This is a tournament for Stratford Schools’ Debate Clubs to be...

• An accessible practice tournament for students.

• An opportunity to get parent judges some experience.

We will be running PF and LD events only.

Topics

We are running the November topics. This is an educational tournament for novices, so we want students to debate using topics they are more familiar with and have had more time to prepare.

There is no double entry allowed in the debate events. As we want our students to learn from each other, we will allow observers to be present in rounds so long as one of the two teams is from the same school (Fremont cannot observe a debate between Raynor and San Jose, for instance).

Location

Stratford Milpitas is right next to the Great Mall off 880. We ask that parents park on campus, and that students stay on campus for the duration of the event unless they are accompanied by their parents.

Entry Fees

As this is a Stratford-only tournament, there will be no entry fee for the event. We do ask, however, that if you sign up for an event, that you do show up, as absenteeism can complicate pairings and room assignments and delay the event.

Judging

We will require parent judges for this event, though some judges may be debaters from Saint Francis. We expect all judges to write complete ballots for students to help them improve through feedback.

If you know any significantly experienced judges who would like to volunteer to judge, please have them contact us. As this is a middle-school tournament, high-school students will be allowed to judge.