Invite

Dear Community:

The debate teams of The University of Kansas and Kansas State University are pleased to invite you and your debaters to attend the second annual Sunflower Swing on January 3-9, 2025. The Two Step will feature two 6 rounds tournaments and will include three divisions of debate on the 2024-2025 (Clean Energy Policy) CEDA/NDT topic. The tournaments will clear to an appropriate number of elimination rounds for each division.However, we will collapse the Novice division into the Junior Varsity division if necessary. We encourage in-person entries as much as possible, but will also permit competitors unable to attend in person to compete online.

The University of Kansas tournament will take place 1/3/25 – 1/5/25 in Lawrence, KS. There will be a day off and travel day - 1/6/25. The Kansas State tournament will be held 1/7/24-1/9/25 in Manhattan KS. Participation in both debate tournaments is a prerequisite to winning the Sunflower Swing Award given to the team with the best prelim record at the two tournaments.

Please complete all elements of the entries for the K-State tournament by 2:00pm on Friday, December 27, 2025. We will submit final orders for all food purchases that afternoon so correct information by the entry deadline is necessary. Please use the Tabroom.com for entering the teams, judges, and food preferences.

While we highly encourage people to participate in-person, we will be accepting online entries for this tournament for both debate teams and judges. We will use Zoom for online debates.

Sunflower Swings Traveling Trophy

The Sunflower Swings Traveling Trophy is awarded to the team with the best preliminary round record over both halves of the Sunflower Swing. This trophy stays with the winning school each year and will be engraved with the names of the winning team. To be eligible, the partnership must be consistent across the two tournaments. The trophy will be awarded and ties broken according to the following criteria:

1. Total prelim round wins across the two tournaments

2. Opposition Wins

3. Combined (-H/L)speakerpoints

Staff

Tournament Director – Alex McVey – j.alexander.mcvey@gmail.com

Tab Director – Justin Kirk - justinwkirk@gmail.com

Judges:

Each school will be required to provide 3 preliminary rounds of judging for each team they have entered in the tournament. All schools are required to arrange their own judging. All judges are obligated through the first full elimination round or one (1) round past the elimination of their teams from the tournament. Online judges are acceptable but still contribute to the count for fees for individuals in your party.

Fees:

Fees will be $50 per participant, including debaters, judges, coaches, and observers. This includes online and in person participants. We will provide awards, two lunches, and light snacks and coffee during breakfast all days. There are lots of dining options in Aggieville which is a five minute walk from campus. For schools that hire judges that are not employed by another program, they are responsible for paying the hired judges entry fee.

Illness and Inclement Weather Policy:

We recognize that hosting tournaments during the winter months comes with the inherent potential for disruptions due to illness and weather. In the instance of student illness, we encourage directors to move students online or drop them from the tournament to avoid spreading illness to the rest of the tournament. In the instance of inclement weather, we will make all efforts to continue to host the tournament in person on the K-State Campus. If campus has to close due to inclement weather, we will make every effort to continue the tournament online. Because our fees already recognize a flat rate for both in person and online competitors, and because food orders are often not refundable, fees will remain the same for teams that have to cancel or shift online due to weather or illness.

Tournament Hotel (KSU):

We have reserved a block of rooms at the Holiday Inn which is directly across from campus. It is a less than five-minute walk from the front door of the hotel to the closest rooms. There is also a Houlihans Restaurant in the Hotel. Breakfast is included in the tournament hotel rate. We have initially reserved 10 kings and 20 queen-doubles at $109.95 a night plus taxes, which includes the Hotel’s breakfast buffet. Please reserve your hotel before December 6, 2024, when any unreserved rooms will be released back to the hotel.

The reservations can be made in any of the methods listed below:

Call Hotel directly at (785) 539-7531

Call Holiday Inn at (888) HOLIDAY 888-465-4329

www.holidayinn.com/universityks

The Group Code is DEB

It is important to mention the group code in order to receive the discounted rate.

Gender Neutral Restrooms on KSU Campus

Here is a Google Maps link listing Gender Neutral and Lockable/Single Stall Restrooms on K-State’s Campus.

Travel:

The Manhattan, KS regional airport (MHK) has flights daily from Chicago and Dallas. It is a 15 minute drive from the Manhattan airport to the K-State Campus. The Manhattan airport is a 1 hour 20 minute drive to the University of Kansas campus in Lawrence. https://flymhk.com/

The newly redesigned KCI International Airport (MCI) is a 45 minute drive to Lawrence, KS and a 2 hour drive to Manhattan, KS. https://flykc.com/

Schedule (tentative)– Tournament 2– Kansas State University - Manhattan