• Home
  • About
    • Meet Our Coaches
    • Why Speech and Debate
    • What is Speech and Debate? >
      • Speech Events
      • Debate Events
    • Why Golden State Academy
    • Tournament Photos
    • Tournament results
    • FAQ
  • Forms
  • Registration
    • Ohlone Spring 2023
    • MS/HS Spring 2023
    • Late MS/HS Spring 2023
    • Elementary Spring 2023
    • Private Coaching >
      • Speech Private Coaching
      • Debate Private Coaching
    • MS/HS Summer 2023
    • GSA Tournaments
  • Store
  • Blog
  • Career Opportunities
  • Newsletter
The Golden State Academy
  • Home
  • About
    • Meet Our Coaches
    • Why Speech and Debate
    • What is Speech and Debate? >
      • Speech Events
      • Debate Events
    • Why Golden State Academy
    • Tournament Photos
    • Tournament results
    • FAQ
  • Forms
  • Registration
    • Ohlone Spring 2023
    • MS/HS Spring 2023
    • Late MS/HS Spring 2023
    • Elementary Spring 2023
    • Private Coaching >
      • Speech Private Coaching
      • Debate Private Coaching
    • MS/HS Summer 2023
    • GSA Tournaments
  • Store
  • Blog
  • Career Opportunities
  • Newsletter

    NATIONAL SPEECH AND DEBATE SEASON OPENER

    10-12 September 2022

    DEADLINE
    26 August 2022
    NO REFUNDS ARE ALLOWED BY THE TOURNAMENT ORGANIZERS, SO PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU WILL BE ATTENDING
    ELIGIBILITY
    middle and high school students
    LOCATION
    Online

    Information

    Topics and Formats

    Debate Topics:
    • Lincoln-Douglas
      NSDA LD Sept/Oct Topic
      6-3-7-3-4-6-3 Speech Times | 4 Minutes of Preparation per Debater
    • Public Forum
      NSDA Sept/Oct 2022 Topic
      4-4-3-4-4-3-3-3-3-2-2 Speech Times | 3 Minutes of Preparation per Team
    • Congressional Debate
      Legislation: click here

    Speech Events:
    • Maximum 2 speech events per pattern and maximum 3 overall
    • Pattern A: Extemp, Humorous Interpretation, Informative, Program Oral Interp (not OI)
    • Pattern B: Dramatic Interpretation, Duo, Impromptu, Original Oratory


    Judging Obligations
    • 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. There will be specific penalties for missing a round when obligated.
    • ​The tournament will assess a $100/round penalty for judges who fail to appear on time for an assigned preliminary round.
    • LD, PF, & Policy: All judges are obligated through at least the last elimination round on Sunday, September 11, then one round beyond the elimination of any GSA student's last entry (so even if your child got eliminated earlier, as a judge you need to stick around until one round beyond the last GSA student gets eliminated).
    • Congress & Speech: All judges are obligated through the final round on Sunday, September 11.
    • On your Tabroom account, please make sure to add conflicts (your child's name or GSA) so that you won't get assigned to judge your own child.
    • Judges must be 18 or older.
    • Judges must submit the Honor Code and Video Release.
      Go to your tabroom.com account, click "Upcoming", click "Season Opener Honor Code and Video Release", select Yes, and Save Answers.


    Participant Conduct
    All participant, observers, and other guests attend the 2022 National Speech & Debate Season Opener 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 National Speech & Debate Season Opener-related materials grants permission to distribute and verify the information contained therein among National Speech & Debate Season Opener administrators, tournament staff, and/or UK Debate staff.


     
    Honor Code
    ​The Tournament of Champions serves as both a competitive and educational forum for the nation’s best debaters, coaches, and judges. As such, the Tournament encourages judge-debater interaction by making decision disclosures and giving oral critiques in all four debate divisions. Please submit your ballot on Tabroom before giving any post-round feedback.
     

    Education and Openness Policy 
    While the TOC is a competitive event, we strongly believe that it is an educational endeavor. Any sources read as evidence in round should be available to other competitors should they make a request for the citation after the evidence has been read.
     

    Permissions, verification, and conduct policy
    All debaters and guests that participate in the MSTOC at the invitation of the University of Kentucky and must abide by all rules established by this invitation, the TOC Tournament Procedures document, and any rules set by the University of Kentucky for online events.
     
    By submitting entry application information to the Tournament, both coaches and debaters certify that their applications are complete and reflect fully correct information. Submission of an entry grants permission for the information contained in the entry/application form to be distributed to TOC Tournament Officials, TOC tab room officials, and the University of Kentucky Debate staff. Permission is also granted for Tournament Officials (as just listed) to verify any information included on the application.

    ​Entry Price

    One PF event and parent is judging $115
    One PF event and parent is OPTING OUT of judging $230

    One LD event and parent is judging $125
    One LD event and parent is OPTING OUT of judging $350

    One Congress event and parent is judging $125
    One Congress event and parent is OPTING OUT of judging $195

    One speech event and parent is judging $125

    One speech event and parent is OPTING OUT of judging $195

    Two speech events and parent is judging $200

    Two speech events and parent is OPTING OUT of judging $275

    ​Three speech events and parent is judging $275
    Three speech events and parent is OPTING OUT of judging $375

    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)

    https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jHvElnjmJY4xOUiOp6s6HjXmnAwvQ_AZp3G6jQGpsQQ/edit?usp=sharing

    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

    Before you proceed with the registration below, make sure  ALL STUDENTS AND JUDGES  must fill out the forms below. Failure to do so will result in the tournament dropping you without a refund.

    HONOR CODE

    https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1GZB-9RmY5rEnEIHD-00dWrOetRuFOV35&export=download

    VIDEO RELEASE
    https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1CKxz1YaRwgqP-VADHjWrI1zeGvgHYNWw&export=download

    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

    Double entry policy:
    1. Students can only enter in speech OR debate.
    2. If competing in speech, students may enter in up to 3 events.
    Got any questions? Please email nbudiman@tgsastaff.com, info@tgsastaff.com, vrivasumana@tgsastaff.com
    BOTH partners must fill out form and pay in order to be registered!

    ​JUDGE PROVISION
    Judge Philosophies
    All judges must submit a judging philosophy to Tabroom.com (see instructions here). No entry will be considered complete until all affiliated judges have submitted a judge philosophy. This 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".


    Next, judges must submit the Honor Code and Video Release. Go to your tabroom.com account,
    • click "Upcoming"
    • click "Season Opener Honor Code and Video Release"
    • select Yes
    • and Save Answers

    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.​

    ​
    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: 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 
  • Home
  • About
    • Meet Our Coaches
    • Why Speech and Debate
    • What is Speech and Debate? >
      • Speech Events
      • Debate Events
    • Why Golden State Academy
    • Tournament Photos
    • Tournament results
    • FAQ
  • Forms
  • Registration
    • Ohlone Spring 2023
    • MS/HS Spring 2023
    • Late MS/HS Spring 2023
    • Elementary Spring 2023
    • Private Coaching >
      • Speech Private Coaching
      • Debate Private Coaching
    • MS/HS Summer 2023
    • GSA Tournaments
  • Store
  • Blog
  • Career Opportunities
  • Newsletter