Judging

Judge Obligation

• In debate, one judge is owed per 2 entries or fraction thereof in each event.
• In live speech, one judge is owed per 4 entries or fraction thereof in live speech.
• In asynchronous speech, one judge is owed per 4 entries or fraction thereof in async speech.
• In Congress, one judge is owed per 6 entries or fraction thereof.
• Judges are obligated to be available for every round of the event they are judging on Saturday.

Hired Judging

• Hired judges are available for a cost of $150 per judge.
• Payment for hired judges MUST be received by the national office prior to the beginning of the tournament or your school will not be permitted to compete.
• Request a hired judge in Tabroom.com and then complete payment by logging into your NSDA account and completing the hired judge form.

Judge Eligibility

• Judges in the rising stars division may be juniors or seniors in high school with at least 250 Honor Society points who have taken the required judge training course.
• Judges in the open division must have graduated from high school.
• All competitors in live events and all judges must have a linked Tabroom.com account to compete.

Judge Training Requirements

• Written feedback on ballots is required; coaches are responsible for educating judges on how to use NSDA Campus, judging procedures, and how to give adequate feedback. Disclosure and oral feedback is optional. All judges will submit ranks and a decision at the conclusion of each round.
• All judges must complete the Cultural Competency judge training course. Judges are encouraged to review the judge training recording that describes how to give constructive feedback.
• The Springboard Series is dedicated to helping students grow as speech and debate competitors and community members. Judges must be committed to providing constructive, culturally competent feedback and decisions that meet students where they are in order to create safe spaces, healthy competition, and encourage their growth in our activities.