The Harker School Howard and Diana Nichols Invitational
2015 — CA/US
Varsity Public Forum Invitation & Schedule
SCHEDULE
Friday, September 25 - Registration by email or phone between 3PM and 7PM PST. All payments must be brought in on Saturday morning before the conclusion of round two or entries will be pulled from the tournament.
Saturday, September 26
| 8:00 AM | CONTINENTIAL BREAKFAST & PAIRINGS RELEASED ONLINE |
| 9:00 AM | ROUND ONE |
| 10:15 AM | ROUND TWO (REGISTRATION MUST BE PAID BY END OF ROUND) |
| 11:30 AM | HOSTED BRUNCH |
| 12:00 PM | ROUND THREE |
| 1:45 PM | ROUND FOUR |
| 3:30 PM | ROUND FIVE |
| 5:00 PM | ALL COMPETITORS, COACHES, AND JUDGES MUST BE OFF CAMPUS |
Sunday, September 27
| 7:30 AM | CONTINENTIAL BREAKFAST & PAIRINGS RELEASED ONLINE |
| 8:00 AM | ROUND SIX |
| 10:00 AM | DOUBLE-OCTOFINALS |
| 11:30 AM | HOSTED BRUNCH AND SPEAKER AWARDS CEREMONY |
| 12:00 PM | OCTOFINALS |
| 1:30 PM | QUARTERFINALS |
| 3:00 PM | SEMIFINALS |
| 4:30 PM | FINALS |
INVITATION
DIVISIONS: Public Forum will offer one division of Varsity competition on Saturday and Sunday.
We will also offer a workshop on Saturday for first year debaters. On Sunday, we will host a Public Forum tournament experience for students who are in their first year of ANY DEBATE competition. Please see the Novice Workshop and First Year Tournament tabs for information about these opportunities. [Please note that we have combined Novice High School and Novice Middle School into one "First Year" division on Sunday. We will also run an Middle School Experienced division as well.]
INDEPENDENT ENTRIES: In accordance with the TOC's policy not to accept bids earned by independents or to allow independents to compete at the TOC, we will NOT accept "independent" entries. We define an independent entry as a team or student who wishes to compete without the approval, knowledge, or consent of their school administration and/or coach(es). All students must compete under the degree-granting high school's name in which they are officially enrolled. STUDENTS MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY AN OFFICIAL SCHOOL CHAPERONE (ONE DECLARED LEGALLY RESPONSIBLE BY THE SCHOOL BEING REPRESENTED) DURING THE ENTIRETY OF THE TOURNAMENT.
FORMAT: Public Forum will utilize the September/October NSDA topic. NSDA rules will be followed with regards to Public Forum debate and will include a coin flip to determine sides and speaking position. Please see evidence tab for additional tournament regulations regarding the use of evidence.
JUDGING: We ask that you provide excellent critics to adjudicate rounds. Because we are single-flighting rounds, you will need to bring one judge for every two entries. A partial-commitment is 4 preliminary rounds. We will have a limited number of judges available for hire at $250 for a full time judge. ALL JUDGES ARE OBLIGATED FOR ONE **FULL** ELIMINATION ROUND BEYOND THEIR TEAM'S ELIMINATION. FAILURE TO FULFILL THIS OBLIGATION MAY PREVENT FUTURE PARTICIPATION AT THE NICHOLS INVITATIONAL.
OTHER INFORMATION:
- We request that oral comments not be made until after a decision has been submitted online to the tab room. As this is an educational venue, The Harker School encourages but does not require limited oral critiques and disclosure for educational purposes.
- Brackets will not be broken in elimination rounds.
- Each school can initially enter 6 teams. On September 9th we will release teams from the waitlist pending space.
We hope that we can provide you with an enjoyable tournament experience.