SEATTLE UNIVERSITY HIGH SCHOOL SPEECH AND DEBATE TOURNAMENT

    27-28 January 2023 for debate
    28 January 2023 for speech

    DEADLINE
    23 Jan 2023
    ELIGIBILITY
    Open to middle and high school students
    PLATFORM
    Online through NSDA Campus

    Information

    We cordially invite you to the Seattle University high school speech and debate tournament held online at NSDA’s Campus. We are ready to provide a quality tournament for you and your students. We will do our best to make sure that the tournament runs smoothly, professionally, and on time. We want an educational tournament. The philosophical goals of our tournament are: Inclusivity, Scholarship, Excellence, and Balancing the spirit of competition with the educational goals of forensics.
    ​ 
    This year, we offer these events and ALL EVENTS ARE LIVE SYNCHRONOUS ONLINE:
    --Lincoln-Douglas and Public Forum and NEW! World Schools, all three offered in Open and Junior Division plus Congressional Debate in Open division. NOTE: PF will use the JANUARY PF TOPIC.
    --All eight of the Washington State Individual Events, plus NEW! Oral Interp, NEW! Radio Broadcast, SPAR and EdComm, in Open division (with a celebration of the top novice in each category – please let us know if a student is a novice by checking the corresponding button on their registration).
    --YOU MAY DOUBLE ENTER IN INDIVIDUAL EVENTS.
     
    ​We are extremely proud that our tournament is now a TOC Qualifier in:
    Congress - Tier 1 (Top 6) Lincoln-Douglas - Finals (Top 2)
    Public Forum - Finals (Gold = Top 2, Silver = Top 4) Speech - Based on entries, following this scale
    • If 24 or fewer competitors enter, the top 3 receive bids.
    • If 25 to 72 people compete, the top 7 finalists receive bids.
    • If 73 to 125 or more are in an event, the top 14 semifinalists receive bids
    • If 125 or more are in an event, the top 24 quarterfinalists receive bids.
     
    We are also an NIETOC bid in all NIETOC IE’s. NIETOC bids are based on the total number of students participating, so PLEASE be aware of that if you need to drop a student from an event.
     
    We hope that you will join us to forge the spirit of competition and continue the tradition of excellence as Seattle U hosts what hopefully will be a great tournament.


    Registration
    Drops after the deadline will not be refunded. Late changes have a drastic impact on the tournament schedule. The earlier you can make changes for your entries, the better the chances are for an ON-TIME tournament. This is equally as true for students as it is for judges. If you have drops or changes in either category, please let Nadia and Victor know ASAP.
      
    Online Specific Info:
    • We will be using NSDA Campus. Make sure that your students have active Tabroom accounts well ahead of the tournament. Otherwise, they won’t be able to compete.
    • Cameras should be on but are not required. This is a safeguard against outside assistance, and it is an important accessibility feature. Cameras also help maintain the social atmosphere of speech and debate.
    • MAKE SURE YOUR STUDENTS ARE READY TO GO. They need a decent webcam, working microphone and speakers, and MOST IMPORTANT, reliable internet connection.
      
    An Inclusive Tournament
    At all times, treat each other with courtesy and respect. Every person. Every room. We want a fun, positive, and educational environment.

    Mistreatment happens?
    If you are mistreated or you witness mistreatment—we encourage you to speak up against that if you feel safe doing so. Please report such events to Jim Hanson at hansonj@seattleu.edu
    If you are a coach or judge, you are _required_ to speak against mistreatment and report it to Jim Hanson at hansonj@seattleu.edu

    Inclusive Pronouns
    We encourage students, judges, and coaches to refer to each other by name or by speaker
    position; you can use “they” and “their” as well. Please DO NOT ASSUME someone else’s gender.

    Students and Judges with Disabilities
    Have a need? Please contact Jim Hanson at hansonj@seattleu.edu We want you to participate!


    JUDGING
    1. Judges judging Open LD and Open Public Forum should be experienced judges.
    2. All information that we receive will help us to use judges in the best place possible.
    1. Judges are obligated to judge the category of debate for which their team is competing. In some cases to assist in our judging needs, we may request that a judge adjudicate a different kind of debate.
    2. All judges are needed for ALL preliminary rounds AND at least the FIRST TWO ELIM rounds in that event. Every round, every judge listed should be available.
    3. Please make sure that you understand the judging obligation. It is vital that judges get their ballot, watch their round, and submit their ballot in a timely manner.
    3.  Judges must be 19 years of age or older OR have a high school degree.
    1. We want a diverse pool of judges. We encourage you to reach out to judges that reflect the diversity of the community we want to be. Ask yourself—Is the racial, gender, class, and sexuality of who you are hiring to judge diverse? What can you do to make it better?
    2. ALL judges must have a tabroom.com account. All ballots will be on-line. Please make sure your judges are familiar with this system.
    3. We charge fees for judges that miss rounds. We also charge judges for not completing ballot comments—be sure your judges give full feedback to the students they watch. When judges are late or miss rounds, it undermines the entire tournament—one late round means the entire tournament is late. We’ll work to be flexible with reasonable situations but for judges who do not show up to rounds consistently, we will contact coaches and if arrangements/alternatives cannot be established, we reserve the right to assess nuisance/hired judge fees.
    4.  Judges are expected to be on time for their rounds & to complete their judging duties:
    1. All judges need to push “start round” to signify that they have accepted the ballot.
    2. At all times before, during and after the round, judges are expected to treat all participants equitably and with a supportive, educational mindset and behaviors.
    3. At the end of each round, judges must submit the win/loss/ranking and points for the round to tabroom.com AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AND BEFORE GIVING VERBAL FEEDBACK TO THE DEBATERS
      (note tabroom.com will make you enter the result twice to assure it is correct). Otherwise, you make the tournament late.
    5. In Public Forum, LD, and World Schools debate, give verbal feedback to the debaters:
        NOTE: Do this only after you have submitted to tabroom the winner and points.
    1. who won
    2. which of the team’s arguments convinced the judge—and why the losing team’s arguments did not win.
    3. what each and every debater did well and what they should improve on.
    6. Judge ARE EXPECTED TO type written comments into tabroom.com so coaches can help their students improve (and for students to have a record of your comments). Judges should type what each and every student did well and what they need to improve on. We will fine judges who do not provide typed comments.
    ​

    Judging Equitably
    Judges primary responsibilities include:
    • Make a welcoming environment at the beginning of the round. Hellos. Supportive comments. Equal amount of talking with all participants. At all times, treat students and others in the round with equity, kindness and professionalism.
    • During the round, we encourage you to use supportive non-verbals. (if you don’t like an argument, that can be an exception so you help the students know that)
    • If you see mistreatment—stop it and report it to Jim Hanson at hansonj@seattleu.edu
    • As soon as possible at the end of the round, submit your ballot with winners/rankings/speaker points. You can return to include comments later. We need your ballot winner/rankings/speaker points ASAP or it slows the entire tournament.
    • In your feedback—be educational—you aren’t there to criticize the students—they’ve put effort into this activity. You are there to help them to improve. SKIP “You did this bad” and instead use the language of improvement “You should...”

    ALL Judges should view this material: https://www.speechanddebate.org/judge-training/
    On that website, you will find information on culturally competent judging and a link to the NFHS and their free training, entitled “Adjudicating Speech and Debate”

    Students should not be judged on their clothing nor appearance unless their clothing undermines their speech’s specific message or encourages violence, hate or disruption during the tournament.
    We are all influenced by implicit bias, or the stereotypes that unconsciously affect our decisions. When judging, our implicit biases negatively impact students who are traditionally marginalized and disenfranchised. Before writing comments or making a decision, please take a moment to reflect on any biases that may impact your decision making process.
    Please remember that the video quality of a student’s performance or speech may be impacted by lighting, internet, access to equipment, and other family members’ presence in the home. To ensure a more equitable experience for our participants, please be sure your decision-making process and comments are related only to the content and quality of the presentation or speech itself.


    ​Debate
    • LD, Public Forum, World Schools and Congressional Debate happen live—synchronously.
    • Please check www.speechanddebate.org for the accurate topic wording for the January PF and January- February LD debate topics. World Schools will use topics announced by Dec. 15. Congressional Debate will use the Spring packet of legislation.
    • Students cannot double enter in PF, LD, World Schools, Congress debate.
    • Teams in LD PF and Worlds are allowed up to ten minutes of tech time. If the debate is paused for technology related reasons, that team’s Tech Time begins to count down. If a team uses all of their Tech Time before the round ends, their speaking time must begin. The tech time is not to be used as prep.
    • It is our intent to offer a full-service tournament which allows students to compete in multiple preliminary rounds and then elimination rounds. While our schedule plans for extensive elimination rounds, this is entirely a “numbers permitting” proposition; due to total registration number, prelim round breaks, unforeseen scheduling conflicts or low judging numbers we reserve the right to alter the schedule as needed.
    Lincoln-Douglas: We offer Junior and Open divisions of LD. Rounds will follow the 6-3-7-3-4-6-3 format and have 4 minutes of prep time per competitor. We will be using the January/February topic as published on the NSDA website. https://www.speechanddebate.org/topics/
     
    Public Forum: We offer Junior and Open divisions of Public Forum. Rounds will follow standard PF time format (4-4-3-4-4-3-3-3-3-2-2) with 3 minutes of prep per team and teams will coin flip for pro/con or 1st/2nd speaker. We will use the January topic as published on the NSDA website. https://www.speechanddebate.org/topics/
     
    Debate Division Definitions
    Junior Division is for those students in their first or second year of competition who have not received a trophy in Open debate competition at two (2) invitational tournaments with 15 or more schools participating and have not placed first through fourth (1-4) at the WIAA State Debate Championship Tournament.
    Open Division is for those students who do not meet the Junior Division definition or who want the competition level of open division.
     
    We will advance all 3-2 and better teams up to 16 teams in a division of LD and Public Forum but we won’t have a partial elim if the partial elim will have only 1 debate.
     
    Judges in LD, Public Forum, and Worlds-BP Debate are encouraged to verbally disclose to the teams at the end of the debate (allowing students to leave if they wish). Verbal disclosure includes stating:
    1. who won
    2. which of the team’s arguments convinced the judge—and why the losing team’s arguments did not win.
    3. what each and every debater did well and what they should improve on.
    NOTE: Do this only after you have submitted to tabroom the winner and points and at no point should disclosure make either debaters or judges late for their next round.  If the round started late, keep disclosure very brief, but no disclosure or feedback should ever be so lengthy that it forces anyone to be late to their next round.

    Congressional Debate: We will offer Open division for Congressional Debate. We will have no more than 20 students per chamber. Students will use the Spring WSFA congressional packet. This can be found on our tabroom.com site and the Forensics page of WIAA. Please be sure your Congressional debaters have their own copies of the legislation.
     
    Based on the preliminary rounds, we will then break up to 20 students to Super Session.
     
    We will follow the docket setting method suggested by the WSFA committee. Separate Legislation for Super Congress is included in the WSFA packet and will ONLY be used for Super Congress. Any contestant may sponsor such an item in the event an author is not present in the chamber.
     
    ​
    ​Individual Events: ALL EVENTS ARE ONLINE-LIVE-SYNCHRONOUS
    Each student may DOUBLE ENTER. READ THE RULES CAREFULLY.
     
    Students have time to compete in both Debate and Individual Events, if they so choose. Students must show up online-live-synchronous (but NOT in-person) to compete in these events.
     
    IE judges must be able to judge preliminary and elimination rounds on Saturday January 28. These events should function much the same as they might at a brick-and-mortar tournament.
     
    OPEN DIVISIONS:
    • EDITORIAL COMMENTARY: The commentary takes a position on an issue of public concern as if the speaker were an editorialist attempting to influence the audience toward his/her point of view. The speaker is seated delivering the speech as if to a television camera. TIME LIMIT: 1:45-2:00 minutes EXACTLY (NO grace period).
    • EXTEMPORANEOUS: Thirty minutes before speaking time, each speaker will select a topic from a choice of three--distributed on a Google Doc 30 minutes before speaking. Questions will be based on current events. Speaker will be expected to organize and analyze material relevant to the subject area and answer the chosen question. Time: seven minutes (7) maximum, with thirty seconds (30) grace.
    • IMPROMPTU: Student will be given a choice of three topics distributed in round through the chat feature. The student will choose a topic and have six minutes to prepare and speak on the chosen topic. Time may be used in any manner the speaker chooses (example-2 minutes prep and 4 speaking or 4 minutes prep and 2 minutes speaking). Time: six minutes (6) maximum, with thirty seconds (30) grace. Judges are required to provide time signals while students are preparing and while they are speaking.
    • INFORMATIVE: A speech that is designed to be informative in nature. Visual aids and note cards are permitted, but are not required. Time: ten minutes (10) maximum, with thirty seconds (30) grace.
    • ORATORY: An original speech designed to persuade—that is, to change or reinforce an existing belief, to eulogize, to cause agreement with a speaker’s position, or to motivate to action. This is a memorized event. Time: ten minutes (10) maximum, with a 30 second grace period.
    • RADIO BROADCAST: Subject. The speech shall be an original news commentary dealing with current events of the current school year. Scripts. The script is to be an analysis of news, not simply a running synopsis of news. It is to be original and written by the contestant. Quoted Material. The speaker may use no more than seventy-five quoted words including all short words such as "a", "an", "the", etc. Length. The script should be timed to end between 4:45 and 5:15 minutes. Any speaker ending before 4:45 minutes or after 5:15 minutes shall be disqualified. No contestant may be disqualified if a stopwatch was not used for timing. Procedure. The script is to be read from a manuscript or printed page, and not committed to memory. It is not to be acted nor highly dramatized. Students will “turn off” camera, so as to present a voice on the radio.
    • SPAR: Each spar panel consists of approximately eight competitors. The debaters will be assigned affirmative or negative until all debaters are assigned to a side by the judge prior to the start of the round. The speakers will have one minute before speaking to prep. The first affirmative speaker will give a two- minute speech in favor of the resolution; immediately after that speech, the first negative speaker will refute the position in a two-minute constructive. Following the opening statements, there will be a five-minute open cross-examination. The pair should question each other, and should be prepared to take at least a few questions from the audience, other competitors, and even the judge. Two rebuttal speeches of the affirmative and negative respectively (2 minutes each) complete the round. Judges should time and provide timing signals for the competitors.
      Times: Aff-2; Neg-2; CX-3; Aff-2; Neg-2.
      If an odd number of students show up for the round, one student may give a repeat (unscored) additional performance. Answers by debaters to questions from the audience during the open CX period should be used in the scoring of the competitors who are actually debating, but should not be considered as relevant in the scoring of those who are merely asking questions, particularly since some students may be double- entered and will not have the opportunity to participate in the questioning process.
    • DRAMATIC INTERP: A cutting from a published play, prose, poetry, TV, or radio script, which is serious in nature. The presentation is memorized but given without props or costumes. Time: ten (10) minutes maximum with 30 second grace period.
    • DUAL INTERP: A cutting from a published play, prose, poetry, TV, or radio script, which may be either humorous or serious in nature. The selection must be memorized but given without props or costumes. Time: ten minutes (10) maximum with a 30 second grace period.
    • HUMOROUS INTERP: A cutting from a published play, prose, poetry, TV, or radio script, which is humorous in nature. The presentation is memorized. Time: ten (10) minutes with thirty seconds (30) grace.
    • ORAL INTERP: In Round 1 and 3, using a selection or selections of literature, students will provide an interpretation of Poetry with a time limit of 10 minutes, including introduction. Poetry is characterized by writing that conveys ideas, experiences, and emotions through language and expression. Students may choose traditional poetry, often characterized by rhyme or rhythm, or nontraditional poetry, which often has a rhythmic flow but is not necessarily structured by formal meter (meter is a beat, pattern, or structure, such as iambic pentameter). Students may not use prose, nor drama (plays), in this category. Students must use a manuscript in Poetry, which typically consists of a small three-ring binder with page protectors. Reading from a book or magazine is prohibited. In Round 2 and Finals, using short story, parts of a novel, or other published work of prose, students will provide an interpretation of one or more selections with a time limit of 10 minutes, including introduction. Typically a single piece of literature, Prose can be drawn from works of fiction or non-fiction. Prose corresponds to usual (ordinary/common) patterns of speech and may combine elements of narration and dialogue. Students may not use poetry, nor drama (plays), in this category.
      Students must use a manuscript in Prose, which typically consists of a small three-ring binder with page protectors. Reading from a book or magazine is prohibited. Time: ten (10) minutes with thirty seconds (30) grace.
    • PROGRAMMED ORAL INTERP (POI): At least one cutting of prose and one cutting of poetry linked thematically. Time: ten (10) minutes maximum with thirty seconds of grace.

    ​Entry Price

    PF/LD and parent is judging $65
    PF/LD + one speech event and parent is judging $80
    PF/LD + two speech events and parent is judging $95

    PF/LD and parent is OPTING OUT OF judging $200
    PF/LD + one speech event and parent is OPTING OUT OF judging $225
    PF/LD + two speech events and parent is OPTING OUT OF judging $250

    One Speech Event and parent is judging $65
    Two Speech Events and parent is judging $80

    One Speech Event and parent is OPTING OUT OF ​judging $135
    Two Speech Events and parent is OPTING OUT OF ​judging $160

    Each person in a PF/Policy/Duo team would be responsible of providing their own judge, so one PF/Policy/Duo 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

    Please note that all times are in PACIFIC STANDARD TIME (PST).

    Friday January 27
    Rd 1 Debate: 3:45 –   6:00
    Rd 2 Debate: 6:00 –   8:00
    Rd 3 Debate: 8:00 – 10:00
    Yes—prelim debates are double-flighted.
     
    Saturday January 28
    Rd 1 Speech: 8 – 9:15 (Extemp Prep begins at 8am)
    Rd 4 Debate: 9:15 – 11:15
    Rd 2 Speech: 11:15 – 12:30 (Extemp Prep begins at 11:15am)
    Rd 5 Debate: 12:30 – 2:30
    Rd 3 IE Speech: 2:30 – 3:45 (Extemp Prep begins at 2:30pm)
    Elim 1 Debate: 3:45 – 4:45 -ALL DEBATE JUDGES WILL JUDGE—THIS IS ABSOLUTELY NEEDED!
    Finals IE (All Events): 4:30 – 6:00   —ALL JUDGES NEEDED!
    (Extemp Prep begins at 4:30pm, debaters in octos will be scheduled in the middle of the finals round to avoid conflicting with the debate elims)
    For the 2023 tournament, we do not break brackets. Coaches will choose which team from their school advances to the next elimination round.​
    Elim 2 Debate: 5:45 – 6:45                ALL JUDGES JUDGE—DO NOT LEAVE THE TOURNAMENT!
    Awards I: 6:45 – 7:30                         – with jazzy powerpoint and SU admission officer presentation 
    Elim 3 Debate: 7:30 – 8:30               ALL JUDGES WITH DEBATERS IN ELIM 2 MUST JUDGE
    Elim 4 Debate: 8:45 – 9:45                ALL JUDGES WITH DEBATERS IN ELIM 3 MUST JUDGE
    Awards for Elim 3 and 4 in Round 
    ALL JUDGES are obligated for at least 2 out rounds, beyond GSA TEAM’s last competitor.

    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:  vrivasumana@tgsastaff.com
    Nadia Budiman 
    Contact email: nbudiman@tgsastaff.com
    Or info@tgsastaff.com

    Registration Form

    ​
    STUDENT INFORMATION
    ​    Suggested attire for the tournament can be found here.
    ​More tournament resources can be found     here.
    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
    At most, a student can do one debate and two speech events, but you are responsible for getting to your rounds on time.
    ​JUDGE PROVISION

    ​Click here to complete the mandatory 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

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: info@tgsastaff.com

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