orangecountydebate Announcements

Workshop and Season Dates Announced

The OCDL is excited to announce the dates for the 2020-2021 season.

Middle School

  • Workshop – September 19
  • Scramble – October 24
  • Holiday Tournament – December 5
  • Winter Classic – January 30
  • Spring Tournament – March 13
  • OCDL Championship – May 15

High School

  • Fall Tournament – November 7
  • Winter Tournament – February 6
  • Spring Tournament – April 24

The 2020 Orange County Debate League Digital Workshop will take place on Saturday, September 19th. Students will have the opportunity to take online classes taught by experienced debaters and coaches. There will also be a demo debate at the beginning of the workshop, during which current debaters will demonstrate what an advanced debate looks like. Unlike the previous years, students will not have to pay a fee this year; however, a $15 donation is suggested (please see below). 

Classes offered at the workshop will include:

  • A-R-E-I Arguments
  • 4 Step Refutation
  • Advanced Opposition Strategies
  • Debate Basics
  • Heckling and Points of Information
  • Importance of Speaker Roles
  • Introductions and Conclusions
  • Logical Fallacies
  • Making Great Use of Your Prep Time
  • Persuasive Public Speaking
  • Stock Policy Issues
  • Strategic Topic Narrowing
  • Weighing Impacts
  • Award-Winning Notes 

The League will also be offering free judge training classes for any students, parents, or volunteers that want to get certified. 

Students are encouraged to attend the workshop to help further their knowledge of debating. We look forward to seeing you all there!

By Krishna Thaker and Mackenzie Mauldin

Workshop Donations
orangecountydebate Announcements

Digital Tournament, May 23, 2020

We will be holding a digital tournament via Zoom to end the 2019-2020 season.

Here is some preliminary information to help you begin planning for this tournament:

Name: OCDL End of Year Online Tournament
Date: Saturday, May 23rd
Time: 8am-4pm
Platform: Zoom
Number of Rounds: 4
Topics:
Keeping endangered species in captivity does more good than harm.
USMCA is better than NAFTA.
The internet should be a public utility.
On balance, distance learning is better than traditional learning.

Changes – Because of the digital format, the following changes from standard OCDL tournaments will occur:

  1. No judge training will occur at the tournament
  2. No preparation time, beyond the time it takes to distribute students into various debate rooms, will be given
  3. Students will not be required to copy their arguments/cases to colored paper and will be allowed to read directly from printed papers or electronic devices if they choose
  4. Students will be encouraged to self-time
  5. A modified rubric has been created and will be distributed.  The presentation column of the rubric will state expectations for online presentation skills
  6. There will be no awards ceremony
  7. Awards will be reduced and announced by email or published to the OCDL website
  8. Ballot distribution and return will require judges to submit their scores directly to Tabroom

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to Mark Hobbs at mhobbs@ocdl.org or Bora Oztekin at boztekin@ocdl.org.

orangecountydebate Announcements

March 14 Tournament Cancelled

We write to share important information about new steps that we must take with respect to Covid-19 for the March 14 Spring Tournament. To ensure the safety of our entire community, the tournament is canceled.  We greatly appreciate the support received from the entire OCDL Community as we work with health authorities and government officials to take necessary steps in support of the safety and education of our community and surrounding communities. For more information related to the Coronavirus Disease 2019, please visit coronavirus.gov. Please stay safe and share this correspondence with students, families, judges, and other volunteers. 

Precautions to Continue to Take:

  • Wash your hands for 20 seconds
  • Use hand sanitizer
  • Avoid shaking hands
  • Disinfect frequently touched objects using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe
  • Stay home when you are sick and avoid close contact with those who are sick
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.