Judge Information

*MORE INFO FOR JUDGES COMING SOON*

HELP, I'M A JUDGE AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT I NEED TO DO!

First of all, thank you for volunteering to judge at the CHSSA State Championship! You’re an essential part of making this tournament amazing, and we’re here to make sure you feel supported every step of the way. 

Here are the best things you can do right now to get prepared to judge at State 2025:

1. Complete the NSDA Judge Training Courses

We recommend starting with the NSDA Learn courses for judge training. These are broken down by your judging pool (speech, debate, or congress), and there are even advanced-level courses for those who are more experienced or want a quick refresher.

NSDA Judge Training Courses

2. Complete the NSDA Intro to Multicultural Competence Course

Important! Every judge must complete the Intro to Multicultural Competence course this year. This course will earn you a badge on your Tabroom profile, which we can see, so make sure you complete it!

To help ensure everything goes smoothly and no teams incur fines, please make sure this mandatory step is completed. We appreciate your cooperation!

NSDA Intro to Multicultural Competence

You’re doing great! We’ll send out more info soon, but for now, completing these courses will get you well on your way to feeling prepared and confident. We appreciate you so much and can’t wait to see you in action at the tournament!

Judge Requirements & Obligations

Judge Obligations

• Debate:

• Friday & Saturday: 1 judge per 2 debate entries

• Sunday: 1 judge per 3 debate entries

• Speech:

• Prelims: 1 judge per 4 speech entries

• Elims: 1 judge per 5 speech entries

• Congress: 1 judge per 3 entries (or fraction thereof)

Important Notes on Judge Commitment

• Judges are committed through the end of the tournament. While we understand this may be different from what many are used to at invitationals and other tournaments, this is the standard expectation at culminating, large-format championship tournaments.

• We appreciate everyone’s cooperation in making this event a success—ensuring that every round is judged fairly and effectively is what allows students to have the best possible experience.

• We do allow single-day judges, but they must be available for all rounds on the day(s) they are signed up for.

• First-year out (class of 2024) judges are NOT allowed.

• There is no judge buyout option—teams must provide their full judge obligation. That said, if you need help finding a judge to hire, please email me (Director@CHSSA.org)  and I can try to help get you connected to someone available to judge. 

[Click here] for a full breakdown of judge requirements and the schedule.

Judge Background Information

We’re asking coaches to provide a bit of background on their judges and rate them based on experience when registering. This helps our tab staff place judges more effectively.

This doesn’t need to be super detailed—just enough to give us a sense of who’s judging and how we can best use them.

Neutral Judges

This year, we’re clarifying the role of Neutral Judges—judges who are entered by a school to fulfill its obligation but have no direct affiliation with the team.

A Neutral Judge is someone who:
✓ Has no prior connection to your team
✓ Does not know your students and could not identify them
✓ Has never coached, worked with, or interacted with your students in any meaningful way

Example: If you hired a college debater you've never met to cover your obligation, and they have never worked with your team, trained your students, or even interacted with them, they can likely be classified as neutral and judge your team’s entries.

How to indicate a Neutral Judge:
During registration, you can mark a judge as "Neutral" if they meet the above criteria. This helps us with fair judge placement and ensures the tournament runs smoothly.

If you have any questions about whether a judge qualifies as neutral, feel free to reach out!

New for 2025: Mandatory Judge Check-In

To keep the tournament running smoothly, we are instituting mandatory judge check-in twice a day for all judges scheduled to judge that day.

How it works:
✓ Check-in happens at the Judge House
✓ Twice daily:

• Morning check-in – At least 30 minutes before the first scheduled round of the day
• Afternoon check-in – At least 30 minutes before the first scheduled round after lunch

At check-in, judges will receive their meal vouchers for that day’s complimentary meals.

Judges who do not check in at least 30 minutes before their scheduled round will be subject to fines for missing obligations until they check in. This system ensures we have judges in place when and where they are needed, keeping the tournament fair and efficient for all competitors.

Thank you for your cooperation in making this tournament a success!