INVITATION

We are delighted to invite you to the Berkeley International Parliamentary Debate Invitational, our seventh annual tournament. It will be held online on Saturday, January 27, and Sunday, January 28, 2024. For the last two years, it has been the largest high school parliamentary tournament of the year, and has hosted teams from six US states, five Canadian provinces, and China! We look forward to once again hosting teams from every part of the parli community and offering an international topic committee!

Location

The tournament will be entirely online. Saturday preliminary rounds will be hosted on NSDA campus, an online platform that requires an account on tabroom.com. There are instructional videos for students and judges. Sunday elimination rounds will be on Zoom.

Format

Unless specifically noted, we will follow National Parliamentary Debate League Online Round Rules. American parliamentary debate features two 2-person teams in a round, with twenty minutes prep time. Internet research is allowed during prep time, but once the round starts, the Internet may be used only for communication with other round participants, note taking, and accessing notes prepared during prep time.

Partner prep only.

All rounds in all divisions will follow 788845 speech times. Any grace period is in the discretion of the judge, and should be clarified before the round.

This tournament has been autoapproved for NPDL points.

Eligibility

This tournament is open to high school and middle school (grades 6-8) students.

Both members of a novice team must be in their first year competing in any debate event. A coach may, in their discretion, enter a middle school student in novice if the student is in the second year of competition and has not broken to elimination rounds at a tournament. The JV division is intended for students who are too experienced to qualify for novice (often second-year debaters), but would benefit from competing in a division that does not include the most experienced debaters. Coaches may place any student in the JV and Open divisions at their discretion.

Registration

Register on Tabroom. No school fee. The entry fee is $65/team for Novice, $75/team for JV, and $80/team for Open. Adds and drops should be made by January 22, 2024 at 5 pm PST; after that, drops are non-refundable. There will be a nuisance fee of $25 for changes (other than names) after that date, and for any changes within 24 hours of the tournament. Payment must be received by January 22.

Do not mail checks to Berkeley High School: they will lose your money. Please follow payment procedures on the invoice.

Fee waivers are available based on need.

In order to use the virtual platform on Saturday, competitors and judges must have tabroom.com accounts, which must be linked to their tournament registration. NSDA Campus Instructions can be found in the sidebar.

All schools must be registered with an adult contact/virtual chaperone who can be reached by phone during the tournament.

Judges

One judge covers two teams. The fee is $125 per uncovered entry.

All judges must have Tabroom accounts including mobile phone numbers.

The tournament will follow Judge Conflict rules, which are found in Article XI.7 of the NPDL Legislative Code. If a judge proceeds to judge a round despite a conflict, it may result in a forfeit for the advantaged team.

Judges are obligated to judge through the round after the elimination of the last team from their school.

Independent and Hybrid Entries

All entries should be registered under the name of the school they attend, if possible. Hybrids should be registered under both schools. Exceptions will require written permission from the head coach of any affected school. No independent entries are permitted from a school that is entering teams under the school’s name, absent unusual circumstances.

Any exceptions to these policiesshould be discussed with tournament staff beforehand.

Equity

There will be an equity officer at the tournament. Procedures for reporting discrimination or harassment will be announced before the tournament.

Any concerns about any aspect of the tournament can also be directed to tournament staff, before, during, or after the tournament.

Misc. Information

Topics, schedule updates, and other announcements during the tournament will be made through a Google Doc.

Please check regularly, as the schedule may be adjusted as the day progresses.

Feel free to email us using the link in the sidebar with questions and comments.

Thank you,

Berkeley High Speech and Debate

http://berkeleyhs.tabroom.com