BC British Parliamentary Style Debate Championship

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Dear Participants, Judges, Volunteers, and Coaches,​

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The DSABC is pleased to invite you to attend the BC British Parliamentary Style Debate Championship.

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Special additions for our virtual events have been highlighted in pink.


Event Information:
Host Platform: Zoom Videoconferencing

Date: October 14 - 15th, 2021

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Top students from this tournament will advance to the Canadian National BP Debate Championships on November 18th - 20th, 2022 hosted in-person at Selwyn House School just outside of Montreal.

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Fees (non-refundable):

  • Competitors: $10/per team
     

Payments must be made online by the stage 2 registration deadline. Any schools failing to make payment by this time will forfeit their position to the next participant on the waitlist. Payment will open for schools once stage 1 is complete.
 

Registration Stages:

  • Stage 1 - Team Number Requests - Open until Wednesday, October 5th

    • Schools may request spots in each category up to a maximum of 6 teams total.

    • Each school may have no more than 4 teams in either category

    • We are able to accommodate up to 100 teams at this event. Spaces are first-come-first-served.

    • These numbers will be confirmed via email after the deadline, after which any waitlist spots will be allocated

    • Stage 1 Registration - Open Now
       

  • Stage 2 - Names of Teams and Judges - Will open on a rolling basis as Stage 1 Registration is received

    • Open until Tuesday, October 11th

    • All non-judging coaches/parents wishing to attend the finals and/or awards must also complete an "external observer" form or they will be removed from the Zoom Meeting without warning.

    • Judges who have additional conflicts of interest beyond their own school's students must complete the tournament conflict of interest form before the tournament begins.

    • DSABC membership must be renewed and 2022-23 dues paid in order to participate in stage 2 registration.

 

Tournament Categories:

Junior Category:

  • In accordance with the national guidelines for BP debate, this category is for students aged 15 and under.

    • The U-15 category is open only to students born ​after September 1st, 2007. ​

  • In order to compete in this age category, both debaters must meet these criteria.
     

Senior Category:

  • All high school students are eligible to compete in the Senior Category

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Tournament Format:​

  • 5 rounds of bracketed impromptu debate in British Parliamentary Style

  • All speeches will be 5-minutes.

  • Impromptu Senior and Junior finals will be held for the top 4 teams in each category.

  • All impromptu rounds will have different topics with 15 minutes of preparation time prior to each round.

  • Topics will be relevant to local or national politics, current events, and/or prevalent social or moral issues.

  • Hybrid teams are not permitted. Teams must comprise students from the same DSABC member school

  • 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 part of a school delegation or as an external observer 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. A full technical guide will be released after Stage 1 registration.

 

Judging Expectations:

  • Each school must provide at least one judge per two teams (rounded up) for the duration of the tournament. ​

  • Teams that do not supply a judge may be disqualified from the tournament.

  • All judges must be available for the duration of the tournament (not including finals) unless clearly indicated on the registration form that a different judge will be replacing an individual.

  • High school students cannot be used as judges for this event.

  • Judges must be at least 18 years old, fluent in English, comfortable using technology unassisted, and comfortable with following fast-paced speeches using moderate to high-level vocabulary.​

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Qualifications:

Junior Category

  • BC advances, on average, 3 junior teams to the Canadian National BP Debate Championships.

  • The top teams from the National Event will qualify for the ICYD (International Competition for Young Debaters), hosted by Oxford in 2023.

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Senior Category

  • BC advances, on average, 6 senior teams to the Canadian National BP Debate Championships.

  • The top teams from the National Event will qualify for one of two events; the Oxford Schools Debating Championship, or the Cambridge Schools Championship in 2023.

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Chaperone Policy

  • All students are required to have a school-approved "chaperone" online 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.

  • Senior students are not considered chaperones. 

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

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Schedule

Friday

4:00-4:30pm                       Online Registration in Main Zoom Room

4:30-5:30pm                        Judge Briefings (mandatory for all judges)

5:15pm                                Topic & Pairings released to debaters

5:15-6:30pm                        Round 1

6:30-7:15pm                        Dinner Break

7:15pm                                Topic & Pairings released to debaters

7:30-8:30pm                        Round 2 

 

Saturday

9:00-9:30am                       Online Registration in Main Zoom Room

9:45-10:45am                      Judges’ Briefing (mandatory for new judges - all judges welcome for a refresher)

10:30am                              Topic & Pairings released to debaters

10:45-11:45am                     Round 3 

12:15pm                              Topic & Pairings released to debaters

12:30-1:30pm                      Round 4 

1:30-2:15pm                        Lunch Break

2:15pm                               Topic & Pairings released to debaters

2:30-3:30pm                       Round 5 

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Judges are free to leave after round 5

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3:45pm                               Junior and senior finalists announced / motion released

4:00-5:00pm                      Public Junior and senior finals (all debaters, judges, coaches, parents invited) 

5:15-5:45pm                       Awards (all debaters, judges, coaches, parents invited)

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Tournament Contacts:

Anna Saint - Tournament Director: annasaint394@gmail.com

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© 2022 by Debate and Speech Association of British Columbia. Generously supported by the Law Foundation of BC