LD Entourage Judge Rule

Does not apply to World Schools or MSPDP

Entourage rule: All coaches must put themselves in the judging pool. The entourage rule is one the HW debate team believes in and tries to follow at all tournaments. Teams with the resources to have on-site coaching beyond covering the judging obligation ought to be a shared benefit through providing additional judging.

This judge DOES NOT COUNT towards covering your obligation. If the judge IS fulfilling any part of your obligation, they must abide by the same elimination round obligation as all other judges.

Judges who are designated as an Entourage judge will be on the pref sheet with 1 rounds and agree to judge in 1 full round (2 flights). Your Entourage judge will not be placed in elimination rounds unless they volunteer to do so. If the judge IS fulfilling any part of your obligation, they must abide by the same elimination round obligation as all other judges.

Every school is required to put anyone who is coaching for them in as a judge or entourage judge, even if the coach works with multiple schools.

Example(s):

1. Coach Jane Smith coaches debaters at 3 different schools. Those schools have judges to cover their obligation, Jane Smith must be entered for as an Entourage Judge (1 round) for each of the schools.

2. In some cases Jane Smith may be covering an some obligation for one school but not others. Any “leftover” rounds should be used as Entourage rounds for the other two schools. Jane Smith would be required to cover elim rounds for the school she is covering obligation, but not the school(s) for whom she is judging because of the Entourage rule.

Judges should be designated as Entourage in the notes. If you have questions, please email mbietz@hw.com. Failure to put coaches in the judging pool will result in a loss of all preferences.