BC British Parliamentary Style Debate Championship
Dear Participants, Judges, Volunteers, and Coaches,
The DSABC is pleased to invite you to attend the BC British Parliamentary Style Debate Championship to be held online for the very first time!
New additions for our virtual events have been highlighted in pink.
Event Information:
Host Platform: Zoom Videoconferencing
Date: October 16 - 17th, 2020
Top students from this tournament will advance to the Canadian National BP Debate Championships on November 20th - 22nd, 2020 hosted online by the Alberta Speech and Debate Association.
Fees (non-refundable):
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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.
Registration Stages:
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Stage 1 - Team Number Requests - Open until Monday, October 5th
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Schools may request spots in each category up to a maximum of 6 teams total.
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Each school may have no more than 4 teams in either category
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We are able to accommodate up to 100 teams at this event. Spaces are first-come-first-served.
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These numbers will be confirmed via email after the deadline, after which any waitlist spots will be allocated
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Stage 2 - Names of Teams and Judges - Will open Wednesday, October 7th
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Open until Wednesday, October 14th
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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.
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DSABC membership must be renewed and 2020-21 dues paid in order to participate in stage 2 registration.
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Tournament Categories:
Junior Category:
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In accordance with the national guidelines for BP debate, this category is for students aged 15 and under.
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The U-15 category is open only to students born after September 1st, 2005.
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In order to compete in this age category, both debaters must meet this criteria.
Senior Category:
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All high school students are eligible to compete in the Senior Category
Tournament Format:
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5 rounds of bracketed impromptu debate in British Parliamentary Style
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See example videos and style guides here: https://www.bcdebate.ca/debateguides
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All speeches will be 5-minutes
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Impromptu Senior and Junior finals will be held for the top 4 teams in each category.
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All impromptu rounds will have different topics with 15 minutes of preparation time prior to each round.
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Topics will be relevant to local or national politics, current events, and/or prevalent social or moral issues.
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Hybrid teams are not permitted. Teams must comprise students from the same DSABC member school
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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.
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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:
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Each school must provide at least one judge per two teams (rounded up) for the duration of the tournament.
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Teams that do not supply a judge may be disqualified from the tournament.
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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.
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High school students cannot be used as judges for this event.
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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.
Qualifications:
Junior Category
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BC may advance up to 3 junior teams to the Canadian National BP Debate Championships.
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The top teams from the National Event will qualify for the ICYD (International Competition for Young Debaters), hosted by Cambridge University in 2021.
Senior Category
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BC may advance up to 6 senior teams to the Canadian National BP Debate Championships.
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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 2021.
Chaperone Policy
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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.
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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.
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Senior students are not considered chaperones.
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All adults acting as chaperones are expected to uphold the DSABC Code of Ethics.
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
Judges are free to leave after round 5
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)
Tournament Contacts:
Jack Bacon - DSABC President: dsabcpresident@gmail.com
Jacqueline Belzberg - LMW Regional Coordinator: jacquelinebelzberg@gmail.com