WESTERN

WESTERN JV NOVICE CHAMPIONSHIP

7-8 March 2026

DEADLINE

24 Feb 2026
NO REFUNDS ALLOWED

ELIGIBILITY

Open to middle and high school students

LOCATION

In-person at City College of San Francisco
50 Frida Kahlo Way, San Francisco, CA 94112
https://maps.app.goo.gl/vv6z9fa33kjwDMVx6

Information

The Twelfth Annual Western Championship
for Novice & Second Year Debaters
March 7-8, 2026

Coaches and Debaters:

The Bay Area Urban Debate League is excited to invite you to The Tenth Annual Western Championship for Novice & Second Year Debaters. The tournament will be held IN PERSON at City College in San Francisco. 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.

We are also providing lunch for competitors and judges on Saturday and Sunday.

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.

We look forward to seeing you in San Francisco this spring.

TOPICS

We will use the NSDA February topic in PF.
Resolved: The Federal Trade Commission should establish a federal regulatory framework for sports betting.
We will use the NSDA Jan/Feb topic in LD.
Resolved: The possession of nuclear weapons is immoral.

DIVISIONS

NOVICE
The Novice Division is intended for beginners. Students may enter this division if they are in their first year of competition (including middle school competition). They may also enter this division if they have competed for more than one year, but have attended no more than 6 tournaments total (including this school year).
JUNIOR VARSITY
This division includes debaters with one or more years of competitive experience who are high school freshman or sophomores (or middle schoolers). It can also include second year competitors who are juniors in high school (having started as sophomores).

JUDGE REQUIREMENTS

Judging Qualifications:
In keeping with the educational purpose of this event, schools are expected to provide qualified judges. 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.
All judges are expected to comport themselves so as to provide a positive and educational experience for the debaters.
All judges should have philosophies posted on tabroom.com. Failing to meet this standard will result in removal of judges from the judging pool.
Judges must be available on both days. You won't be released from duties until one round past the round when the last GSA student gets eliminated. So a GSA student made it until semifinals, you must judge finals, even if your own child had gotten eliminated in prelims.

Entry Price

IN-PERSON debate event and parent is judging $125
IN-PERSON debate event and parent is OPTING OUT OF JUDGING $285

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 - PST

Rounds will be expedited as possible on Sunday.

Saturday, March 7
7:45 AM Arrival
8:00 AM First Round Published
8:30 AM Rd. 1
10:30 AM Rd. 2
1:15 PM Rd.3
4:00 PM Rd. 4

Sunday, March 8
7:30 AM First Round Published
8:00 AM Rd. 5
11:00 AM All Debate Elim 1
1:00 PM PF/LD Elim 2
3:00 PM PF/LD Elim 3
5:00 PM PF/LD Elim 4
Remaining elims will be completed online if needed.

Although the tentative schedule lists the start and end times, please keep in mind that there are various factors that may arise during a tournament that can cause rounds to be delayed. Therefore, if you are signing up for this tournament, please make sure you do not double book yourselves on these dates. Keep your schedule open and DO NOT leave the tournament without notifying the GSA chaperones first.

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: [email protected]
Nadia Budiman
Contact email: [email protected]
Or [email protected]

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

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.

Parent Name *

First

Last

Parent Email *

Parent Phone Number *

EVENT SELECTION

Partner Name (write N/A if none) *

First

Last

Choose your event *

In-person Novice LD In-person JV LD In-person Novice PF In-person JV PF

JUDGE PROVISION

Are you (parent) going to be judging at this tournament? *

Judge Name *

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

Judge phone *

Have you entered your judging paradigm/philosophy on your Tabroom account? (this tournament requires it) *

Yes Not judging

Does your judge have a Tabroom account? *

Yes No but I will create one before submitting registration Not judging

Does your judge understand that he/she is responsible for the entire tournament schedule and that missing a round incurs fines from the tournament? *

Yes, understood Not judging but understood as well

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?
This is a great collection of short videos that one of the leagues have put together to learn each event: click here.
There are also these training cards available that include a summary of each event's rules and comments.
Click here to find other training and official certification resources. Or watch our Youtube playlist here.

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

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 and take me 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: [email protected]

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

Dublin: Loving Tree Academy, 6693 Owens Dr, Pleasanton, CA 94588

WESTERN JV NOVICE CHAMPIONSHIP

7-8 March 2026

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!