Information/Fees

Platform:         Zoom (with Breakout Rooms)

Entries:            Entries will be accepted until our spaces are filled.  We have a limited number of rooms, so plan on entering early!  All entries dropped after 4:00pm on Monday January 11th will lose their original entry fee.  We reserve the right to charge nuisance fees for drops that are not communicated with us in a timely fashion.

Judges:

·         Policy Debate – One judge for every two entries, or portion thereof. 

·         Lincoln-Douglas – One judge for every two entries, or portion thereof.

·         Public Forum Debate – One judge for every two entries, or portion thereof.

·         Congressional Debate – One judge for every eight entries.

·         Extemporaneous Speaking – One judge for every six entries, or portion thereof.

·         Asynchronous Individual Events (HI, DI, Duo, Duet, Prose, Poetry, Novice Oral Interp, POI, OO, Informative) – One judge for every six entries, or portion thereof.

*All judges/hire requests must be entered on the website by Monday January 11th at 4:00pm or you will be assessed missing judge fees, which will be set.  We need to get an accurate idea of how many judges to hire.  Provided judges are always preferred to fees.  Schools of judges who are scheduled to judge rounds and do not pick up ballots will be assessed a fee of $25 for every missed round. Committing to a judge and then not providing that judge will result in a missing judge fee assessed on the day of the tournament.

*School judges may judge in more than one category.  However, they can only judge one debate event.  Note: if debate/congress/extemp judges are also in the asynchronous pool, they must make sure that they complete their rounds.  Failure to complete asynchronous rounds due to other synchronous rounds will still result in fines.

Debate Event Topics:

·         Cross-Examination Debate – NFHS Topic

·         Lincoln-Douglas Debate – We will have divisions for BOTH the NSDA and UIL topics.

·         Public Forum Debate – January NSDA Topic

·         Congressional Debate – We will create a docket from the UIL State Prelims docket (if it’s available).  I have gone through and tried to create a docket of UIL bills that appears on more than one conference.  So we will use the following: PRELIMS (4A P10, 4A F1, 5A F4, 2A P10) FINALS (4A F4, 4A F6, 3A P5, 2A F6)

Fees:

·         Missing Judge (IE/Debate) - $150

·         Individual Event, Congress, Duo/Duet Entry - $5

·         LD Entry - $10

·         PFD, CX Entry - $20

Payment of Fees:        Schools should mail a check payable to Lindale High School Speech and Debate to cover all fees.  While we understand that COVID-19 has created some delays of payment, we would appreciate if you can have a Purchase Order or proof of payment (emails with business offices would suffice) by the start of the tournament.  If you are unable to do this, we understand, but will require that all accounts be paid in full within 30 days after the tournament.  All delinquent accounts are subject to a $100 fee.

Cross-Entering:           Students may participate in one debate event (LD/CX/PF).  Congressional Debate will take place on its own so anyone can cross enter.  All students may enter one extemp category as well.  There are no cross-entry restrictions in asynchronous Individual Events.  We will be providing cushion for each synchronous event in the schedule, however, participants with insurmountable technological issues or with extreme tardiness could be forfeited from the round.

*Novice divisions will be collapsed without sufficient entry.  We will make the final call regarding novice divisions by Monday, January 11th.  Novice is defined as any first-year competitor.  Competing in an event for a first time does not necessarily make a competitor a novice.  Trying to manipulate this rule has an extreme negative impact on our activity.  Please double-check your entry to make sure that your students are entered in the appropriate division.

Student Behavior:       All competitors and judges are held to the spirit of the UIL Spring Meet code.  A coach (or other teacher) from every school, or a parent must be immediately available online at all times while students from said school are competing.  Parents/Guardians may attend the tournament with (and be responsible for) their child(ren) if a school representative is unavailable.  Failure to comply with these guidelines may result in forfeiting the school from competition.

Other Notes:

·         We will make every effort as a tournament to run on schedule and will attempt to accelerate when possible.  We ask for your patience and cooperation in the event that this is not possible.

·         We believe that oral critiques and disclosure are valuable teaching tools in debate.  However, an oral critique does not replace a well-written ballot, as that is helpful communication at this time of the year between the judge and coach.

·         The third round of debate will be power-matched (hi-low).

·         Questions should be directed to Rory McKenzie.