The Kennebunk High School Debate Team is pleased to invite you to The Prelude Persuasion All Events Tournament on December 14 2019.

Registration deadline:  Wednesday, December 11 at 11:55 p.m.
Judge hire request deadline: Wednesday, December 11 at 8:00 p.m.
Judge entry deadline:  Friday, Dec 13 at 8:00 p.m.
Fees and judge obligations frozen (nonrefundable):  Friday, Dec 13 at 11:00 p.m.
Drop deadline:  Saturday, December 14 at 7:00 a.m.
Nuisance fees for drops applied:  Saturday, December 14 at 8:00 a.m.  

Any questions, please contact Tom Macisso, Tournament Director, by email, phone, or text: [email protected], cell or text:  207 229 8946.

Registration

Registration must be completed through Tabroom.com by 11:55 p.m. Wednesday, December 11.

Entry Fees

• $7.00 per entry (New schools $3.50)
• Teams (Duo and PF) are two entries ($14)

Entry fees will not be capped for this tournament.

Drops

Drops and changes will be accepted until Saturday, December 14 at 8:00 a.m. Invoices will be prepared at that time. Late add requests are not encouraged and will be accepted only at the discretion of the tournament host. Drops after this time will be assessed an additional charge of $10 per entry.

Call or text the MFA hotline (207-370-4632) Saturday morning once you are en route to the tournament to confirm your team and judge attendance. Drops communicated prior to arrival will be waived the $10 penalty.

Events

• LD: 3 levels, if numbers allow
• PF: 2 levels, if numbers allow
• Congressional Debate: Senate and House, as needed
• Speech: All Maine State Tournament categories

Event/division definitions

Novice level is for students competing in their first year of high school forensics (i.e. first year competitors). Note that Oratorical Declamation is limited to freshmen and sophomore students only.

Junior varsity level is primarily for second-year competitors, but also first year competitors who have enjoyed success.

Varsity level is for competitors with more than one year of experience who wish to try a higher level of competition.

Maverick in Public Forum Debate is a single-person team. A maverick WILL NOT be allowed at this tournament.

Debate Topics

LD resolution

Resolved: The United States ought to eliminate subsidies for fossil fuels.

PF resolution

Resolved: The benefits of the United States federal government’s use of offensive cyber operations outweigh the harms.

Congress

The docket will be posted no later than one week prior to the tournament.

Judge Requirements

Help the meet run smoothly and fairly by supplying your required, trained judges, including unaffiliated, in accordance with MFA rules.

Note judge conflicts or shadow needs in your judge registration on Tabroom.com. Email the tournament host for any complex judge situations. Remember a parent cannot judge the category in which their child is competing.

Fractional entries round up (i.e. three LD entries = 2 judges). Third, fifth, and seventh judge must be neutral/unaffiliated for Speech, LD, PF.

• LD: one judge for every 2 LD entries
• PF: one judge for every 2 teams
• Speech or Congressional Debate: one judge for every 5 entries

Judges are expected to be available for ALL rounds of competition. Fines will be assessed for judges departing early unless cleared through Tabulation.

Hiring Judges

There will be a limited number of extra judges available for hire. Fees for purchasing judges will be $60 per judge.

Have all your judges finalized by 7:00 p.m. Friday, December 13. Submit requests to hire judges via Tabroom.com by Wednesday, December 11.

If you have extra judges feel free to broker them over the coaches’ list serv or contact the tournament host. The host will release any unhired judges by 8:00 p.m., Friday, December 14.

Online balloting

While paper ballots will be available, we are encouraging all judges to participate in online balloting through Tabroom.com. To participate, judges must:

• Have an account on Tabroom.com that is linked to your school’s judge list.
• Bring their own device for indicating their adjudications and comments.

To read ballots at the end of the day, students should also have an account linked to your team on Tabroom.com.

Food

Students: Breakfast items, lunch and snacks will be on sale for students in the cafeteria. Students should not leave the school at any point during the tournament day.

Coach and judges: Complementary breakfast, lunch and afternoon snacks will be provided for coaches and judges.

Awards

Sweeps: Top three places in Speech, Debate, and Congressional Debate

Individual awards for first through third in each category, and honorable mention as determined by Tab.

Note that ties in record will be broken first by MFA guidelines.

Tabulation of awards follows standards adopted by MFA.

Schedule

8:00-8:30 Registration (arrive early, please)
8:35 Judges meeting in Judges’ Lounge; Student meeting in Cafeteria
9:00 Rounds begin following briefings
5:00 Awards (sooner if possible)

Accommodations

We aim to make competition accessible and welcoming to all who wish to participate. Tournament participants can find gender-neutral accommodations at Kennebunk High School, 1st Floor, B Wing.  

Coaches or students should reach out to the tournament host to request gender-neutral or ADA accommodations.

Directions

89 Fletcher St., Kennebunk, Maine which will be linked to Google Maps. 

NOTE: Find the school’s main entrance and parking lot in the rear of the building.