WINTER CUP​

    14-15 December 2024

    DEADLINE
    7 Dec 2024
    NO REFUNDS AFTER THIS DATE
    ELIGIBILITY
    Open to 5th-12th graders
    ​PF debate only
    PLATFORM
    Online through NSDA Campus

    Information


    Eligibility
    • Entirely online, through NSDA Campus.
    • Middle School Public Forum: All entries must contain students that are in the 4th to 8th grade during the 2024-25 school year. 
    • High School Public Forum: All entries must contain students that are in the 9th to 12th grade during the 2024-25 school year. 
    • Maverick entries are accepted at the Winter Cup. Judges should not drop a solo debater purely on the basis that they are debating by themself. Likewise, judges should not vote for a team specifically because they are debating by themself.


    Where will partial entry fees be donated?
    Founded in 1979, Feeding America is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that fights food insecurity throughout America and beyond. Their network constitutes more than 200 foodbanks, serving 46 million people nationwide. Every dollar donated can provide at least 10 meals to families in need. 
    Learn more at https://www.feedingamerica.org/
    ​
     
    PF Rules & Conduct:

    Speech times:     4-4-3-4-4-3-3-3-3-2-2 (3 minutes of prep time)

    Topic:     NSDA November-December 2024 Topic
    Resolved: The United States should substantially reduce its military support of Taiwan.

    In all rounds, flip for side and order through Tabroom coinflip.

    Tech Time:     Each team will be allotted 10 minutes of tech time. As soon as a technical issue that impedes the round occurs, tech time will begin. If more than 10 minutes pass, it is a tech time failure resulting in forfeiture. In that case, please email us at [email protected] to report it.

    Evidence:     Competitors must bring copies of all sources, including the full context of the citation. Upon request, competitors must make these sources available to their opponent(s) and judge, whether during or after the round. Debate entries failing to do so may be disqualified at the tournament’s discretion. Evidence challenges will match standard NSDA rules. In the case of a round terminating evidence challenge, please email [email protected] to report it.
    Forfeiture: Teams more than 10 minutes late to round will automatically forfeit. Please email [email protected] to report forfeits. Judges may not enter forfeits or byes under their own account.
    Walkovers: In the case that two teams from the same school hit one another, the higher-seeded team will advance. In certain cases, the school can request for the teams to debate each other with a single judge.
    Illness: If a debater becomes sick during the tournament, a school representative should contact the tournament staff. The non-ill debater will be permitted to debate in future rounds by themselves, including into the elimination bracket. In this case, judges will be instructed to provide the same speaker score to both the ill and non-ill debater.
    Elim Rounds: We will break all 3-1s and 4-0s. Depending on the pool size, some 2-2s may clear. Ties will be broken based on record, adjusted points, total points, double-adjusted points, judge variance, opponent wins, and flip of a coin, in that order.


    Judging Information:
    Obligations
    Judges must be available for all preliminary rounds, the first elimination round (likely octos), and one round past the round that their program’s last team drops in. For example, if no teams from a school break, then that school’s judges are obligated to adjudicate the first two elimination rounds. If a judge is not available for their full obligation, their program will be assessed a fee of $30 per uncovered round.

    Expectations
    Judges are expected to show up to their rounds 15 minutes before the start time. They are expected to submit their ballot within 75 minutes of start. If the judge fails to be timely, their school will be fined $150.
    Even if the judge does not receive a ballot for a particular round, they must remain on standby. You may be used as a “substitute” if another judge does not show up to their round. Failure to appear for stand assignments is viewed akin to failing to go to a regularly assigned round and will be assessed the same fees.
    Qualifications
    Here at The Winter Cup, our philosophy is that every judge you provide should be highly qualified. Highly qualified means your judge is a trained individual, who will actively listen to each debater’s arguments and carefully decide the round. The judge should be present at their computer and listen to all statements made by competitors. The judge should not leave their computer mid-round or become unresponsive midway through.
    In order to judge in the HS division, the judge must have obtained, at minimum, a high school diploma. There are no exceptions to this rule.
    In order to judge in the MS division, the judge must be at least a HS student. Preferably, a high school judge should have substantial competitive experience or success in debate. 
    If a judge has been deemed unqualified, they will be promptly removed from the pool and their program fined $150. Unfortunately, even in the event in which a judge is deemed unqualified, the tournament cannot change the prior decisions made by that judge.
    Conflicts
    A judge conflict occurs when a debater has a personal or professional relationship with the judge prior to the round. This would make it difficult for the judge to decide the round impartially. Judge conflicts must be disclosed; non-disclosure of judge conflicts is an ethical concern and creates competitive imbalances. 
    In the event that a judge and/or competitor reports a conflict after the pairing is distributed, the associated program will be assessed a $250 fine. In the event that a conflict is willingly ignored and taken advantage of, the affiliation of that entry will be assessed a $500 fine and risk all future tournament prospects. 
    Training
    If you are a new judge, please watch “    How to Enter a Tabroom Ballot” (~6 minutes). While Tabroom has changed since the publication of this video, we still find it helpful.
    In addition, there are many YouTube videos of actual debate rounds. We encourage you to watch them and practice judging said round. Please find more resources below under the judge information section on the registration form.
    Judging Practices
    We encourage, but do not require, judges to write a paradigm on Tabroom. This helps competitors and makes the round as accessible as possible.
    ​Judges do not need to disclose their decision for prelim rounds, but it is strongly encouraged. On the other hand, the last-submitting judge must disclose the winner of an elimination round. Each judge should then provide a brief oral “RFD” (reason for decision).


    NSDA Campus:

    Recording: To improve the quality of the round itself, all involved participants (competitors, judges, etc.) should turn their videos on. If a participant must remain off-camera due to internet issues or to enhance streaming quality, they should notify others. Moreover, for the privacy and protection of all, any recording of speeches is strictly prohibited. In some cases, a student may record their own speech via voice memo, but should promptly end the recording afterwards.
    Alternate Platforms: For the safety of all, no rounds may switch to an alternative video platform other than NSDA Campus. If there is a technical issue with the software, please contact the tournament staff. The tournament will provide specific, tournament-monitored Zoom rooms for such rounds.


    Code of Conduct:
    The Winter Cup is committed to maintaining a healthy work environment, where no participant or judge is discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, ethnic origin, age, physical disability, sexual orientation, ancestry, place of birth, or other aspect of identity.

    All participants should:

    • Act with dignity and respect towards others, refraining from undermining the integrity of speech and debate as an institution.
    • Act in good faith and preserve the competitive integrity of the Winter Cup.
    • Follow all instructions of tournament officials and Tabroom staff to the best of their abilities.

    All participants should not:

    • Seek, nor encourage others to seek, assistance from others or any unfair advantage in competition.
    • Harass or bully others, including creating safety and security risks for other competitors.

    Overall, our participants must uphold moral values. If an instance of discrimination, harassment, or similar arises, an adult should fill out this form.

    ​Entry Price

    One debate event and parent is judging $105
    One debate event and parent is OPTING OUT OF judging $220

    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

    Please pay attention to the time zones.

    Click the link below to see the schedule.
    docs.google.com/document/d/1Jy3A6wfauLZnIf4CMvK2V27pXPWnyOBWiq2-9HBNZw0/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:  [email protected]
    Nadia Budiman 
    Contact email: [email protected]
    Or [email protected]

    Registration Form

    STUDENT INFORMATION
    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
    Divisions may get combined if entries are too small.​
    ​JUDGE PROVISION
    Another PF tournament has created these easy-to-use PF judging guidelines and powerpoint. Please take a look at both of them if this is your first time judging.
    PF Judging Guidelines
    PF Judging Slides

    ​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.​

    ​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: [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​​