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Spain Park High School presents THE RUBICON our First Annual Speech and Debate Tournament 4700 JAGUAR DR. HOOVER, AL 35242
Dear Colleagues:
You and your team are cordially invited to the 2011 "Rubicon" hosted by Spain Park High School in Hoover, Alabama, on November 11-12, 2011. Spain Park was host to the 2009 NFL National Tournament, and it will host again in the summer of 2013. We aim to please with our outstanding facilities, southern hospitality, experienced tabulation staff, and high caliber judging pool. We are fortunate to have members of the nationally ranked University of Alabama speech team and Samford University's debate team judging at our tournament. In addition, an impressive array of experienced debate coaches and area educators have pledged to serve as judges and tabulation staff. Please read the information below and follow the directions carefully to ensure a smoothly run tournament. Do not hesitate to contact us with any questions.
THIS TOURNAMENT HAS A TOC FINALS BID IN PUBLIC FORUM DEBATE
Looking forward to seeing you in Birmingham for the 2011 Rubicon!
Cheers,
Oliver Parker, Director of Forensics Sarah Kate Carter, Assistant Director
Contact Information:
Oliver Parker
School Phone: (205) 439-1400, ext. 7761 School Fax: (205) 439-1401 2011 Spain Park Rubicon GENERAL INFORMATION
ENTRY PROCEDURE The entry/drop deadline is Monday, November 7, 2011. No additions will be accepted after 5 pm on this date. Entries must be received through the Joy of Tournaments website.
TAB ROOM The Rubicon will be run with the TRPC tournament management program. It is important that all entry information is accurate and complete. Please email Oliver Parker at oparker@hoover.k12.al.us with the names of your judges by Friday, November 4, by 5:00 p.m.
We have an excellent and experienced tabroom staff including Jay Rye of Montgomery Academy, Jeff Roberts of Mountain Brook HS, Ben Osborne of Vestavia Hills HS, Jesse Dover President of the Alabama Forensic Educators Association, and Willie Warren of East Chapel Hill High School in North Carolina. Congress Parliamentarian will be Dr. Thomas Robert Ian Turnipseed of St. James School in Montgomery, AL.
The tabroom will be open and results will be posted between rounds. Coaches are encouraged to view ballots and judging comments between rounds in the ballot room. Judges are encouraged but not required to disclose decisions.
JUDGING RESPONSIBILITIES Every school must provide the first judge for each category entered. No half judges may be hired. *Novice Policy & Public Forum Debate--Each school must supply one judge for every two teams (1 or 2 teams = 1 judge; 3 or 4 teams = 2 judges, 5 or 6 teams = 3 judges, etc.) *Experienced Policy students with more than 250 NFL points may fulfill the judging requirement to in the Novice Policy Debate pool.
Lincoln-Douglas Debate and Individual Events – Each school must supply one judge for every four debaters (1-4 LD debaters = 1 judge; 5-8 LD debaters = 2 judges, etc.)
The school judges must be available for all preliminary rounds and at least one round past the point that your school has been eliminated from competition. For example, if your team loses in a semifinal round, your judges must be present for the finals. Judges may not switch ballots or judging assignments without permission from the tab room.
HIRED JUDGES It is strongly encouraged that schools bring enough policy judges to fulfill their requirement. My focus this year is on the novice policy pool. Experienced students with over 250 NFL Points may fulfill the judging requirement for the Novice Policy Pool. We have a very limited number of judges for hire, and they will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis with out-of-town schools given first preference. We would hate to deny anyone the opportunity to compete because of judging requirements. Therefore, hire judges early. You may not hire judges at registration.
We have a strong pool of judges in the IE, Public Forum, and Lincoln Douglas pools. However, each school should make every effort to find judges rather than pay the fee. I had much rather have the judges than the money. No student judges are permissible in these events
AWARDS We will continue the tradition that all students making elimination rounds will receive recognition. Speaker awards will also be given in each category. A sweepstakes winner for debate events and for individual events will be chosen separately. The overall sweepstakes winner will receive the Sweepstakes Award.
FEES General School Fee $25 (paid by all schools) Novice Policy Debate $35 per team L-D Debate $35 per entry Public Forum Debate $35 per team Individual Events $15 per entry Congress $10 per entry. These entries will not apply toward hired judging fee. Supplemental Debate $25 per school - you may enter competitors as you want. Number of entries will not apply toward hired judging fee. Hired judges - $200 policy, $150 PF and LD, $75 IE's All Checks should be made payable to Spain Park High School.
DROP FEES Use the Joy of Tournaments website to drop entries through Monday November 7 at 5 pm. There will be a $50.00 fee for every entry drop made after that time. These charges will be added to the original entry fees. There will be no charge if you substitute someone into the same slot. Schools trying to avoid this rule by just having "No Shows" in rounds will be ineligible for sweepstakes awards, and the school principal will be sent a bill for $50.00 for each "no show."
FOOD Lunch on Friday, Dinner on Friday night, breakfast on Saturday morning, and lunch on Saturday will be provided for each registered student. Students should bring cash to pay for meals and concessions. We will be providing a small snack bar for this year’s Rubicon. The snack bar will feature fruit, cookies, and other snack foods. We ask that you respect our building and fund-raising efforts by not bringing outside food into the school. A judges/coaches’ lounge with refreshments will be available throughout the tournament and all coaches and judges will be able to eat for free whenever food is served to the debaters.
*All competitors should remain in the building on Friday and Saturday; we will tighten the schedule if possible. Competitors should report to the school cafeteria between rounds.
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