Tournament Rules

Competitor Rules

1. Prep Time: 

During the twenty-five (25) minutes of prep time, debaters may utilize whatever resources they would like—printed materials, computers, phones, digital files, and Internet access are all allowed. They can also communicate with coaches and teammates. 

Due to the online format of the tournament, the usual limitation to handwritten notes is no longer in effect. Debaters may type their notes during prep time, but they may not copy-paste, and they may not have other people type in their notes document. 

Exceptions to these requirements can be made for the purposes of accessibility accommodations; email calparli@gmail.com to notify us of any specific accommodations we should account for. Potential rules violations will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis by the tournament staff.  

2. Forfeit / if team is late to round:

If a team is late to round (arrives past the 25 minutes of prep) for reasons other than technical difficulties, the penalty is subtracting from their constructive speech the same number of minutes that they were late. For example, if the Aff team is 3 minutes late, 3 minutes will be subtracted from the usually 7-minute PMC, so they would now have a 4-minute PMC. If the Neg team were 5 minutes late, they would have a 2-minute LOC. If the time that the team is late exceeds the allocated time for their constructive speech, they forfeit the round.

3.  In-Round Materials: 

During each round, debaters may only utilize notes that they or their partner prepared during that round’s twenty-five (25) minutes of prep time. They may not access any notes that were prepared prior to that round’s topic announcement. They may not access the Internet (except to connect to the video call for the round) or communicate with any outside parties. 

Exceptions to these requirements can be made for the purposes of accessibility accommodations; email calparli@gmail.com to notify us of any specific accommodations we should account for. Potential rules violations will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis by the tournament staff. 

3. Speech Times:

Speech times for all rounds will be 7-8-8-8-4-5. There is no protected time in any speech.

4. Rebuttals:

No new arguments may be made in the rebuttal speeches.

POOs are allowed in rebuttals. POOs will stop time.

5. Flex Time:

This tournament will utilize flex time, which is a small window of time before certain speeches that allows debaters to ask questions of the other team, consult their partner, and/or prepare arguments.

Flex time occurs during the round at the following intervals:

• 2 minutes of neg flex before the LOC

• 2 minutes of aff flex before the MG

• 1 minute of neg flex before the MO

• 1 minute of aff flex before the PMR

The team controlling flex is allowed to ask questions of the other team, but not the other way around. For example, during the neg flex before the LOC, the negative team may ask questions of the affirmative.

Please note that there is no flex time in between the MO and the LOR.

 Debaters aren't required to use their flex time if they don't want to. They don't have to ask questions for the entire time or prep for the entire time; it's up to them how to use it.