Entry and Event Info

Eligibility

High School students grades nine through twelve are eligible to compete in the Cougar Classic Debate Tournament representing the high school that they attend.  Hybrid teams will be allowed to compete but will not be eligible for participation in elimination rounds.  All students competing must be accompanied by a school-approved adult chaperone.  No independent entries or teams unaffiliated with the school that they attend will be allowed to compete.

In order to maintain a safe and educational environment, we have high expectations for the decorum of both students and adults on our campus.  Behavior that violates the Fulton County Schools code of conduct will not be tolerated and could be grounds for immediate dismissal from the tournament. 

Policy Debate

Currently there is no limit on the amount of teams that you may enter in the three policy divisions; however, we reserve the right to limit entries as necessary. The only limit is on the number of classrooms available – please register early to ensure that we have space for your teams.  Double entries are not permitted.

All divisions of policy debate will be two-person and switch-side using the 8-3-5 format with 8 minutes of preparation time.  We will begin power-matching brackets after round two.  

Policy debates will use the national high school resolution for 2017-2018: Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase funding and/or regulation of elementary and/or secondary education in the United States.

This year, we will again use mutually preferred judging in the varsity policy debates.  All judges in the varsity policy division will be expected to have philosophies posted to the national judge philosophy wiki (http://judgephilosophies.wikispaces.com/) and/or Tabroom.

We endorse GFCA rules for the novice policy division and expect that all teams competing in novice policy will abide by these rules.  Novice teams may not read any evidence that is not in the GFCA novice packet.  The only affirmatives that may be run are those contained within the GFCA novice packet.  The affirmative must advocate the exact plan text included with each of those affirmatives.  On the negative, teams may only run disadvantages contained within the GFCA novice packet.  Novice teams may only run topicality violations contained within the novice packet.  Novice teams are not allowed to read any specification arguments, counterplans, or critiques.  Judges should disregard any argument made in the debate that does not conform to these rules.  Please ensure that the judges you provide understand these rules.  Any questions should be directed to the tournament director. 

Policy round one pairings will be released Friday at 3:00PM; please email abelkop@gmail.com or call (404) 414-7491 to report any changes or corrections before that time. 

Lincoln-Douglas Debate

There is currently no limit on the number of entries allowed.  Double entries are not permitted.  Lincoln-Douglas debates will use the September/October NSDA topic in both the Novice and the Varsity division.  Lincoln-Douglas debates will use the 6-3-7-3-4-6-3 format with 4 minutes of preparation time.  

Public Forum Debate

There is currently no limit on the number of entries allowed.  Double entries are not permitted.  We will follow NSDA rules and use the September/October NSDA PF topic in both the Novice and Varsity divisions.