Dear Participants, Judges, Volunteers, and Coaches, 

​The DSABC is pleased to invite you to attend the Lower Mainland South Regional Debate Qualifier.

 

Event Information:

Date of event: Saturday, January 28th, 2023

Location: R.E. Mountain Secondary School (7633 202a St, Langley, BC)

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The DSABC is monitoring public health restrictions closely. Should circumstances change, this event may be moved online. An online event would be held using the same schedule as what is indicated here. 

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Top students from this tournament will advance to the Law Foundation Cup. 

Fees (non-refundable): TBD. Fees will be determined after Stage 1 registration (it will likely range between $80-100/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. Cash/Cheques are not accepted under any circumstances.

 

Registration Forms:

Team Requests (Stage 1 Registration)

This is open until December 17 at 11:59 PM. Stage 2 registration will open on Dec 20 and close Jan 13 at 11:59 PM. One form per school please. Schools may request up to 6 teams (up to 4 teams in one category). Further requests will be put on the waitlist. 
Team Registration Form

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Independent Judges

This form is for any independent judges. Judges that will be judging to fill a team’s obligation should not fill this form out. 
Independent Judge Registration Form

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Volunteers

Each volunteer should fill this form out individually please. 
Volunteer Registration Form

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Observers

Observers may watch rounds with the consent of the students. They may not record rounds and must not interfere with debates  (i.e., observers should not talk to the debaters and judge during the round). 
Observer Registration Form

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Attendance Requirements:

DSABC policy requires that debaters must have attended at least one debate competition over the past year to be eligible to compete in Regionals. Pizza debates with a minimum of 2 rounds can be included. Schools are responsible for ensuring that this requirement has been met. If a team is unable to meet this requirement, please reach out to the LMS coordinator, Gabrielle Wong (gabriellewong123@gmail.com).

Judging Expectations:

• Each team must provide at least one judge for the duration of the tournament. Teams that do not supply a judge may be disqualified from the tournament

• Important: As we know from the past two years, people can become ill or otherwise unavailable to judge on short notice. Please try to ensure your school/teams have backup/alternate judges in the event of illness. We cannot guarantee that teams that do not provide a judge will be able to compete and/or advance to provincials. 

• Judges must be 18+, fluent in English and comfortable with following fast-paced speeches using moderate to high-level vocabulary. 

  • All Debate and Speech Association of British Columbia (DSABC) events require that all schools and adjudicators in attendance judges and students disclose all real and perceived conflicts of interests to the DSABC board and tournament organizers (as outlined in the DSABC Code of Ethics). A Conflict of Interest is a situation in which a person has a private or personal interest sufficient to appear to influence the objective exercise of their official duties. Real conflicts of interests are instances of a close relationship between a debater and judge where there is a potential of both actual and implicit bias. (Eg. family members, family friends, debate coaches, teachers, etc.) Perceived conflicts of interests are instances where there is a perception that a person's ability to exercise their role was or will be affected by his or her private interest. (Eg. working at a school the student attends, receiving compensation from a debate academy that the student attends, paid to judge on behalf of an institution etc.)

  • It is the responsibility of both schools and judges to disclose these conflicts of interests before the tournament begins and/or when it is requested by the tournament organizer (we will release a clash form for judges to do this). Failure to do so will result in consequences at the discretion of the DSABC board. 

• All judges are already automatically scratched from debaters from their institution.

 

Tournament Format:

• Senior Debaters (Grades 10,11,12)

  • 2 rounds of unbracketed prepared debate in Cross-Examination Style

  • 2 rounds of bracketed impromptu debate in Canadian National Debate Format

  • Impromptu Senior Final in Canadian National Debate Format for the top 2 teams

• Junior Debaters (Grades 7,8,9)

  • 2 rounds of unbracketed prepared debate in Cross-Examination Style 

  • 2 rounds of bracketed impromptu debate in Canadian National Debate Format

  • Debaters in Grade 8 and below will be eligible for Novice awards

 

Prepared Rounds 

Prepared rounds will be conducted in Cross-Examination Style.
Junior Motion: to be released once stage 1 registration is complete. 

Senior Motion: to be released once stage 1 registration is complete. 

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Impromptu Rounds
All impromptu rounds will have different topics with 30 minutes of preparation time prior to each round. Topics will be relevant to local or national politics, current events and policy discussions, and/or prevalent social or moral issues.

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Advancement and Qualification

• Students may compete in categories above their grade level but not below.

• All categories will advance to the BC Debate Provincial Championship (Law Foundation Cup) in teams based on their win/loss record and average speaker score

  • Students in Grades 7, 8, 9 who compete in the Junior category are eligible for qualification to the Junior Debate Nationals from the Law Foundation Cup.

  • Students in Grade 10, 11 or 12 who compete in the Senior category are eligible for qualification to the Senior Debate Nationals from the Law Foundation Cup

 

Chaperone Policy

• All students are required to have a school-approved chaperone 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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Tentative Schedule (subject to change):

Saturday, January 28th, 2023

8:00 - 8:30.             Registration
9:00 - 10:00            Debater and Judge’s Briefing
10:00 - 11:00           Prepared Round 1
11:30 - 12:30            Prepared Round 2
12:30 - 1:15              Lunch 
1:15                         Round 3 Impromptu Motion Released
1:45 - 3:00               Round 3
3:15                         Round 4 Impromptu Motion Released
3:45 - 5:00              Round 4
5:00 - 5:30              Break
5:30 - 6:00              Senior Finalists Announced - Prep Time
6:00 - 7:00             Senior Finals
7:15 - 7:45              Awards and Qualifiers

 

For any further questions about this event, please contact the LMS regional coordinator, Gabrielle Wong (gabriellewong123@gmail.com). We look forward to seeing you there!

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