Eligibility & Fees

Entry Fees

$40 per team in Novice & Open
$20 per team in Middle School (6-8th grade)
No school fee

Please pay here. Email npdl.board+treasurer@gmail.com if entry fees are a barrier to your participation .Revenue from entry fees supports financial aid for NPDL-TOC and other activities.

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Eligibility

- Only students from NPDL member/observer schools may compete, unless in middle school or otherwise explicitly exempted by the Tournament Director. To register your school for NPDL,click here.

- All students shall be registered under their school or designated as “[SCHOOL NAME] Independent.” Hybrid teams of students from different schools should be registered using both school names.

- Each school will be allowed one hybrid entry in varsity and one hybrid entry in novice.

- Each school will be allowed one maverick entry in novice.

- Homeschooled debaters may enter if they affiliate with a member school.

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Divisions

There will be three divisions: Open; Novice; Middle School

- A novice debater is any middle school student, or a high school freshman or sophomore who is in their first academic year of debate competition.

- A middle school student, or a freshman or sophomore in their second academic year of debate competition may also enter as a novice if they have competed in no more than three debate tournaments total.

- A novice team is composed of two novice debaters.

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Judges

The judge requirement is 1 judge per 2 entries. Judge obligations are calculated separately for each division. All judges from a given school are obligated for one round past the elimination of the last team from their school. This means that ALL Sunday Open/Novice judges are obligated for at least the Octofinals round. A limited number of hired judges are available at $150 per judge.

If you cannot fully cover your judging obligation, or, conversely, if you want to volunteer to judge, please email npdl.board+fall@gmail.com

A judge must:

- be fluent in English,

- be familiar with the basic rules of parliamentary debate

- have a device with a working camera and audio

- have experience using video conferencing

- be at least 18 years old and not be a current high school student (except in the Middle School division)

- be reachable at all times by phone while they are in the judge pool