Welcome to the IHSSA State Debate tournament  January 5-6, 2018.

The tournament will be held at the Ankeny campus of DMACC.   

Building 5 (the new student Center)will house the tournament headquarters and concessions.  Please see map for that info.

Please complete your entry by December 18. Fees will be assessed then. The site will be open for drops until Wednesday, January 3. Additions may be allowed with permission. Contact Nick Nelsen. Schools may enter 6 per event/division.

Registration will be in building #5 (Student Center) at 11:00.  Student Congress has a General Meeting at 1:30.  All Saturday events will begin at 8:00 a.m.

Division managers are:  Nick Nelsen, LD; Pete Clancy, Policy Debate; Tim Sheaff, Public Forum;  Rick Hunsaker & Robert Galligan, Student Congress

Some reminders of rules/regulations for the IHSSA tournament:

            A. In order to enter Student Congress, the Intent Form must have been sent by November 15 with your Bills. If you did not  receive the Student Congress Intent Form and wish to enter Congress, notify the State Office immediately.

            B. Be sure to keep a copy of your entry forms for your records.

            C.  Coaches/judges/students are encouraged to remain on site for meals. There will be food available for coaches /judges/students.

            D.  If you have a Junior entry and did not receive a second set of forms, please duplicate the forms. A Junior membership is considered a separate school.  No attempt will be made to keep its entries from being scheduled against the Senior High entries.   All students in the Junior entry must be in the ninth grade.  Also, if a school elects to have a Junior membership, no ninth grade student can be listed on the Senior High entry.                       

            E. A school must provide judges/scorers to cover entries according to the rules. If you are unable to provide the required number of judges/scorers, fees will be assessed at the rate of $200. (Read the Constitution for clarification) There are NO partial judges, nor can you combine entries from different divisions to calculate your judge requirement.

            F. Each school will pay a refundable judges bond of $200. This bond must be received by the State Office prior to the state tournament and accompany their tournament entry form.  The refund will occur after the completion of your school's judging obligation.  This bond may be a separate school check or a personal check  which will be held for return at the end of the tournament.  If the bond is included in the entry fee, a check will be written for the  refund  amount.  It will be mailed if not picked up.

            G. Please list any judges/scorers who could be hired and paid by the IHSSA by sending an e-mail to the IHSSA State Office or a division manager.            

           H. Resolutions are as follows

Policy Debate

Policy Debate – 2017-2018 Topic

Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its funding and/or regulation of elementary and/or secondary education in the United States.

Lincoln-Douglas Debate

Lincoln-Douglas Debate – 2018 January/February Topic

Resolved: Plea bargaining ought to be abolished in the United States criminal justice system

Public Forum Debate 

Public Forum Debate – 2018 January Topic Area: Europe

Resolved: Spain should grant Catalonia its independence.

           I.   A copy of the By-Laws WILL BE SENT TO ALL SCHOOLS THAT ENTER.  Please take time to read them.

            J. Students can be changed between categories until the tournament begins.  If a student is substituted who is not listed on the eligibility form, a letter from your principal must be brought to the tournament stating that the student is eligible.

           K. Judge preferences will be collected for LD and Policy. Coaches will receive preference sheets Thursday noon. Changes to the judge pool after that are inevitable, but please work to limit late changes to the judge pool by ensuring your judging information is correctly entered.