Congressional Debate Logistics
Rules/Procedures:
The Minneapple uses NFL rules established for Congressional Debate, which includes 3-minute speeches, 2 minutes of questioning following the sponsor's speech and first negative speech, and 1 minute of questioning following all other speeches on each legislation. Chambers will be kept small (12-18 students) to ensure all students have equal opportunity to debate. All other NFL rules on procedure will be in effect, including precedence and recency for speaker recognition.
Legislation:
Participating schools wishing to submit legislation must do so by 3 p.m. CDT, Friday, October 8, 2010. There is no limit to quantity of legislation from a school, but no more than one bill/resolution may be submitted per debater. Legislation may be rejected at the discretion of tournament staff, primarily to avoid redundant topics. The docket of selected legislation will be posted on the tournament Web site by 3 p.m., Friday, October 15.
Advancement and Elimination Rounds:
The Minneapple will advance students to each elimination round based on cumulative rank totals from judges, using NFL tournament procedures for tabulating ranks: ties broken on judges' preference, reciprocals, drop-high low adjusted rank total, adjusted judges' preference, adjusted reciprocals, and parliamentarian's ballot. If the field is sufficient (at least 50 entries), semifinal chambers of 8-12 students will be held, before breaking to a final chamber of 8-12 students. Elimination rounds will use a committee format, where contestants will engage one another in suggesting different approaches to solving problems. This will reward debaters who thoroughly research the committee areas announced on the tournament Web site, Monday, November 1. Debaters should demonstrate a deep understanding of various facets related to the committee areas, rather than simply delivering a "stock" speech on a common issue. The final round will use the questioning format devised by the NFL Congress Rules and Recommendations Committee, where the presiding officer (PO) will call on questioners for blocks of up to 30 seconds. The PO will be scored on how fairly s/he recognizes both speakers and questioners.
Awards/TOC Bid Level:
The top six students will receive Minneapple apple awards, the remaining 2-6 final session participants will receive an award. Semifinalists will receive a certificate, and the top PO from each preliminary and each semifinal chamber -- as well as the final session PO -- will receive a gavel. The top six students earn one bid/leg to the University of Kentucky Tournament of Champions.
Student Leadership Award:
While student vote will not determine the outcome of the tournament, a special award modeled after the NFL National Tournament "Leadership Bowl" will be conferred upon one final round debater who earns preferential ranking by his/her peers, in addition to final round observers. All observer ballots will be tallied at one-quarter strength of contestant ballots.
Judges:
One judge for every five Congressional debaters; this judging obligation may not be shared with other divisions. Since the Minneapple offers small chambers to allow students more meaningful opportunities to debate, more judges will be needed. Please note experience as a parliamentarian in the notes area when registering judges.
Congressional Debate Schedule
Congressional Debate at the MinneApple will be hosted at Falcon Ridge Middle School for preliminary sessions and Apple Valley High School for semifinals and finals. The break to semis or finals will depend on the total number of entries. We will only advance to semis if the number of entries warrant a semifinal session.
Registration for each division will take place in the Apple Valley HS Theater. Shuttle buses will be available to take competitors to Falcon Ridge Middle School (see schedule). Judges can report directly to each site but will not be allowed in the Middle School until 3:30pm.
FRIDAY
Please note: School is over at 3:05pm but no parking is available until 3:20pm.
The building opens at 3:15pm for debaters and judges.
2:30 Announcements - Apple Valley High School
3:00 Shuttles Depart for Falcon Ridge Middle School
3:45 - 5:45 Session I
5:45 - 6:30 Dinner
6:30 - 8:30 Session II
SATURDAY
The building will be open at 7:00 am
8:15-11:15 Session III
11:30 Shuttles Depart for Apple Valley High School
11:45-12:15 Lunch
12:30-3:00 Semifinal Session
3:15-5:15 Final Session
5:15 Awards Ceremony
REMEMBER, ALL JUDGES ARE OBLIGATED FOR THE SEMIFINAL AND FINAL SESSION OF CONGRESS.
