GGSA Debate 2: Congress & Parli

The Golden Gate Speech Association is hosting our second Congress and Parliamentary Debate tournament of the school year at San Ramon Valley High School on Saturday, November 7, 2026.

ADDRESS: 501 Danville Blvd, Danville, CA 94526 (Please do not enter campus until 8:00 a.m.!)

ELIGIBILITY: This tournament is open only to GGSA / CHSSA Member Schools. Not yet a GGSA / CHSAA member school for 2026-27?Register NOW.

ONLINE & ONSITE REGISTRATION & FEES: In addition to online Tabroom registration, coaches and judges must also check in by 8:00 AM on the morning of the tournament. Entry fees are $15.00 per student.

Make checks payable to GGSA and mail to:

GGSAc/o Lowell Alumni Association
PO Box 320009
San Francisco, CA 94132

OR YOU CAN NOW PAY VIA ZELLE (ggsasfbayarea)

JUDGE CONFLICTS. For Congress, coaches must list the parent judge's student name in the notes section to ensure we don't assign them to their child's chamber. For Parli debate, we can prevent same-school judge assignments, so this notation is not necessary.

COACHES/CHAPERONES EXPECTATIONS

*All teams must have an authorized coach on campus at all times during the tournament. Authorized coaches are individuals listed on your GGSA Membership Form and authorized by your principal or headmaster to serve as a coach and chaperone for your team's competitors. Failure to abide by this policy will result in the disqualification of your team's competitors.

*All competitors and judges must have their Tabroom accounts linked to your school. Please see this video for the procedure.

*When you enter your judges, be sure that you do so using the same email address that judges use for their Tabroom account.

*Make sure that all judges know the email address and password for their Tabroom account. It is a problem when coaches or students create a Tabroom account for a parent judge.

*Please make sure your judges and their technology are ready to judge. If a judge is unable to judge an assigned round, Tab staff reserves the right to substitute the coach from the school as the judge for that round.

*Per league rules, each school is responsible for providing an official non-judging coach/chaperone listed on your GGSA Membership Form and Tabroom in addition to meeting your judge quota. All coaches will be assigned tournament duties. We will send coaching assignments to schools once registration is complete. If you are sending a coach or an official chaperone other than the one listed on Tabroom, please complete the second coach contact information section on the "general" tab when registering entries.

EVENT-SPECIFIC CONTACTS

Congress Director: Courtney Fradelis,cfradelis@srvusd.net

Parli Co-Directors: Casey Elsa,celsa@srcs.k12.ca.us, andVy Linh Nguyen, vnguyen@headroyce.org

***

CONGRESS SPECIFICS
Judging Requirements:One judge for every 10 entries in the House; one judge for every 4 entries in the Senate. Judges will be pre-paneled. Extra judges or judges not entered in advance will be placed in a “reserve pool.” Judge names must accompany the entry. If your judge has a different last name than their child, please note that in your judge entry notes.

Judging Instructions: Congress Judging Instructions

Congress Chamber Rules: House & Senate Chamber Rules

Congress 2 Legislation - Linked here.

PO Sign-Up Sheet: Students may not self-nominate. Coaches must complete this form.

Schedule:
Presiding Officers arrive by 8:25 am.
PO meeting will start promptly at 8:30 am. (Room TBD Senate, Room TBD House)
Round 1: 9:00 am - 10:30 am
Break: 10:30 am - 10:55 am
Round 2: 11:00 am - 12:30 pm
Lunch: 12:30 pm -1:15 pm (pack a lunch or bring cash to buy lunch)
Round 3: 1:15 pm - 2:45 pm
Awards: approx. 3:30 (Awards will begin as soon as all of the final round ballots are in and tabulated. Students will wait in their chambers until tournament staff arrives with awards)

Should I compete in House or Senate? Students who qualified for the Senate in the past will remain in the Senate this year. Varsity debaters should also be entered in the Senate. House should be reserved for novices and less experienced competitors. Students who qualified to the Senate (by winning 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place in House) as a speaker may not remain in the House.

Judging Requirements: One judge for every 10 entries in the House; one judge for every 4 entries in the Senate. Judge names must accompany the entry. If your judge has a child competing, please note that in your judge entry notes.

Request for Legislation for GGSA Congress 3:All schools wishing to submit legislation for consideration for the next GGSA Congress tournament, please email legislation to the GGSA Congress Director by Congress 2

***

PARLI SPECIFICS -->HERE for Parli Schedule & Other Essentials.

***

JUDGE APPRECIATION & EXPECTATIONS: Thank you for joining our all-volunteer organization in donating your time and energy to empower youth through speaking and listening!

*All judges must be entered on Tabroom and be familiar with thejudge instructions and resources on thewww.ggsa.org website; links to event-specific resources will be linked on the right sidebar before the tournament.

*All judges must have Tabroom accounts unique to them, with cell phone numbers and email addresses.

*Please have access to a fully charged device(s)--laptop, tablet, and/or smartphone--to complete electronic Tabroom ballots. Good to have a backup. A laptop or tablet is better because they are easier to use, but you can still use a smartphone.

*Optional But Encouraged: Please briefly fill out the paradigm in 2-3 sentences or phrases, i.e., your judging experience and philosophy, if any, so Tab staff can better support and place you at this and future tournaments. You'll find the "Paradigm" button on the right-hand side in Tabroom, under "Judging."

*Please address the above matters in advance of the tournament. Dealing with them on Saturday morning can cause delays.