Winter Middle School and High School Invitational December 10-11, 2022

Dear Colleagues:

We cordially invite you and your team to attend Winter Middle and High School Invitational, held on the weekend of December 10-11, 2022. This tournament will be held on the NSDA Campus platform.

Events and Divisions High School Debate

For high school debate students, we offer the following divisions: Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Public Forum Debate, and Parliamentary Debate.

Speech

For high school speech students, we offer synchronous competition in all NSDA Main Speech Events (DI, HI, POI, Info, OO, Duo, Extemp) with the following exceptions: Extemp will be one division that will combine International and Domestic topics. Duo will be Asynchronous. We also offer a division of Declamation (also known as OI), a division of Impromptu Speaking, and a division of Prose and Poetry (to include both Prose & Poetry Interp and Original Prose & Poetry).

Middle School Debate

For middle school debate students, we offer the following divisions: Policy Debate, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Public Forum Debate, and Congressional Debate.

Speech

For middle school students, we offer divisions of Middle School Spontaneous Argument (SPAR) and Middle School Impromptu.

Middle school students are also welcome to enter any of the high school speech divisions.

Elementary School

For our youngest competitors, we have a division of Elementary Impromptu Speaking and a division of Elementary Spontaneous Argument (SPAR).

Elementary school students are also welcome to enter any of the middle school divisions.

Logistics Location/Platform

This competition will take place online on the NSDA Campus platform.

All competitors must be linked to a Tabroom.com account associated with their school in order to access their competition rooms.

All rounds will be single-flighted in order to reduce screen time for both competitors and judges.

Time Zone

Due to our school’s location in California, all times for the tournament will be on Pacific time.

Registration, Waitlist, and Limitations Registration

Entries will be accepted online.You can also locate the tournament name from the Tabroom homepage to register.

Waitlist Process

Teams will clear the waitlist once their entries are covered by judging or by tournament-approved hired judging requests.

TBA entries will not clear the waitlist. Please register names for your entries by the TBA deadline.

If you feel you have teams waitlisted despite these conditions being met, please contact the tournament.

Independent Entries

Independent entries are welcome at Winter School and High School Invitational. All independent entries must have an adult coach or adult parent who can be reached if/when needed by the tournament.

Deadlines and Schedule Dates and Deadlines

Online registration will accept changes until 6:00 PM on Wednesday, December 7, 2022. You are able to add or drop up until the day of the tournament; however, drops made after Wednesday, at 6:00 pm will be charged their entry fee.

Judge changes are due at the Drop/Fees Freeze deadline – Wednesday,December 7, 2022 at 6:00 pm. If you would like to buy out of judging, you must request hired judging (via email or Tabroom) by Monday, December 5 at 6:00 PM. Requests made after this deadline may or may not be able to be fulfilled and may be charged a higher rate.

Schedule Saturday - All Lincoln-Douglas / Public Forum / Parliamentary Schedule

Registration/Check-in for schools entered in Debate will be Saturday 7:00am-8:00am.

Saturday - Middle School Policy Debate Schedule

Registration/Check-in for schools entered in Debate will be Saturdayfrom 7:00am-8:00am.

Policy will conclude with round 3. There will be no Policy Debate rounds on Sunday.

Sunday - Speech Prelims and Debate Elims (LD/PF/Parli) Schedule

Registration/Check-in for schools entered in Speech will be Sunday from 7:00am-8:00am.

Sunday - Middle School SPAR and Middle School Impromptu Schedule

Registration/Check-in for schools entered in Speech will be Sunday from 7:00am-8:00am.

Sunday - Middle School Congressional Debate Schedule

Registration/Check-in for schools entered in Congressional Debate will be Sunday from 7:00am-8:00am.

Saturday - Elementary SPAR and Elementary Impromptu Schedule

Registration/Check-in for schools entered in Speech will be Saturday from 7:00am-8:00am.

Fees and Fines Entry Fees

We have set entry fees at what we feel is a reasonable rate. If you feel cost is a barrier to your team’s ability to participate, or if your school is a member of an Urban Debate League (UDL), please email us at mjaich@mac.com and CC cori.blackwood95@gmail.com. Discounts and waivers will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. The Winter Invitational is committed to equity of access for all competitors and schools.

School Fee - $50 (Charged to all institutions that register)

Congressional Entry - $20

Congressional Judging - $125 per judge

Policy Debate Entry - $40

Policy Debate Judging - $125 per judge

Lincoln-Douglas Entry - $40

Public Forum Entry - $40

Parliamentary Entry - $40

Debate Judging - $125 per uncovered entry

Speech Entry - $20

Speech Judging - $125 per judge

Judging Requests After Deadline - Additional $25 per judge/uncovered entry

Missed Ballot Fee - $30 per missed ballot

Payment Information

Please make arrangements for payment once your entries have cleared the waitlist. Checks can be made payable to "SC Debate Union". Please mail to:

SCDU

196 Venado Avenue

Thousand Oaks, CA 9120

If your school is unable to pay via check at this time, or a check would involve a long delay, please contact the tournament for alternate payment options (PayPal, Credit Card, etc.) at cori.blackwood95@gmail.com.

Double Entry Limitations Student Double Entry

Congressional Debate will be treated as a Speech event for the purposes of Double Entry.

Students are able to enter in one Debate event and up to 2 Speech events with the following exceptions:

Students who enter in Congressional Debate cannot enter a speech event, but may still register for another Debate event.

Students who enter Extemp can only do Extemp during the Speech pattern, but may still register for a Debate event.

Middle school students who register for Debate and two Speech events can additionally register for Middle School SPAR provided they do not advance in Debate.

Elementary school students can double enter in Elementary SPAR and Elementary Impromptu.

Judging Information Judging Coverage Ratios

Each Judge covers up to 2 entries in Debate.

Each Judge covers up to 5 entries in Speech.

Each Judge covers up to 6 entries in Congress.

Each school entering in Congressional Debate will also be asked to provide one additional judge to serve as a Parliamentarian/PO. (Please See Congress Event-Specific Information)

Judge Qualifications and Expectations

All judges are required to have a linked Tabroom account. This is to ensure they have access to both their ballots and the competition rooms on the NSDA Campus platform.

Judges covering high school competitors must be over the age of 18 and have graduated from high school.

Judges for Middle School events may be current high school juniors or seniors with significant forensics experience.

Judges should have significant experience with digital forensics competitions. Schools are responsible for preparing their judges in the use of Tabroom.com and for what to expect in a digital forensics competition. As a result, there will be no day-of-tournament judge training. Rather we encourage the use of the following resources ahead of the tournament to become prepared:

We encourage all judges to review the NSDA Cultural Competency resources (www.speechanddebate.org/judge-training/) and take the course. If you have newer judges, we strongly recommend the Adjudicating Speech and Debate course available via the NSDA (www.speechanddebate.org/judge-training/).

Finally, we expect all judges to act in a manner that is inclusive, equitable, and offers constructive criticism to the competitors, regardless of their background or experience.

Elimination Round Obligations

All Debate judges are committed to judge one round beyond when the last student from that school/institution is eliminated from competition in that division.

This means that if you have 3 PF judges and one of your PF entries advances to the Quarterfinal round, ALL 3 judges are committed to judge the Semifinal round.

All judges are obligated through the first complete elimination round.

For example, if the tournament runs a partial octofinal debate all judges are obligated through the quarterfinal elimination round.

All Speech judges are committed to the Final round, and all Congress judges are committed through the Final round.

Partial Judge Shifts and Availability

The tournament’s intention is that judges are available for a minimum of a full day.

You can adjust the day availability of your judge by first entering your judge, and then clicking on “All Rounds” under your judge’s “Availability” section.

If you have judges with partial availability please be sure to have another judge that can fill in for the other day. We can also accommodate partial day judge shifts if requested in advance. Please email these requests to cori.blackwood95@gmail.com.

Missed rounds will incur fees as we have to replace those judges with hired judges or school judges beyond their commitment. Missed round fees will be $30 per ballot.

Judge Double Entry

Judges can cover the Debate pattern, and may also be entered to cover Speech OR Congress events.

If you wish to double-enter a judge, you can do so by dropping them and registering them first as a Speech judge. Then they can be added to cover a Debate category. The order in which the judge is entered matters to Tabroom.com.

Please do not register judges in both Speech and Congress as the rounds occur at the same times.

If you have a unique situation and wish to request a judge to cover one entry in each of two conflicting groups, please contact the tournament.

Accommodations can often be made if requested in advance and will be handled on a case-by-case basis.

Hired Judging Hired Judging Process

School’s that wish to buy out their judging requirement can do so at a rate of $125 per entry in Debate events, or $125 per judge in Speech / Policy / Congress events. This fee covers the cost of hiring a judge to fill that role for the weekend.

If you need tournament hired judging, please notify the tournament so that we can begin the process of retaining a judge for the weekend. You can do so either by using the hire request feature on Tabroom.com or by emailing cori.blackwood95@gmail.com.

Missing judges are not an indication of a hired judging request and will be charged at a higher rate of $150. This is the default rate on Tabroom when no hire request is made and no judge is entered. Tabroom will reflect the correct rate for hired judging after hired judging requests are made and approved.

Hired Judging Deadline

The deadline to request hired judging from the tournament is Monday, December 5 at 6:00 PM PDT. Requests made after the deadline do not have a guarantee of being filled and will be charged a higher rate of $150.

Judges Wishing to be Hired

If you wish to be a hired judge for the Winter Middle School and High School Invitational, please fill out the Google Form: (https://forms.gle/871A1WsD7rK5ufRg8).

We will be requiring every judge we hire to complete the NFHS Protecting Students from Abuse training course prior to the tournament: (https://nfhslearn.com/courses/protecting-students-from-abuse). Please email the completed certificate to Cori Blackwood (cori.blackwood95@gmail.com).

We also strongly recommend the NSDA Cultural Competency Course. You can access each of these courses via the NSDA Judge Training Webpage: (www.speechanddebate.org/judge-training/).

Event Specific Information Public Forum: Topics

We offer the December NSDA topics in Public Forum debate for both Middle School and High School students.

Please pay close attention to the name of the division you have selected when registering your entries.

Coinflip Process

Teams will flip for sides and for speaking order in all rounds. Coinflips will be conducted online via Tabroom.com. Flips will become live one minute after pairing release, and the winning team will have five minutes to choose a side or speaking order. If the time elapses, either team may choose.

Evidence Expectations

In Public Forum, evidence must be made available to view upon request from either an opponent or judge.

Lincoln-Douglas: Topics

For middle school students and high school students, we offer November/December NSDA topics in Lincoln-Douglas debate.

We do not offer the NSDA Novice Topic in any division.

Please pay close attention to the name of the division you have selected when registering your entries.

Coinflip Process

Teams will flip for sides in elimination rounds. Coinflips will be conducted online via Tabroom.com. Flips will become live one minute after pairing release, and the winning entry will have five minutes to choose a side. If the time elapses, either entry may choose.

Evidence Expectations

In Lincoln-Douglas, evidence must be made available to view upon request from either an opponent or judge.

Argument Restrictions

The tournament does not take a position on what types of arguments can be advanced by debaters on either side.

Parliamentary: Topic and Prep Time

The Parliamentary topic for each round will be announced 20 minutes before the round start time. Teams may prep using any resources at their disposal. The tournament will not provide a prep room, rather, teams are encouraged to use their NSDA Campus Squad Room to prepare for their debates.

Topic Areas

Parliamentary Topic Areas will be released three weeks prior to the tournament.

Tentative Parli Topic Areas

TBA

Congressional Debate: Format

There will be three prelim rounds and one final round. Legislation will be used in the order of the docket with one bill to be used in the final round.

Speeches will be three minutes in length, followed by a two minute cross examination from the floor. Speaking order and question precedence will be determined by the Presiding Officer.

Cross Examination will proceed as follows: Each questioner will have 30 seconds to ask questions once recognized by the presiding officer. This is intended to allow for follow-up questions.

Presiding Officers / Parliamentarians

Each school will be asked to provide one Presiding Officer/Parliamentarian to conduct Congressional Debate rounds. This is in addition to the judging requirement of one judge per 6 entries.

Presiding Officers can be current high school competitors with significant Congressional Debate experience.

You can register your PO/Parliamentarian on Tabroom.com as a Congress judge, and check the “Qualified Parliamentarian” box when entering them.

Schools who have difficulty locating a qualified Parliamentary/Presiding Officer can buy out of this obligation for the same rate as one hired judge for Congressional Debate.

Extemp:

Extemp prep will start 30 minutes before the extemp round begins.

Impromptu: Topic Distribution

Impromptu topics will be emailed to judges 15 minutes before a round is scheduled to begin.

Spontaneous Argument (SPAR): Side Assignments

Spar will be paneled similar to a Speech event with sections of 6 competitors per room.

Odd numbered competitors will be Pro and Even numbered competitors will be Con.

Topic / Resolution Process

Judges will receive topics via email 15 minutes before a round is scheduled to begin. Each competitor will debate one other competitor about one topic. Each pair will be given 3 topics/resolutions by the judge.

The Pro will strike one resolution and then the Con will strike one of the two remaining topics, leaving the pair with one final topic for debate.

Vocabulary and Definitions

Please keep in mind that our competitors are young. Judges may provide definitions of words in the topics.

Format and Procedure

After topic selection, a pair of competitors will have two minutes to prepare their arguments before speaking will commence.

The Pro speaker will give a two-minute constructive speech in favor of the resolution; immediately after that speech, the Con speaker will give a two-minute constructive speech.

Following the constructives, there will be a four-minute open crossfire.

The debaters should question each other, and should be prepared to take at least a few questions from the audience of other competitors. The competitors should ask these questions (i.e. not the judge). Any other SPAR competitors listed to speak in that round are permitted to ask crossfire questions (judges and other spectators are not permitted to ask questions).

Two rebuttal speeches of the Pro followed by the Con complete the round.

There is no preparation time during the debate.

Time Limits

Prep Time 2 minutes

Pro Constructive 2 minutes

Con Constructive 2 minutes

Open Crossfire 4 minutes

Pro Rebuttal 2 minutes

Con Rebuttal 2 minutes

Scoring / Ranking

At the end of the debate, judges will rank the speakers from 1 to 6.

SPAR competitors should be judged on the basis of overall wit, persuasion and quality argument construction.

Procedure for Imbalanced Sections

If there are an odd number of competitors (5), Competitor 1 will debate again on the opposite side against Competitor 5. Please disregard the second performance from Competitor 1 in selecting your rankings, but please include comments and feedback for the second debate.

Example 6 person round:

Competitor 1 will debate Competitor 2. Competitor 1 will be Pro

Competitor 3 will debate Competitor 4. Competitor 3 will be Pro

Competitor 5 will debate Competitor 6. Competitor 5 will be Pro

Example 5 person round:

Competitor 1 will debate Competitor 2. Competitor 1 will be Pro

Competitor 3 will debate Competitor 4. Competitor 3 will be Pro

Competitor 5 will debate Competitor 1. Competitor 5 will be Pro

Observer Policy Coach Viewing

We will permit one coach from each school to be added to the backend of the tournament with limited access so they can enter and observe competition rounds.

We feel this will help you locate your students more efficiently and would help teams to troubleshoot potential tech issues.

This is a privilege. Under no circumstances is a coach to watch a round their competitor is not competing in. It can be revoked if we find out this has been violated.

Equity and Disputes

If, at any time during the tournament, there is a concern regarding equity or a dispute regarding a tournament procedure, we are requiring the individuals to fill out a google form so they can be contacted by the Ombudsperson and Equity Officer. The equity form will be located on our tournament tabroom page. The decisions of the Equity Officer / Ombudsperson are final.