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The Golden State Academy
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    BDL MINI TOURNAMENT

    Sunday, 13 March 2022

    DEADLINE
    8 March 2022
    ELIGIBILITY
    Open to 5th-12th graders
    PLATFORM
    Online through NSDA Campus

    Information

    TOPICS
    PF Debate: Resolved: In the United States, the benefits of increasing organic agriculture outweigh the harms.
    LD Debate: Resolved: In a democracy, a free press ought to prioritize objectivity over advocacy.

    Extemp
    MS R1 Questions: United States
    1. Should all U.S. states abolish mask and vaccine mandates?
    2. How can California best combat homelessness?
    3. Is self-censorship a growing problem in American higher education?
    4. Will former President Trump’s comments on the Russia-Ukrainian War come back to haunt him in 2024?
    5. Were U.S. schools ready to have mask mandates lifted this month?

    MS R2 Questions: Foreign
    1. How can international governments better protect journalists?
    2. Do international sanctions work?
    6. Are African states doing a better job controlling the COVID-19 pandemic?
    3. To what degree is the global economy on the verge of crashing?
    4. In hindsight, was NATO expansion into Eastern Europe a bad idea?

    HS R1 Category: U.S. Society
    HS R2 Category: Non-U.S. International
    HS Final Round Category: U.S. Politics
    ​

    IMPROMPTU INSTRUCTIONS
    • ​Each speaker will draw 2 topics from a set held by the judge. The speaker will choose one immediately, and will have 5 minutes to divide as he/she/they choose between preparation and speaking time. The topics will be chosen from a wide variety of categories. (It is recommended that students take at least 30 seconds to gather their thoughts and prepare before they start speaking.)
    • MS impromptu speakers may use a note card of any kind.
    • HS impromptu speakers MAY NOT use notes of any kind.
    • The best impromptu speech combines clear thinking, effective delivery, obvious organization and an interesting presentation to address some central aspect of the chosen topic. The speaker should strive to make maximum speaking use of the 5 minutes of allotted time, with minimal time given to preparation. The speaker will be held accountable to strict adherence to the topic, and shall be heavily penalized for wandering too far afield. The speaker should demonstrate knowledge of the subject and should display appropriate analysis and synthesis of material. Delivery should be comfortable and direct. The speaker’s personal point of view should not be factored into the judge’s decision.

    ​Entry Price

    One event and parent is judging $20
    One event and parent is OPTING OUT OF judging $130

    Each person in a PF team would be responsible of providing their own judge, so one PF team would need to either provide two judges, both pay the judge fee, or one of each option.

    Registration will not be complete until payment is received.
    NOTE: We will charge set up fees if we have to create tabroom.com accounts for judges. It is recommended you do so on your own.

    Schedule

    ​NOTE THAT SCHEDULE IS IN EASTERN TIME (EST)
    ​
    The exact schedule is TBA, but the tournament will be online and will go from 11:45am-5pm (EST) or 8:45am-2pm (PST).
    We will be offering two prelim rounds plus a final round in HS Speech/Congress/Extemp and between 3-4 prelim rounds in HS Debate (depending on the number of registrants). For MS, there will be 2 prelim rounds in MS Speech/Congress/Extemp and 3 rounds in MS Debate.

    Drop Fee

    Drop fees will be the same amounts as the entry fee PLUS any fees the tournament charges us for late drops. Drop requests should be made to Victor and Nadia.

    Please do not drop out last minute to avoid being charged these fees.

    Contact Info

    Victor Rivas Umana
    Contact email:  [email protected]

    Nadia Budiman 
    Contact email: [email protected]

    Or [email protected]

    Registration Form

    Please note that all participants in any BDL tournament must submit a one-time signed liability form to be moved off the waitlist.

    ACCESS THE FORM BY CLICKING HERE

    STUDENT INFORMATION
    Max file size: 20MB
    Max file size: 20MB
    If this is your first time competing, make sure to first create a Tabroom account here: https://www.tabroom.com/user/login/new_user.mhtml
    It's super simple and quick (<1 minute), but follow the guidelines here in case anything is confusing: ​https://docs.tabroom.com/Sign_Up

    PARENT CONTACT INFORMATION
    Your email address will be the one included when we send the logistics email.

    EVENT SELECTION
    Got any questions? Please email [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
    Make sure you understand that this online tournament is live and takes place in Eastern Time.
    BOTH partners must fill out form and pay in order to be registered!
    LIST OF EVENTS OFFERED
    *Please sign up for your correct division

    Public Forum
    • HS division (for 11-12th graders OR 9-10th graders who have qualified for States)
    • Intermediate division (for 9-11th graders)
    • Novice division (for 9-10th graders who are first year debaters)
    • MS division (for 5-8th graders)
    Lincoln Douglas
    • Varsity (for 11-12th graders OR 9-10th graders who have qualified for States)
    • Intermediate division (for 9-11th graders)
    • Novice division (for 9-10th graders who are first year debaters)
    • MS division (for 5-8th graders)
    Speech
    • OI/Declamation (MS and regular divisions)
    • Extemp (varsity, JV, and MS divisions)
    • Oratory (HS only)
    • DI (HS only)
    • HI (HS only)
    • POI (HS only)​
    *if the event you are looking for is not listed on the selections to the left, that means they are not offering it this time

    ​JUDGE PROVISION

    ​Click here to complete the highly recommended 
    Cultural Competency judge training course

    Signing up a judge without having a Tabroom account will result in us charging you for the set up fee.
    ​You can do this easily on your own by going to tabroom.com. It literally takes less than a minute.


    First time judging? Click here to learn how to do it! Or watch our Youtube playlist here.
    ​There are also these training cards available that include a summary of each event's rules and comments.​

    ​Tournaments encourage judges to have a paradigm on their Tabroom account, which can be a few sentences on your preferences of debating styles, etc. See here for example. It doesn't need to be this long, but make sure to add something before you sign up. For example: "I am a parent, please speak clearly and slowly and avoid technical jargon".​

    ​
    More tournament resources can be found here.

    TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Submit/take to payment

We would love to have you visit soon at one of our open houses.
Check our home page for the schedule!


School year Hours

M-F: 3:45 pm - 8:30 pm 
Sun: 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Telephone

510-270-8480
510-470-0531

Email (preferred)

For more info email us at: [email protected]

Locations

Fremont: 200 Brown Rd #201, Fremont, CA 94539

Cupertino: 20432 Silverado Avenue Suite 211, Cupertino, CA 95014

Aborn Institute: 2804 Riedel Road, San Jose, CA 95135 

​​​​Dublin: Loving Tree Academy, 6693 Owens Dr, Pleasanton, CA 94588​​
  • Home
  • About
    • Meet Our Coaches
    • Why Speech and Debate
    • What is Speech and Debate? >
      • Speech Events
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    • Why Golden State Academy
    • Tournament Photos
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    • FAQ
  • Forms
  • Registration
    • MS/HS Fall 2025
    • Private Coaching >
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    • Elementary Summer 2025
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