The Tournament invite is posted below and also available for download over to the right.  Our closest major airport is St. Louis (1.5 hours), with Peoria equidistance and offering some deals.  Bloomington/Normal is also an airport option.  The nearest Amtrak stop is in Springfield (.5 hours).  Jacksonville is accessible via Interstate 72.  

The Illinois College Debate Team invites you to attend the 2016 True Blue Tournament, Friday, December 2 through Sunday December 4, 2016.

The tournament will offer competition in the Junior Varsity and Novice divisions of policy debate. If entries in one of the divisions are insufficient, then we will make appropriate arrangements. Although the focus of this tournament is Novice and Junior Varsity, we would be willing to host Varsity teams (the tournament on Taboom is not set up to accommodate Varsity now, so email me), recognizing that Varsity and JV may collapse. 

All divisions will use the 9-3-6 format with 10 minutes of preparation time. The current NDT/CEDA topic will be utilized. This is an ADA and NDT/CEDA tournament.  The ADA Packet will be in use in the Novice Division. 

We will break half the bracket in all divisions to elim rounds. Hybrids are allowed. Hybrid teams may qualify to out rounds and debaters are eligible for speaker points.  

All coaching must end 5 minutes before the debate is scheduled to begin. All decisions must be made and ballots turned into the tab room 2 hours and 30 minutes after the round start time. Ties are not allowed. Please end post-round discussion 2 hours and 45 minutes after the round start in order to keep the tournament on time.

Judging

Each school is required to provide one judge for every two debate entries or portion thereof, entered. Judges covering one team are committed for three preliminary rounds. All judges are obligated through the first full elimination. All judges are obligated for one elimination round after their teams have been eliminated. Teams are responsible for providing and finding the judges to cover their obligations. Judges who are only qualified to hear novice or JV debate rounds can only cover teams in those divisions. We may be able to provide a number of experienced parliamentary debate judges, but these will be few and far between. 

We are committed to providing competitors a preferred and diverse judging pool. The tournament expects all judges will fulfill their commitment. In some instances this may result in mutuality of preference trumping the rank of preference. The tab room will also work to ensure diversity on elimination panels through manual placement and review of judges. Individuals wishing to judge additional rounds beyond their commitment may be hired by the tab room in order to increase diversity in the judging pool.

Important Note about Competition Rooms: Competitor and judges should not move any furniture or chairs from the classrooms. Additionally, do not use the tables in the classrooms with the classroom technology. The computer desks in classrooms are off limits to competitors. You may not unplug anything in a classroom for access to outlets. We will make an effort to provide classrooms with power strips. In order to be able to continue to host we have to implement a policy that will deter our guests from unplugging anything. As a result, the use of the classroom computer desks by competitors will result in those individuals being disqualified from the tournament. If you are caught unplugging classroom technology, you will be disqualified from the tournament. Judges and coaches violating this policy will result in having their teams disqualified from the tournament.

Tournament Hotel

The Comfort Inn of South Jacksonville is the Tournament hotel.  A block of 20 double rooms has been reserved under “Illinois College Debate.”  The hotel is at 200 Comfort Drive, South Jacksonville, Illinois 62650.  Phone: 217.245.8372.  The room rate is $79.99. 

The room rate expires on November 15. 

There are other hotels in the area, but the campus is hosting sporting events, so plan ahead.  The best of the other hotel options are:

Jacksonville Hampton Inn, 1725 W Morton Ave, Jacksonville, IL 62650. 217.291.0415

Best Western Jacksonville Inn, 1709 W Morton Ave, Jacksonville, IL 62650. 217.245.4500

Holiday Inn Express & Suites, 2501 Old Jacksonville Rd, South Jacksonville, IL 62650. 217.245.6500

If you are having problems finding a hotel space please contact us and we can make recommendations.  There are ample inexpensive rooms in Jacksonville and South Jacksonville. 

Registration

Registration will be held in the lobby of Kirby Hall between 1 and 3 PM on Friday, December 2. 

Entry Fees

$50 per person (Debaters, Judges, Coaches, members of your entourage). $50 per uncovered round of judging. Make all checks payable to Illinois College and Place in the memo “IC Debate Tournament.” Our tax ID # is: 37-0661211. 

Entry Deadline

Wednesday, November 30 at 5PM. Any drops after that time will still be assessed an entry fee. Please register using Tabroom.com. Judge preferences are due by noon on Friday, December 2.

Contact

Nick J. Sciullo

Director of Debate –

Illinois College

Nick.sciullo [@] mail.ic.edu

O: 217 [245] 3206

C: 757 [646] 8462

Parking

You can park in any lot labeled Blue or Green.  There is also ample Street Parking.  Large vans may need to park in the Blue lot by Crispin/behind Crampton.  Do not parking by yellow-painted curbs.  You will be ticketed by Jacksonville City Police, and we can’t do anything about that. 

Accessibility

Please denote if you have accessibility or ability concerns.  The following rooms are accessible: Crispin 107. Kirby 006, 108, 110, 112, 211, 213, 224, 235, Parker 104, 106, 107, and Sturtevant 101, 102, and 103. 

Restrooms

All Gender restrooms are available on the Ground Floor/First Floor of Baxter Hall.  This is the building nearest to the debates.  Other restrooms will be marked All Gender, closer to tournament time (expect them on the first floor of Kirby).  There are also All Gender restrooms on the third Floor of Bruner and at the Kamp Softball Field. 

Schedule

Friday, December 2

Registration 1-3PM, Kirby Hall.

4 PM Round 1

7 PM Round 2

Saturday, December 3

7:15 AM Pairings Released/Breakfast Provided

8:15 AM Round 3

11:15 PM Round 4

LUNCH

2:45 PM Round 5

DINNER

6:15 PM Round 6

Sunday, December 4

7 AM Elim Pairings Released/Breakfast Provided

8:00 AM Elim Round 1

11 AM Awards

12 PM Remaining Elim Rounds

Other Information

Smoking/Tobacco:

Illinois College is not smoke free, but please use marked disposal areas and waste receptacles.  Many of our students are student workers with facilities, and they won’t want to clean up your smoking residuals. 

Sexual and Other Harassment

The tournament will abide by all CEDA sexual harassment policies.  If you or someone you know wishes to report sexual harassment, please notify the Tournament Director immediately via email or cell phone. 

Furthermore, you may report sexual harassment to Angela Valuck, PHR, Director of Human Resources and Title IX Coordinator at 217.245.3169 or angela.valuck@mail.ic.edu.  Although not on campus on Saturday and Sunday, she has agreed to monitor her phone and email.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;