Judging

Judging Requirements
Policy Debate – 1 judge for every two teams (in each division)
Lincoln-Douglas – 1 judge for every three debaters (in each division)
Public Forum – 1 judge for every three teams (in each division)
Congressional Debate –1 judge for every five combined Speech/Congress entries
Speech Events – 1 judge for every five combined Speech/Congress entries

As the divisions have divergent elimination round schedules, Novice and Varsity debate judging pools are separate. This allows experienced high school seniors to serve as judges in the Novice divisions. If this creates a hardship for your school, please contact the Tournament Director.

Judge requirements round up in all cases – please, no half judges. Please provide experienced judges. We may accept may additional out-of-category judges in lieu of hiring; please contact the tournament director. Debate judges are obligated two rounds past the school’s furthest advancing competitor, whichever is later; Speech judges are obligated through Finals. All varsity judges must be adults.

Hired Judging
We will have a limited number of judges for hire. Please request hires early. All schools are expected to provide at least one judge before hiring – you’ll always have one adult on site, after all – unless extreme circumstances prevent this.

Hire costs:
Speech and Congress - $40/slot (rather than by judge)
Novice Debate - $220
Varsity Debate - $275

Judge Strikes
We will use a judge strike system for debate events. Information will be sent to schools in those events the week of the tournament. Judges may not be substituted within 24 hours of the close of strikes.

Judge Expectations
There are no tournaments without judges and we aim to treat our judges well. We expect that judges treat the tournament and all participants equally well. Judges who fail to report for assignments or who act improperly may be removed from the tournament; schools who fall below judging requirements as a result may forfeit rounds.