior to the start of each round. The resolution and side will be determined by coin toss. For more information about Parli rules please visit our Resources page, where you can find informational YouTube videos, the Vassar style guide, our Rules FAQs document, and more. If you would like to have a Zoom meeting with a member of the NYPDL board for more in-depth training or an overview of the league and our debate format, please email us at nyparli@gmail.com.

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Registration

Registration will be done through Tabroom. Registration, including judge registration, is due Wednesday, March 12th at 11:59pm EST.

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Schedule

Please note that tournaments may run slightly over the time given in the schedule and that debaters should plan accordingly. All times listed below are in Eastern Time.

Saturday

9:00 - 10:00: Debater Check-In

9:30 - 10:00 - Judge Equity Briefing

10:00-10:25: Judge Training

10:00 - 10:25: Debater Equity briefing

10:25 - 10:30: General assembly (required)

10:30 - 12:15: Round 1

12:15 - 2:00 PM: Round 2

2:00 - 2:45: Lunch

2:45 - 4:30: Round 3

4:30 - 6:15: Round 4

6:15 - 8:00: Round 5

8:15 - 8:30: Award Ceremony

Sunday

10AM - 10:30: Check-In and GA

10:30 - 12:15: Varsity Octofinals / Novice Quarterfinals

12:15 - 12:45: Lunch

12:45 - 2:30: Varsity Quarterfinals / Novice Semifinals

2:30 - 4:15: Varsity Semifinals / Novice Finals

4:15 - 6:00: Varsity Finals

The times below are listed in PST:

Saturday

6:00 - 7:00: Debater Check-In

6:30 - 7:00 - Judge Equity Briefing

7:00-7:25: Judge Training

7:00 - 7:25: Debater Equity briefing

7:30 - 9:15: Round 1

9:15 - 11:00: Round 2

11:00 - 11:45: Lunch

11:45 - 1:30: Round 3

1:30 - 3:15: Round 4

3:15 - 3:30: Screen Break

3:30 - 5:15: Round 5

5:15 - 5:30: Award Ceremony

Sunday

7:00 - 7:30: Check-In and GA

7:30 - 9:15: Varsity Octofinals / Novice Quarterfinals

9:15 - 9:45: Lunch

9:45 - 11:30: Varsity Quarterfinals / Novice Semifinals

11:30 - 1:15: Varsity Semifinals / Novice Finals

1:15 - 3:00: Varsity Finals

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Break and Divisions

This tournament will feature one open division. Varsity and Novice teams will debate each other in prelim rounds. Power pairing will start after Round 1. We will break separately to Varsity Partial Octofinals and Novice Quarterfinals. Depending on registration size and time, we may adjust breaks.

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Novice Definition

To be a novice, an individual must satisfy all three of these conditions:

  1. Be a freshman or a sophomore

  2. Be in their first year of high school debate

  3. Not be ranked in the top 40 debaters in the league

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Team Composition

We encourage teams to consist of two debaters from the same school. However, we allow debaters to compete with a debater from another school or alone. If you sign up with a partner, both must be present for at least one preliminary round, and are required to be present for all out-rounds; teams will be dropped if both partners are not present in out-rounds.

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Judging Obligations

Each team is required to bring one judge for every two teams, rounded unfavorably — if you are bringing three teams, you must bring two judges. Schools may split up judging requirements between multiple people. Judges must be present for all preliminary rounds and the round after their last team has been eliminated from the break. While experienced judges are preferred, judge training is required. If you are unable to meet the judge requirement, we reserve the right to break up an entry into two judges.

A judge must be either a) a high school sophomore or older, or b) a high school freshman who has attended at least two high school debate tournaments.

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Fees and Dropped Entries

There is no registration cost for this tournament.

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NYPDL Points

This tournament will count for NYPDL and NPDL (National Parliamentary Debate League) points. Please visit our website for more information about NYPDL points, the NPDL Tournament of Champions, and the NYPDL championship.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

And if you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to email nyparli@gmail.com.