WESTERN

WESTERN JV AND NOVICE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

13-14 March 2021

DEADLINE

10 March 2021
NO REFUNDS AFTER 24 FEBRUARY

ELIGIBILITY

Open to middle and high school students

PLATFORM

Online through NSDA Campus

Information

The Eighth Annual Western Championship
For Novice & Second Year Debaters

Debaters:
The Bay Area Urban Debate League is excited to invite you to The Eighth Annual Western Championship For Novice & Second Year Debaters. This year we will offer competition in Policy, Lincoln Douglas, and Public Forum Debate. There will be divisions in each event for Novice and Second Year competitors.

Our goal is to provide an opportunity for first and second year debaters to experience a spring championship tournament in an atmosphere that promotes learning and prepares the debaters for more advanced competition. The tournament will also support the Bay Area Urban Debate League, a non-profit organization that provides debate opportunities for hundreds of low-income public school students in the San Francisco Bay Area. By attending the Western Championship you will provide your students with an excellent competitive and educational experience, while also bringing debate opportunities to students who would not otherwise have them. For more information about the BAUDL, please see our website at www.baudl.org.

Though we normally hold the event at San Francisco State University, we will host it virtually on NSDA Campus this year. We understand that awards are important to young debaters, so we will be sending awards to all elim round participants (via their schools). Due to the challenges of shipping, this year's awards will be different from those of previous years (we expect to use mostly medals and plaques), but we will also be sending tournament swag to every participant. We'll also have a Facebook profile picture frame to allow participants to share that they are "at" the tournament.

We look forward to seeing you ONLINE this spring.

DIVISIONS
Novice -- Novices are in their first year of debate competition, regardless of the debate event.
JV -- These debaters are in their second year of debate competition, regardless of the debate event. We will also accept middle schoolers in their third year of competition in this division.

TOPICS
Policy will debate -- Resolved: The United States federal government should enact substantial criminal justice reform in the United States in one or more of the following: forensic science, policing, sentencing.
Public Forum will debate -- Resolved: On balance, the benefits of urbanization in West Africa outweigh the harms.
Lincoln Douglas will debate -- Resolved: States ought to ban lethal autonomous weapons.

JUDGE REQUIREMENTS
Judging Qualifications:
In keeping with the educational purpose of this event, schools are expected to provide qualified judges to cover their entries. The measure of a qualified judge is that individual’s ability to provide the debaters with a positive educational experience. Judges are expected to be able to explain their decisions to the debaters (in writing on the ballot or as an oral critique).

Judges should have experience as a coach and/or competitor in order to be able to provide valuable comments to the debaters. Very experienced varsity high school debaters in their junior or senior year are ideal judges. All judges are expected to comport themselves so as to provide a positive and educational experience for the debaters. All judges, including student judges, should have philosophies posted on tabroom.com. Failing to meet this standard will result in removal of judges from the judging pool.

The tournament will give awards to the best student judge.

Entry Price

One debate event and parent is judging $95
One debate event and NOT providing a judge $205

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 - PST

SATURDAY, MARCH 13
8:30 AM – Rd. 1
10:30 AM – Rd. 2
LUNCH BREAK
1:30 PM – Rd. 3
4:00 PM – Rd. 4

SUNDAY, MARCH 14
8:00 AM – Rd. 5
11:00 AM – Elim Round One*
LUNCH BREAK
2:30 PM – Elim Round Two*
5:00 PM -- Elim Round Three*
7:30 PM -- Elim Round Four*

*We will break only teams/debaters with winning records. We will not break all 3-2 records. We will attempt to roughly 1/3 of the participants. Elimination rounds will be expedited if possible. This is especially true for LD and PF, which may be single flighted in elimination rounds. For larger events, we may skip the final round and declare co-champions in order to maintain a humane schedule.

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

* Indicates required field

Student Name *

First

Last

Student Email (DO NOT USE PARENT'S EMAIL) *

Student Phone Number *

Does the student have a Tabroom account? *

Yes and it is linked with GSA's account(s) Yes but it is not linked and we need you to add to your roster No but I will create one before submitting registration No but I will pay the additional $35 setup fee

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

Parent Name *

First

Last

Parent Email *

Parent Phone Number *

EVENT SELECTION
No double entry in any events.

Partner Name (write N/A if none) *

First

Last

Choose your event *

Novice LD JV LD Novice PF JV PF

JUDGE PROVISION

Are you supplying a judge? *

Judge Name *

Judge email (Must be linked to a tabroom account. Register first at tabroom.com before completing this sign up) *

Judge phone *

Does your judge have a Tabroom account? *

Yes No but I will create one before submitting registration No but I'll pay the additional $35 setup fee Not judging

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 takes two minutes.

First time judging? Click here to learn how to do it! Or watch our Youtube playlist here.

Judges are REQUIRED to add 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". Failure to do this will result in your competitor being removed by the tournament organizers.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

I will keep a copy of this form for reference. *

YES

We are signing up with the understanding that my child will work to be ready by the tournament date. If we choose to drop out because my child is not ready that will be considered when making assessments for future classes. *

YES

I understand that if I fail to drop the tournament before the deadline that I will still be responsible for the fees of both my son or daughter, along with that of his or her partner and the fines. *

YES

I understand that if payment is not received we won't be registered and our spot will be given up to someone else. *

YES

I confirm that I have completed all necessary paperwork for this tournament. *

YES

I understand that The Golden State Academy has no control over tournament entries other than the initial sign up. I understand that my child's priority will be based on either the last time I signed up OR the date paid, whichever is latest. *

YES

I understand that my child must check in and check out periodically at the tournament with the coach and that if I do not my child will be barred from participating in following tournaments. This is to ensure coaches can see where students are at competitively and to give any initial feedback for improvement. *

YES

I understand that I can check my entry status through tabroom.com. *

YES

I am a consenting adult. I understand that by submitting this form I agree to all that has been covered. *

YES

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

Polygon Academy (Cupertino): 1025 S. DeAnza Blvd, San Jose, CA-95129

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

Loving Tree Academy: 36601 Newark Blvd, #83, Newark, CA 94560

WESTERN JV AND NOVICE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

13-14 March 2021

Information

​Entry Price

Schedule - PST

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

Entry Price

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