Bishop Kelley Comet Challenge
2023 — Tulsa, OK/US
Novice Policy Debate
Event Description:
. Cross-examination Debate
1. Debate teams must qualify together as a team and two debaters must participate in every round by giving a
constructive speech, a rebuttal speech, and asking and answering questions during cross-examination. When a
three-person team qualifies, any two of those team members will be considered qualified for regionals. In case of
an emergency, a school will be allowed to substitute one (1) team member if the substitution is approved by the
Association. No partner substitutions will be allowed after the debate competition begins. In team debate, no
debater may qualify for regionals more than three separate times. Any subsequent qualification will be invalid for
that debater and his/her partner(s).
2. The following order and times shall be observed and the timekeeper shall say stop at the end of regulation time for
each speech:
a) First Affirmative Constructive 8 minutes
b) Cross-examination 3 minutes
c) First Negative Constructive 8 minutes
d) Cross-examination 3 minutes
e) Second Affirmative Constructive 8 minutes
f) Cross-examination 3 minutes
g) Second Negative Constructive 8 minutes
h) Cross-examination 3 minutes
i) First Negative Rebuttal 5 minutes
j) First Affirmative Rebuttal 5 minutes
k) Second Negative Rebuttal 5 minutes
l) Second Affirmative Rebuttal 5 minutes
m) Preparation time will not exceed eight (8) minutes per team. Data transfer between teams must occur during
this time. No additional prep time will be given.
3. Each judge will award the decision to the affirmative or negative team; will rank each debater 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th (no
ties); and will award speaker points on a 1-4 point scale.
4. All debaters shall have available during each round complete citations for each piece of evidence introduced to
include the name of the author, qualifications, complete source title, complete date and page number. Lack of a full
citation shall void any effect of that piece of evidence in the round. Should two or more quotations be used from
the same source, the complete citation need be given only for the first piece of evidence used from that source.
Either no internal ellipsis (Ellipses occur after the first word of the quotation and before the final word) may be used
in evidence cited on a card, or ellipses may be shown on cards, if the original source or a copy is present. The
evidence may be read in ellipse form, but the entirety of the evidence must be available in one of the two ways
cited. Personal letters or telegrams shall not be admissible as evidence.
5. Judges may read evidence after the round for a period of time not to exceed five (5) minutes.
*6. Plagiarism or falsification of evidence in oratory, extemp, or debate shall result in suspension in that event for that
competition.
*7. The use of profanity and vulgarities is forbidden and may result in a speaker rating of 0 or disqualification and a
protest being filed with the tournament director.
8. Verbal prompting other than calling time is considered a violation of ethics and will result in a speaker rating of 0.
9. The debate question will be chosen by the NFHS Wording Committee and made available through the office of the
Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association.
10. The semi-final losers shall debate for third place if necessary to determine qualification.
*11. A debate team may consist of two (2) or three (3) members. Each team member must debate at that contest. Only
two (2) members of the team may participate in any way during the round. On a three (3) member team, team
members will be designated by the coach for each round at the time of entry.
12. Forfeiting a round to gain an advantage for the school will be a violation except in elimination rounds.
13. After teams have debated preliminary rounds (including round robin), qualifying for the placement on the bracket
will be based on the following criteria: (1) win-loss record; (2) (only used to break a two-way tie) head-to-head
meeting; (4) total speaker points; (3) total speaker ranks; (5) opponents’ win-loss records; (6) opponents’ speaker
ranks; and (7) opponents’ speaker points. In all divisions of debate, when only 3 rounds occur, all winning records
must advance.
a) Placing teams on a 16 point bracket will be in this manner: See bracket on page SPE26.
b) Placing teams on an eight-point bracket from preliminary rounds will be in the following manner: SPE29.
2023-2024 Speech
SPE 19
14. In qualifying tournaments the round-robin or bracket system is optional and will be determined by the tournament
director. At least three (3) preliminary rounds must occur to result in regional qualification. If sixteen (16) or more
compete, eight (8) must be advanced to elimination rounds. If thirty-two (32) or more compete, at least sixteen (16)
must be advanced to elimination rounds. If sixty-four (64) or more compete, at least thirty-two (32) must be
advanced to elimination rounds. At the discretion of the Tournament Director, to avoid the elimination from
competition of debaters with exact win-loss records, partial-elimination brackets will be allowed, giving sufficient
byes to the higher seeded contestants to fill the bracket. Partial-brackets will not be broken.
15. In 3A/4A regional tournaments that use double elimination, when nine (9) teams are entered, the four (4) teams
with the best records from the preliminary rounds will qualify for bracketing. When ten (10) or more teams are
entered, eight (8) teams will qualify for bracketing.
16. Speaker points for byes will be awarded on average of speaker points of other rounds debated. A team who forfeits
receives 0 speaker ratings and speaker ranks of 3 and 4. A team who is forfeited to receives an average of their
speaker ratings and ranks of 1 and 2.
17. Teams from the same school should not be paired against each other in the first elimination round. The minimum
amount of bracket movement must be used. No brackets shall be broken after the first elimination round has
occurred. When moving teams to break the bracket, move the lower seeded team. Partial elimination rounds are
not considered the first elimination round for the purpose of breaking brackets.
18. At all double elimination tournaments, brackets will not be broken to prevent two teams from the same school from
meeting.
19. When mixed classes debate in qualifying divisions, wins will be recorded as wins; losses will be recorded as losses,
and elimination rounds must be separated by class.
20. In all debate events, all students unable to return to scheduled competition on Saturday must notify the tournament
director before registration. Changes made after registration will be counted as a “Drop at Registration”: and fees
will be assessed by the tournament director. Students marked as “not returning” will not be reinstated after round
1 has begun.
21. Internet access is allowed in all forms of debate.
a) Computers or other electronic devices may not be used to receive information from any sources (coaches or
assistants included) outside the room in which competition occurs.
b) * Sanction: Contestants found to have violated the provision above shall be disqualified from the tournament
and shall forfeit all rounds. Contest directors shall be empowered with the final decision concerning
disqualification.
c) Availability of evidence: Contestants electing to use computers shall have the responsibility to
promptly/immediately provide access to any evidence read in a speech for inspection by the judge or
opponent. Printers may be used. Evidence may be printed in the round but must be provided in a format
readable by the opposing team and the judge.
d) Contestants electing to use computers are responsible for providing their own computers, batteries, extension
cords, and all other accessories. Tournament hosts shall not be responsible for providing internet access,
computers, printers, software, paper, or extension cords for contestants.
e) Sanction: Contestants found to have violated provisions a-c above shall forfeit the round of competition and
receive zero points. Contestants found to have violated provision d above shall be disqualified from the
tournament and shall forfeit all rounds. Contest directors shall be empowered with the final decision
concerning disqualification.