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Dear Coaches and Competitors:
 
The DSABC is pleased to invite you to attend our annual BC Qualifiers Tournament. Three students from this competition will be chosen to represent our province at the Team Canada Tryouts in 2026. This tournament will be held online to ensure we have access to high-quality Worlds judging.

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Event Information:
Host Platform: Zoom Videoconferencing

Date: March 7, 2026

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Registration & Fees:

• Student Registration Form: Complete this form to confirm your attendance (link emailed to you). 

  • Deadline: December 14, 11:59 PM. 

• Registration Fee: $70 per student

  • This fee will go towards hiring qualified independent adjudicators for the event.​ If it poses a barrier to your attendance at this event, please contact dsabcpresident@gmail.com to request a fee reduction 

  • Fees can be paid here.

 
Debate Format:
Students will compete in the World School Debating Championship (WSDC) Format. All rounds will be impromptu with one hour of preparation time. All students will complete each speaker position once, meaning they will deliver one first (and reply), one second, and one third speech.

 

​At this event, students are given a speaker score and rank in each room but there is no team win/loss recorded. The three students with the highest speaker score average at the end of the three rounds will advance to Team Canada Tryouts. If there is a tie, their average rank in rounds will be used as a tie-breaking metric. If there is still a tie, speaker score standard deviation will be used as a secondary tie-breaking metric. 

While a briefing will be sent to students ahead of time, we recommend that students familiarize themselves with the style prior to the tournament. A short briefing from an external resource is available here: https://www.esu.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Introduction-to-World-Schools-format-guide.pdf. There are also resources available on the WSDC's website: https://www.wsdcdebating.org/services-4. 

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All attendees (debaters, chaperones, and adjudicators) must follow DSABC policies, including those concerning ethics and conflicts of interest. ​

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Chaperone & Observer Policy:

• All students are required to have a school-approved "chaperone" reachable by phone at all times. The DSABC accepts no liability for any student left unsupervised at any DSABC-sponsored event, whether online or in-person.

• A chaperone can be a coach, teacher sponsor or parent/guardian who is authorized by their child’s school and is willing to take on all chaperone-related responsibilities.

• All adults acting as chaperones are expected to uphold the DSABC Code of Ethics.

• No observers will be permitted at this event.

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Online-Specific Details:

• The Zoom Meeting will be password-protected for the security of all participants. Screen-sharing will be disabled at all times. Any individual found in the Zoom Meeting who is not registered as a competitor or judge will be removed from the meeting immediately and without warning.

• All participants (and judges) must have access to a device with a working microphone and camera for the duration of the tournament. 

• Students will not be permitted to use any external resources throughout the event. All notes must be written on paper, and students will be expected to keep their cameras and microphones on during preparation time.

• During rounds, students will be able to communicate with their teammates via a monitored Zoom chatroom created by the tournament organizers. All students must have the Zoom app downloaded on their device and updated to access this feature.

• Any student found cheating will be disqualified from the tournament.

Schedule:

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Saturday, March 7th, 2026
8:30-8:50 AM - Debater Registration on Zoom 

9:00-10:00 AM - Preparation for Round 1                  
9:30-9:45 AM - Judge Registration

9:45-10:00 AM - Judge Announcements                                         
10:00-11:30 AM - Round 1 and Feedback                                                  
11:30-12:00 PM - Lunch Break      

12:00-1:00 PM - Preparation for Round 2

1:00-2:30 PM - Round 2 and Feedback

2:30-2:45 PM - Break

2:45-3:45 PM - Preparation for Round 3

3:45-5:15 PM - Round 3 and Feedback

5:30 PM - Advancing students announced                                                                                   
 

Tournament Contacts:

dsabcpresident@gmail.com
 

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