Judge Requirements

Judging Requirements By Event Group

• Middle schools are required to bring at least one judge for each division in which they have students (Policy, LD, or PF, WSD, Speech, and Congress). Your registration will not be accepted if you do not have one judge in each division. If you owe multiple judges in a division, you may buy-out the obligation for $160 as long as you have one judge in that division. For example, if you owe 2 PF judges, you must bring one in-person judge and have the option of bringing a second judge OR paying $160 to cover the obligation of the 2nd judge.

• Policy Debate: For every 2 teams or fraction thereof – at least one judge must be provided by the school
• Lincoln-Douglas Debate: For every 3 entries or fraction thereof – at least one judge must be provided by the school
• Public Forum Debate: For every 3 teams or fraction thereof – at least one judge must be provided by the school
• Speech: For every 5 entries or fraction thereof – at least one judge must be provided by the school
• Congress: 1 per school – at least one judge must be provided by the school, who may also serve as a Policy, PF, or LD judge
• World Schools: For every 2 teams or fraction thereof - at least one judge must be provided by the school

High School Judges

• You may not register high school students who are entered in the High School National Tournament to judge.
• If a school brings high school students to judge that are not entered in the HS National Tournament, they must have been juniors or seniors with at least 250 Honor Society points in the last academic year. No underclassmen or upperclassmen without 250 Honor Society points will be permitted to judge. A rising junior does not meet this criteria. High school students that do meet these criteria can fulfill the judging obligation of a school.
• When you enter a high school student judge to cover your school's obligation, you must click on the judge's name and toggle the button that says "HS student that meets criteria". 
• High school students who are entered in the High School National Tournament but are done competing may visit the Middle School Nationals tabulation staff to volunteer to judge middle school debates. If possible, high school volunteer judges should come before rounds begin at 8:00 am on Wednesday to attend a judge training. Judge training is mandatory; if a judge cannot make it to judge training on Wednesday morning, it will be made up with the tabulation staff at a later time. We appreciate the dedication of our high school student judges!

For more information, please consult the Middle School Unified Manual. 

Paradigms

Lincoln-Douglas and Policy judges must fill out a judge paradigm before May 1. The paradigm can be accessed by clicking on the judge's name from the Judges tab in your school's registration. The questions must be answered by May 1 or a $200 fine will be applied to your account. During the tournament, paradigms allow students to adapt to judge preferences and experience. Paradigms of your students' judges can be accessed during the tournament by going to msnats.tabroom.com, clicking the Judges tab, and selecting the appropriate event from the right side of the page. 

More info found at https://www.speechanddebate.org/middle-school-unified-manual/