3RD ANNUAL TOC DIGITAL SPEECH AND DEBATE SERIES 1
6-8 December 2024
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DEADLINE
20 Nov 2024
NO REFUNDS ALLOWED AFTER THIS DATE |
ELIGIBILITY
Open to middle and high school students
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PLATFORM
Online through NSDA Campus
|
Information
Dear Coaches and Competitors,
We are thrilled to invite you to the TOC Digital Speech and Debate Series #1 Tournament, hosted by the University of Kentucky, on December 6-8. This tournament promises a challenging yet rewarding competition for all levels of debaters and speakers. Our events will include Policy, Public Forum, Lincoln Douglas, and Individual Events/Speech. We look forward to a weekend filled with dynamic arguments and impressive performances.
Our goal is to provide an inclusive, educational environment where students can showcase their talents, develop critical thinking skills, and engage with others from various schools and regions. We will have experienced judges, a smooth schedule, and plenty of opportunities for feedback to help each participant improve their skills.
We look forward to seeing you online in December and wish your team the best of luck in preparing for this season's competition.
Important Updates
The TOC Digital Speech & Debate Series is a new initiative from the University of Kentucky aimed at providing equitable access to competition across the world at an affordable price. Please see below for important updates and changes to this year’s event.
Topics & Formats
All events are governed by the rules in the tournament procedures documents posted below. Coaches, judges, and competitors should familiarize themselves with these documents prior to the start of the tournament. Please note that any sources read or cited as evidence in competition must be available upon request.
Lincoln-Douglas Debate
Public Forum Debate
Speech Events
Division Eligibility
Open: All students in grades 6-12 are eligible to compete.
Rising Star: Students grades 6–10 are eligible to compete. All competitors entered in this division should have fewer than 2 years of experience.
Judge Obligations
Competitors at the 2024 TOC Digital Speech & Debate Series deserve the highest quality of judging throughout the tournament. Consequently, judges must be available to fulfill their commitment during all scheduled rounds on the day(s) they are obligated. Tournament staff will not honor specific requests for time off during competition; please do not ask or make judge notes to this effect. Specific penalties for missing a round when obligated are outlined below.
For the Rising Star division, very experienced competitors in Grades 11–12 are eligible to serve as judges. If so, they should be marked as such on Tabroom, and “Student Judge” should be put in the judge notes for the tournament.
Preliminary Rounds
Elimination Rounds
Judge Conflicts
Judge Eligibility
Participant Conduct
All participants, observers, and other guests attend the 2024 TOC Digital Speech & Debate Series at the invitation of the University of Kentucky, and must abide by all applicable rules in the tournament invitation and procedures, as well as those set by the University of Kentucky.
Participants—including coaches, competitors, and judges—certify that all entries, forms, and other materials submitted for the TOC Digital Speech & Debate Series are accurate and complete. Submission of any TOC Digital Speech & Debate Series-related materials grants permission to distribute and verify the information contained therein among TOC Digital Speech & Debate Series administrators, tournament staff, and/or UK Debate staff.
Honor Code
All participants must submit a signed PDF of the TOC Digital Speech & Debate Series Honor Code in advance. Only the .pdf file format is accepted; note that the honor code and media release are on ONE document.
Every individual must also review and abide by the tournament invitation and procedures documents posted on Tabroom, along with the honor code and relevant policies of your own school or program.
The TOC Digital Speech & Debate Series Honor Code conveys the significance and importance of competitive integrity to all members of our community, in the interest of maintaining the highest standards of conduct. Participants must act with dignity and respect, and refrain from undermining the integrity of speech and debate as an institution. Participants should neither seek, nor encourage others to seek unfair assistance or advantage in competition. All participants, including observers, are expected to act in good faith and preserve the competitive integrity of the TOC Digital Speech & Debate Series.
Pledge
As a participant in the TOC Digital Speech & Debate Series, I pledge not to lie, cheat, steal or otherwise undermine the fairness of the tournament. I understand that competitive integrity and fairness is important to all tournament participants, and I promise to uphold the highest standards of honesty and integrity in competition.
Media Release
All participants must submit a signed PDF of the TOC Digital Speech & Debate Series Media Release in advance. Only the .pdf file format is accepted; note that the honor code and media release are on ONE document.
This grants permission to live stream competition events, post recordings on third-party platforms (e.g. YouTube), and incorporate footage into future educational materials. If a participant is under 18 years of age, then a parent or legal guardian must also sign the form.
Procedures and Best Practices
Procedures and Best Practices Document
We are thrilled to invite you to the TOC Digital Speech and Debate Series #1 Tournament, hosted by the University of Kentucky, on December 6-8. This tournament promises a challenging yet rewarding competition for all levels of debaters and speakers. Our events will include Policy, Public Forum, Lincoln Douglas, and Individual Events/Speech. We look forward to a weekend filled with dynamic arguments and impressive performances.
Our goal is to provide an inclusive, educational environment where students can showcase their talents, develop critical thinking skills, and engage with others from various schools and regions. We will have experienced judges, a smooth schedule, and plenty of opportunities for feedback to help each participant improve their skills.
We look forward to seeing you online in December and wish your team the best of luck in preparing for this season's competition.
Important Updates
The TOC Digital Speech & Debate Series is a new initiative from the University of Kentucky aimed at providing equitable access to competition across the world at an affordable price. Please see below for important updates and changes to this year’s event.
- Competition will occur online via the NSDA Classroom Infrastructure
- Bids to the 2024 Tournament of Champions are offered as follows:
- Lincoln-Douglas Debate: Semifinals (Top 4)
- Public Forum Debate: Semifinals (Top 4)
- Speech Events: TBD Based on Entries
Topics & Formats
All events are governed by the rules in the tournament procedures documents posted below. Coaches, judges, and competitors should familiarize themselves with these documents prior to the start of the tournament. Please note that any sources read or cited as evidence in competition must be available upon request.
Lincoln-Douglas Debate
- November–December 2024 NSDA Topic | 6-3-7-3-4-6-3 Speech Times | 4 Minutes of Preparation per Debater
Public Forum Debate
- November–December 2024 NSDA Topic | 4-4-3-4-4-3-3-3-3-2-2 Speech Times | 3 Minutes of Preparation per Team
Speech Events
- Maximum Total of 3 Speech Events per Competitor | Only 2 Speech Events in Any Single Pattern
- Speech Patterns
- Pattern A: Extemporaneous, Humorous Interpretation, Informative Speaking, Poetry, Program Oral Interpretation
- Pattern B: Dramatic Interpretation, Duo Interpretation, Impromptu, Original Oratory, Prose
Division Eligibility
Open: All students in grades 6-12 are eligible to compete.
Rising Star: Students grades 6–10 are eligible to compete. All competitors entered in this division should have fewer than 2 years of experience.
Judge Obligations
Competitors at the 2024 TOC Digital Speech & Debate Series deserve the highest quality of judging throughout the tournament. Consequently, judges must be available to fulfill their commitment during all scheduled rounds on the day(s) they are obligated. Tournament staff will not honor specific requests for time off during competition; please do not ask or make judge notes to this effect. Specific penalties for missing a round when obligated are outlined below.
For the Rising Star division, very experienced competitors in Grades 11–12 are eligible to serve as judges. If so, they should be marked as such on Tabroom, and “Student Judge” should be put in the judge notes for the tournament.
Preliminary Rounds
- LD, PF: The number that appears on your Tabroom account, in association with your judging obligation (i.e. number of rounds owed), represents preliminary rounds only—this number does not count toward your judging commitment in elimination rounds.
- Speech: All judges are obligated through the final round on Sunday, December 8.
- Judges who are obligated but fail to appear on time for an assigned preliminary round will be assessed a $100 fine per round.
Elimination Rounds
- LD, PF: All judges are obligated through at least the first elimination round on Sunday, December 8, then one round beyond the elimination of your program’s last entry.
For example, if GSA's last entry is eliminated in Quarterfinals, GSA judges are obligated through Semifinals. Even if none of your entries advance, your judges are still obligated through the first elimination round scheduled on Sunday, December 8. - Speech: All judges are obligated through the final round on Sunday, December 8.
- Judges who are obligated but fail to appear on time for an assigned elimination round will be assessed a $150 fine per round, and the associated program will face potential sanctions at future UK Debate events.
Judge Conflicts
- Non-disclosure of judge conflicts, or preclusions, is an ethical concern. Non-disclosure creates competitive imbalances and is taken very seriously by the TOC Digital Speech & Debate Series.
- Please indicate all conflicts, for all judges, on Tabroom. Judges should preclude themselves from judging any competitors whom they have previously coached, whether online or in person, paid or unpaid; with whom they have had a close, friendly, and/or personal relationship; and/or toward whom they feel that they cannot be objective for any reason. Judges affiliated with any college or other institution should preclude themselves from judging competitors whom they have seriously recruited, and judges should preclude themselves from judging entries from their alma mater. For additional guidance on what constitutes a judge conflict in a given event, please refer to the TOC Digital Speech & Debate Series procedures documents available on Tabroom.
- In the case that a judge and/or competitor reports a conflict after a pairing is distributed, resulting in a change to the pairing—the associated program will be assessed a $500 fine and risks losing judge preferences/strikes for the remainder of the tournament.
Judge Eligibility
- All judges must submit the 2024 TOC Digital Speech & Debate Honor Code and Video Release via Tabroom in advance (instructions here)
- Debate judges must post a paradigm on Tabroom before judge preferences/strikes open
- High-school students in grades 11–12 with extensive debate experience are eligible to serve as judges in the Rising Star divisions.
- Tournament staff have the right to dismiss any ineligible and/or unqualified judge, unless the judge is the program director or coach of record officially employed by that school
- Any violation of the tournament judge policies will result in a $500 fine to your program, loss of judge preferences/strikes, and potential sanctions at future UK Debate events
Participant Conduct
All participants, observers, and other guests attend the 2024 TOC Digital Speech & Debate Series at the invitation of the University of Kentucky, and must abide by all applicable rules in the tournament invitation and procedures, as well as those set by the University of Kentucky.
Participants—including coaches, competitors, and judges—certify that all entries, forms, and other materials submitted for the TOC Digital Speech & Debate Series are accurate and complete. Submission of any TOC Digital Speech & Debate Series-related materials grants permission to distribute and verify the information contained therein among TOC Digital Speech & Debate Series administrators, tournament staff, and/or UK Debate staff.
Honor Code
All participants must submit a signed PDF of the TOC Digital Speech & Debate Series Honor Code in advance. Only the .pdf file format is accepted; note that the honor code and media release are on ONE document.
Every individual must also review and abide by the tournament invitation and procedures documents posted on Tabroom, along with the honor code and relevant policies of your own school or program.
The TOC Digital Speech & Debate Series Honor Code conveys the significance and importance of competitive integrity to all members of our community, in the interest of maintaining the highest standards of conduct. Participants must act with dignity and respect, and refrain from undermining the integrity of speech and debate as an institution. Participants should neither seek, nor encourage others to seek unfair assistance or advantage in competition. All participants, including observers, are expected to act in good faith and preserve the competitive integrity of the TOC Digital Speech & Debate Series.
Pledge
As a participant in the TOC Digital Speech & Debate Series, I pledge not to lie, cheat, steal or otherwise undermine the fairness of the tournament. I understand that competitive integrity and fairness is important to all tournament participants, and I promise to uphold the highest standards of honesty and integrity in competition.
Media Release
All participants must submit a signed PDF of the TOC Digital Speech & Debate Series Media Release in advance. Only the .pdf file format is accepted; note that the honor code and media release are on ONE document.
This grants permission to live stream competition events, post recordings on third-party platforms (e.g. YouTube), and incorporate footage into future educational materials. If a participant is under 18 years of age, then a parent or legal guardian must also sign the form.
Procedures and Best Practices
Procedures and Best Practices Document
Entry Fees
One PF event and parent is judging $75
One PF event and parent is OPTING OUT of judging $210
One LD event and parent is judging $75
One LD event and parent is OPTING OUT of judging $295
One speech event and parent is judging $75
One speech event and parent is OPTING OUT of judging $150
Two speech events and parent is judging $100
Two speech events and parent is OPTING OUT of judging $200
Three speech events and parent is judging $125
Three speech events and parent is OPTING OUT of judging $250
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.
One PF event and parent is OPTING OUT of judging $210
One LD event and parent is judging $75
One LD event and parent is OPTING OUT of judging $295
One speech event and parent is judging $75
One speech event and parent is OPTING OUT of judging $150
Two speech events and parent is judging $100
Two speech events and parent is OPTING OUT of judging $200
Three speech events and parent is judging $125
Three speech events and parent is OPTING OUT of judging $250
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 - EST
Please note that all times will be in Eastern Time Zone (EST)
Click here to view the schedule for LD debate
Click here to view the schedule for PF debate
Click here to view the schedule for speech events
Click here to view the schedule for LD debate
Click here to view the schedule for PF debate
Click here to view the schedule for speech events
Drop FeeDrop 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 InfoVictor Rivas Umana
Contact email: [email protected] Nadia Budiman Contact email: [email protected] Or [email protected] |
Registration Form
Before you proceed with the registration below, make sure ALL STUDENTS AND JUDGES must fill out the form below. Failure to do so will result in the tournament dropping you without a refund. Students need to upload the filled out form below, while judges need to sign the form through their own Tabroom accounts. Instructions below.
HONOR CODE & MEDIA RELEASE FORM FOR STUDENTS
Click to download TOC Digital Speech & Debate Series #3 Honor Code & Media Release Form
HONOR CODE & MEDIA RELEASE FORM FOR STUDENTS
Click to download TOC Digital Speech & Debate Series #3 Honor Code & Media Release Form