MARIST

We are excited to welcome you virtually to the 2025 Ivy Street Invitational hosted by Marist School in Atlanta, Georgia. Our tournament will be held September 26 to 28, 2025 exclusively online through the NSDA Campus Platform. We are committed to providing low-cost, high-quality opportunities for full service programs.

Event OfferingsOur event is designed for full programs to be able to participate at one tournament location. We offer divisions in public forum debate, lincoln douglas debate, and a full range of NSDA main speech events.

EVENT & DAYS OFFERED
Varsity Public Forum Debate - Friday/Saturday/Sunday
Junior Varsity Public Forum Debate - Friday/Saturday
Novice Public Forum Debate - Friday/Saturday
Middle School Varsity Public Forum Debate - Saturday
Middle School Novice Public Forum Debate - Saturday
Varsity Lincoln Douglas Debate - Friday/Saturday
Novice Lincoln Douglas Debate - Friday/Saturday
Extemporaneous Speaking - Saturday
Impromptu Speaking - Saturday
Dramatic Interpretation - Saturday
Humorous Interpretation - Saturday
Program Oral Interpretation - Saturday
Informative Speaking - Saturday
Original Oratory - Saturday

DIVISION CLARIFICATIONS
Middle School Novice
To participate in a Middle School Novice division, students must meet both of the following criteria:

They are in middle school (8th grade or younger).
They are in their first academic year of competitive debate.

Middle School Varsity
Students are eligible for a Middle School Varsity division if they:

Are in middle school (8th grade or younger).
Are in their first academic year of debate or have prior experience in other academic years.

High School Rookie
The High School Rookie divisions are open to students who:

Are in their first four tournaments and
Are in their first year of competitive debate, regardless of age. Eligibility is based purely on debate experience.

High School Novice
Students may compete in a High School Novice division if:

They are in their first year of high school debate.
- A student’s novice eligibility ends after completing four rounds against high school competitors.
The eligibility period is defined as a school year, not a calendar year.
Students who competed exclusively in middle school events remain eligible for novice, but not Rookie.
If a student has competed in a different high school debate event, they are NOT considered a novice in a new event.

High School Junior Varsity
Students are eligible for a Junior Varsity division if:

They are in their first or second year of high school debate.
- This division is intended for advanced first-year students and second-year students who have not attended a summer debate institute.

High School Varsity
The High School Varsity division is open to all students, regardless of experience or grade level.

EVENT RULES

Topics & Formats
All events will default to Georgia Forensic Coaches Association rules unless noted otherwise.
Public Forum Debate (all divisions)
Resolved: The United Kingdom should rejoin the European Union.
4-4-3-4-4-3-3-3-3-2-2 Speech Times | 3 Minute of Preparation Time per Team
Lincoln Douglas Debate (all divisions)
Resolved: In the United States criminal justice system, plea bargaining is just.
6-3-7-3-4-6-3 Speech Times | 4 Minute of Preparation Time per Debater
Speech Events (all divisions)
We will default to GFCA rules for all events, unless otherwise noted.

LIMITED PREP TOPIC AREAS

EXTEMP

Round 1 – Agencies in Action
From the FCC to the CDC to ICE, the alphabet soup of U.S. executive agencies touches nearly every part of American life. This round examines how these agencies have been shaped by the Trump administration, the controversies that surround them, and the role they will play looking forward.
Round 2 – Ballots Beyond Borders
It may not be a U.S. election year, but ballots are being cast around the world. This round takes competitors abroad to explore key fall elections, examining how leadership contests and political transitions overseas could shift global dynamics in the months ahead.
Round 3 – Tariff Turbulence
The Trump trade war reshaped the conversation on tariffs and trade policy. This round focuses on the ripple effects of those policies, with questions spanning domestic industries, international trade partners, and the uncertain future of global commerce.
Finals – On the Docket
As the Supreme Court begins its 2025 term, all eyes are on the shadow docket and the consequential cases set to be heard. In the final round, competitors will dive into the Court’s role in shaping law and politics, exploring how its decisions may define the nation’s direction in the years ahead.

IMPROMPTU

Round 1 – The Power of 124
Marist School marks its 124th year with a nod to three timeless pillars: the initiative of leadership, the strength of partnership, and the foundation of faith, learning, and service. With a little help from numerology, this round challenges students to explore how vision, cooperation, and strong foundations shape the world around us.
Round 2 – Under the Friday Night Lights
Football is woven into the fabric of Marist School. Yet under the glow of Friday night lights, the sport becomes more than touchdowns and tackles—it’s strategy, resilience, and even a language of its own. In this round, students tackle the hidden playbook of football’s obscure terms to shed light on the grit and poetry of the game.
Round 3 – Yesterday’s Tomorrow
Back in 1925, bold thinkers gazed into the future and imagined life in 2025. Some predictions turned out to be laughably wrong, while others feel eerily on target. This round invites students to revisit those century-old crystal balls and reflect on how the hopes and fears of the past measure up against today’s reality.
Finals – Complicated Realities
As the 2025 Ivy Street Invitational coincides with Avril Lavigne’s 40th birthday, we can’t help but nod to the infamous (and ridiculous) conspiracy theory that she was replaced by a look-alike named “Melissa.” Without taking sides, this round asks finalists to imagine: what if conspiracy theories really did come true? From pop stars to politics, how would our world—and our lives—be reshaped?

TOURNAMENT FINES

If your judge violates a policy of the tournament and is removed from the tournament pool, you will be charged the hired judge fee for the remainder of the rounds unfulfilled as well as $75 for the first full elimination round.
If you have to drop your judge in Varsity events at any point in the tournament regardless of reason, you will be charged $75 for each subsequent round of their obligation that is unfilled as well as $75 for the first full elimination round. Due to MPJ in these divisions, there are absolutely no judge additions or substitutions in Varsity events once the tournament has started.
If you have to drop your judge in Non-Varsity events, you may replace them with another non-varsity judge as long as they do not miss any obligation. If you must drop a judge and do not have a replacement, you will be charged $75 for each subsequent round of their obligation that is unfilled as well as $75 for the first full elimination round.

JUDGING OVERVIEW

It is the philosophy of the Marist Ivy Street Invitational that every judge you provide regardless of division should be highly qualified. Highly qualified means your judge is a trained individual who will actively listen to each debater’s arguments and carefully decide the round, assigning proper speaker points and writing a decision. Training at a minimum can include but is not limited to the NSDA Certification Tests for events in which they are entered. At the Marist Ivy Street Invitational, all judges are required to give an oral decision where at a minimum, they tell the debaters in the round who they voted for.

Judges are entered by event and will be used across divisions within that event unless specified in the notes. For instance, entering a judge in Public Forum debate means they may judge any high school division as well as middle school division.

The tournament has the right to remove any judge from the pool that tournament staff defines as unqualified at any time during the tournament. If removals are made, school personnel will be contacted. Schools will be charged a full judge hire cost for replacement.

In Varsity divisions, all judges must be older than high school age (should have completed high school or its equivalent). In Junior Varsity, and Novice divisions, juniors or seniors in their third or fourth year of high school competition may judge this division. Please put in the notes if your judge is a student judge.

All judges in all divisions must have posted paradigms by 9/25 at 5:00pm. Any judge found without a paradigm after this deadline will not count towards your obligation, will be marked as a free strike on preference sheets and your school will be charged for a hired judge fee for any rounds they were entered for.

Any judge changes after the deadline will be assessed a penalty. You may not substitute any judge in a varsity debate judge pool. Schools that change their judges after mutual preference options have opened will be subject to losing preferences for their teams.

Finally, it is our intention to offer teams in Varsity debate divisions the option to participate in a Mutual Preference system. We will detail the MPJ system here when it is decided closer to the tournament.

Elimination Round Obligations
All judges are obligated to judge through the first full elimination round in the event they are entered OR one round past any round in which their school’s students are actively competing, whichever is later. So if your child gets eliminated in prelims but another GSA student makes it to semifinals, you are obligated to judge up to the final round.

Judge Fines
Our pairings will be released on time and it is the affirmative responsibility of each judge to be aware of their obligation and rounds. It is not the tournament’s responsibility to remind you of your debate. In that vein, judges are required to be in their rooms by the posted check-in time. At that time, if judges are present, tabroom officials will “poke” the judges that they are missing from the room. At the posted start time of the debates, tabroom officials will start to replace judges. We will not call or text to ask where you are if you are missing, we will simply replace and fine.
If you are a replacement judge, you have 10 minutes from the time of the replacement to arrive to the debate before we will replace and fine that judge as well.
If your judge does not show for a debate, your school will be assessed a missed round fee. This fee will be $60 for a preliminary round and $75 for an elimination round

Debate Judge Guidelines and Procedures
It is the philosophy of the Marist Ivy Street Invitational that every judge you provide regardless of division should be highly qualified. Highly qualified means your judge is a trained individual who will actively listen to each debater’s arguments and carefully decide the round, assigning proper speaker points and writing a decision.

During the debates, all judges should:

have their cameras on throughout the duration of the debate. Failure to keep your camera on may result in your removal of the tournament and your school being assessed a fine of $75 per round you were obligated.
give an oral decision where at a minimum, they tell the debaters in the round who they voted for.
write on the digital ballot what side and what team that they voted for in case of a petition.

Tech Time in Debates
If there are tech issues in the debate, you should immediately contact the Helpline so we are able to help you through the tech problems. Teams have 10 minutes of tech time in a debate to troubleshoot any issues. If this is happening, the Helpdesk should be notified. If the tech time expires without a resolution, the team will forfeit the debate.

Speaker Point Scale at Ivy Street Invitational
Speaker Points please assign each debater 27-30 in tenths of points with no ties between any of the four
speakers in a debate. If you want to give lower than a 27, enter a 27 and email our HelpDesk that you want it to be lower than 27. Include a very brief explanation of the reason (clipping, rudeness, non-participation, etc.). Points are at your discretion, but this process avoids accidental/unintentional assignment of atypically low points.

Our suggested point scale for the 2024 Ivy Street Invitational:

Top Speaker: 29.2 to 29.5
10th Speaker: 28.9 to 29.1
20th Speaker: 28.7 to 28.8
50th Speaker: 28.4 to 28.6

You will notice that very few speakers have averaged below a 28. Points have been surprisingly consistent in both divisions and throughout the last three years. You are welcome to deviate from this scale at your discretion, but we thought it would be helpful to know how others have assigned points at this tournament.

Judge Check-in and Missing Round Fines

Judges are expected to be in their round ten minutes prior to the START time of the debate. We will begin the replace and fine stage of judging five minutes prior to each round. If your judge is missing at that time, you school will be subject to a fine. This fee will be $75 for your school’s first missed round and $75 for each round that follows.
If a judge’s technology does not work in a round, that is not the responsibility of the tournament and if a replacement has to be made, the school will be fined $60 for the judge’s missed round. It is important that every judge check NSDA Campus compatibility with their devices.

JUDGE PARADIGMS
We expect every judge in every division to have a posted paradigm to help students understand any judging preferences that you may have. It is the affirmative duty of the coach to ensure their judges paradigms are appropriate and do not include any incentives that jeopardize individuals access or belonging at the tournament. For those that are unfamiliar with paradigms, we have created a short description to help you write one.

What is a Judge Paradigm?
A judge paradigm is a short guide that explains how you approach judging debates, and it’s very helpful for competitors to know what you value in a round.

Examples of What To Include in a Judge Paradigm

Background:
Provide a brief introduction to your experience in debate. If you’re a new judge, feel free to share that! You can mention your educational or professional background, any previous debate experience, and how you became involved in judging.
Judging Philosophy:
Explain how you evaluate rounds. Here are some questions you can consider:
- What do you look for in a winning argument?
Do you prefer technical arguments (e.g., theory, framework) or more traditional debate focused on evidence and persuasion?
How do you weigh impacts (e.g., magnitude, probability, timeframe)?
- Preferences:
Highlight any specific preferences, such as:
Speed (Spreading): Are you comfortable with fast speaking, or do you prefer debaters slow down for clarity?
Evidence: How do you evaluate evidence quality? Do you want debaters to emphasize the warrants behind the evidence?
Style: Do you value clarity and persuasiveness over technical precision, or do you focus more on line-by-line debate?

How to Post Your Paradigm on Tabroom:

Log into your Tabroom account.
Go to your Judging sidebar and find the option to edit your paradigm.
Write your paradigm and save it so debaters can view it before rounds.

Example Paradigm:
Here’s an example to help guide you:
"Hi, I’m new to judging but excited to be here! I prefer clear, well-explained arguments. I value logical structure and strong evidence over technical jargon. Please make sure to explain how your impacts compare to your opponent’s. I’m okay with speed, but please be clear and understandable. I enjoy constructive cross-examination and appreciate direct answers to questions."

MUTUAL JUDGE PREFERENCE
All Varsity debate divisions offer competitors the option to have mutual preference judging (MPJ) for their debates. For teams that opt out and do not complete MPJ, the software will default to the other team’s preferences in the debate.

MPJ opens on 9/25 at 9am. At this time the judge pools should be close to final but as we know with online tournaments and a hurricane barreling towards the host, things can change quickly. In that regard, we will update any changes to the pref sheet on this page under the changes section.

Pref sheets close on Friday, 9/26 at 12:00pm EST. We will not input anyone’s preferences manually or copy any team’s preference sheet over.

If you have to remove a judge for any reason from the pref sheet after it has closed, you will be fined for the number of debates affected as it creates a competitive disadvantage to other teams as prefs are done by rounds.

What is MPJ?
MPJ is a system that eliminates manual judge placement by using debater preferences to match judges that both teams mutually prefer, creating a more balanced and competitive debate round. At the Ivy Street Invitational, we believe MPJ gives debaters a voice in their community by allowing them to choose judges they are more comfortable with, reducing the chances of mismatches in style and preferences.

How to Complete Prefs

Log in to Tabroom and go to your registration page for the Ivy Street Invitational.
Click the red “Prefs” tab to access your team’s preference sheet for any Varsity debate division. You can see the team’s pref sheet if you select the event category and team on the right sidebar of that screen. It will be highlighted in red if incomplete.
A list of available judges will appear. You will rank judges on a scale from 1 to 6:
- 1: Top 30% of preferred judges (most preferred – these are the judges your team wants)
- 2: Next 20%
- 3: Next 20%
- 4: Next 15%
- 6: Struck judges (judges your team does not want, bottom 15% - these judges will not judge your team)

You can use judge paradigms to help guide your rankings. Simply click on a judge's name (linked on the pref sheet).

How it changes judge placement:
Instead of random or manual placement, the software uses your preferences to match the most mutually preferred judge. For example, if both teams ranked a judge as a 1, that judge will likely be assigned to the round.

DEBATE JUDGE CONFLICT POLICY
Judges must be conflicted for your entry/school if any of the following apply:

High School Affiliation: You attended their high school within the last five years.
Family Relation: You are related to the student.
Coaching or Judging Relationship: You have coached at their school, either paid or unpaid, within the past two school years. This does not apply if your only connection was as a hired judge with no coaching responsibilities or direct student contact.
Future Employment: The student's school has offered to hire you to coach or judge in the future. Summer institutes and brief companies are included in this.
Primary Instruction: You have had primary instructional responsibility for the student, such as being their school or personal coach. Summer institute instruction does not apply.
Personal Relationships: You have or have had personal friendships or romantic relationships with the student.
College/University Recruitment: You coach or debate for a college/university, and the student is either debating for your program next year or is actively being recruited by your school.
Coach Relationships: You have or have had romantic relationships with the student’s coach(es).
Other Relationships: Any other relationship that might reasonably be seen as compromising your impartiality as a judge. To assess this, ask yourself: “If I were a competing student and knew only about this relationship between my judge and my competitor (or their coach), would I question their impartiality?” If the answer is "yes," mark the student as a conflict.

MARIST IVY STREET INVITATIONAL

26-28 September 2025

Information

Entry Price

Schedule

Drop Fee

Contact Info

Registration Form

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

School year Hours

Telephone

Email (preferred)

Locations