TOURNAMENT DETAILS

ENTRY LIMITS

Until our upper limit is reached, we guarantee acceptance for the first six entries (in each division) from each school; additional entries will be waitlisted and entered on a first-come, first-served basis until we are full. Teams should enter their contestants sooner rather than later; once we reach our cap in each event, we cannot accept additional entries. 

We will notify schools about waitlist status after the entry deadline (see below for more on deadlines). 

We have established entry caps to ensure that we have a fair break with a majority of winning records advancing. I recommend registering early. 

FORMAT AND AWARDS

We are working out details of the competition in the new world of online debate. Format and schedule issues may change as we learn more about how this will work; we will notify you of any substantial changes as they happen. 

All divisions will debate 6 prelim rounds and clear to the level that best guarantees that a majority 4-2 teams will clear while also allowing our schedule to function. In any case, we will clear to a maximum of a full triple-octofinal. We do not guarantee that all 4-2 debaters will clear, though we try to minimize the number of 4-2 debaters not clearing. 

Awards will be given to all debaters clearing to octofinals in all divisions. 

Special awards will also be given to the top 5 speakers in each division. The top speakers will receive the nigh-legendary Giant Mallets. 

ENTRY DEADLINES 

The deadline for entry into the main tournament is Wednesday, September 16, 2020 at noon central time. 

The deadline to nominate entries for the Sophomore Throw-Down is Thursday, September 10, at noon. 

Please update your entry with changes as they come up; the website will remain open for changes until Tuesday, September 22, at noon. 

Judge entries are due by Friday, September 18, 2020 at noon central time. 

Tournament entry will close when we are full, even if this occurs before the entry deadline. Do not delay - enter now! 

Entry fees will be fixed on Wednesday, September 16, at noon central time. You will be charged for any entries dropped after this time.

Preferencing 

Lincoln-Douglas debate and policy debate will  feature mutual preferencing. Preferencing will be offered through Tabroom.com. A small number of judge strikes will be offered in PF debate. 

EVENT RULES 

Policy debaters will use the 2020-2021 NSDA resolution, with 8 minute constructives and 5 minute rebuttals and 8 minutes of preparation time per team. 

Lincoln-Douglas debaters will debate the September-October NSDA resolution, using the 6-3-7-3-4-6-3 format with 4 minutes of preparation time. 

Public Forum debaters will debate the September-October resolution, using standard NSDA time format, including the most recent changes to speech and preparation time. Each round will begin with the coin flip, as prescribed by the NSDA event guidelines.

PLEASE READ THIS PAGE VERY CAREFULLY, PARTICULARLY THE SECTIONS DEALING WITH HIRED JUDGES. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT JUDGING REQUIREMENTS OR HIRED JUDGES, CONTACT DAVE MCGINNIS AT MCGIN029@GMAIL.COM. 

JUDGING REQUIREMENTS 

Each school must provide two rounds of judging for every LD debater or PF entry, and 3 rounds of judging for every policy team. 

A very limited number of hired rounds are available. These can be requested through Tabroom. 

A team's judges are obligated for one round past the last round in which their team competes. All judges are obligated through at least the first full elimination round. Elim judging obligations are not satisfied by "partial" elimination rounds.  This applies to a team's entire contingent of judges, regardless of the number of students who continue. For instance, a team whose debaters are eliminated in octofinals on Sunday night must provide judges for quarterfinals on Monday morning. 

If one or more of your judges is unavailable for one or more rounds, you must let us know during registration. If you fall below your judge obligation for any round, you may be charged the per-round missing judge fee, or your entries may be withdrawn from the tournament. 

Explanation of the Partial Elim Obligation

Judges whose teams do not clear would normally have discharged their judging obligation with the first out-round, but the only way we can run partial elims and still ensure a healthy judging pool for the first full elim is to require that all judges will stay through the first full elim, regardless. Since in all cases, the first full elim will take place on Sunday, we trust this will not inconvenience anyone.

Judges should be experienced; at a minimum, they should be comfortable with flowing in their respective division. 

Judges cannot cross divisions. Please make sure each judge is entered in only one division. 

Schools will be charged an $125.00 per round nuisance fee for each round missed by any of their judges. Make sure your judges are available and on time. 

WHY IS THE NUISANCE FEE SO HIGH?

The purpose of the nuisance fee is not to pay for a replacement judge; it is to motivate you to make sure your judges arrive for their rounds. When a judge no-shows, it makes it much more difficult to pair rounds and to provide preferable and mutual judges. Make sure your judges will be available for all rounds for which they are obligated.