Middle School Championship

How do we register?

Please register all competing debaters and judges on Tabroom by Wednesday, May 10. 

For registration to be complete, the middle school 8th grade graduation year for the students must be entered on Tabroom. These grade numbers will be used to give grade level awards. Failure to enter in grade numbers will result in registration being seen as incomplete. 

For example, Matthew Ong is an 8th grader. On Tabroom, it would be entered as follows:

First name: Matthew23, Last name: Ong (last two numbers of the graduation year after the first name with no spaces in-between). 

What are the school/squad limits and judge requirements? 

Schools are limited to 15 students (5 teams) per squad for this tournament; however, we are allowing up to 3 squads per school. 

What are the resolutions? 

• Adopt the Dream Act
• Book banning in school does more harm than good
• Social media platforms should face greater liability for their content
• Reinstate the right to vote for felons (Sunday only)
• Impromptu (TBA)

What is the judging requirements?

OCDL coaches must add exclusively certified judges on Tabroom. Kamran Ansari (kansari@ocdl.org) can provide more information on the certification status of OCDL judges. Non-OCDL judges must be approved to judge in their own respective leagues. In addition, judges should be available to judge all rounds of the day. Please indicate on Tabroom and notify the tabulation staff (mong@ocdl.org) beforehand if registered judges are unavailable for any round. 

1 judge will be required for every 2 teams however, any off number of teams requires a judge for the next even number of teams. 

• 1 team requires 1 judge
• 2 teams requires 1 judge
• 3 teams requires 2 judges

Where is the tournament?

The tournament will be held at two different sites on Saturday and Sunday

Fullerton Union High School (Saturday, May 13th 7:45am – 5:30pm)

201 E chapman Ave. Fullerton, CA 92832

Fairmont Prep Academy (Sunday, May 14th 7:45am – 5:30pm) Top 32 teams only

2200 W Sequoia Ave. Anaheim, CA 92801

For Saturday, parking may be easiest in the city parking lot (south of campus) located at 230 E. Chapman Avenue. Due to limited number of spots, carpooling is strongly encouraged. 

How do we fill the volunteer requirement? 

It will take a lot of work to make this tournament happen and we need your help. We are asking each school to provide one volunteer per squad. This person can also be co-registered as a judge with the squad. 

By Thursday, May 11, please email me the name of your volunteer(s) and direct your volunteer to our sign up Genius. Some jobs will only last for a few hours, so they may need to sign up for more than one duty. Many hands make light work. 

Are there any specific unique rules/ conventions? 

For guest joining us from other leagues, we wanted to let you know about the following league specific procedures: 

• We ask that all debaters fill out this affidavit prior to the event. Coaches will collect and give them to the Tabulation team in person (or preferably via email to bhughes@ocdl.org). 
• Debaters are only allowed to use the designated colored paper and flow chart while in the debate chamber. All designated papers will be delivered to team coaches at the beginning of the day with the registration materials. 
• Electronics are not allowed during prep time (20 minutes). Debaters must use only printed materials for their preparation. 
• Points of information (questions or comments) are allowed during the middle 3 minutes of the first four speeches. Heckles can be made at any time, but they must be 3 words or less. All heckles/POS should be directed toward the judge. Resolutions are announced on tournament day and these rounds allow for 25 minutes of prep time. 
• The tournament will feature our unique speaker performance rubric to determine speaker points (students are scored on saturday only). Non-OCDL coaches, students and judges can familiarize themselves with the rubric by watching this four minute video created by the co-creators, NextGen Debate. 
• Judge Training will not be offered at the championship. 

What’s for lunch? 

Saturday May 13, lunch will be available for purchase ($3 per person). It will include one slice of Costco pizza (cheese or pep) and water. Please take a headcount of orders indicated cheese or pep and email it to bhughes@ocdl.org by Thursday May 11. Payment for lunch will be made at the beginning of the tournament in the form of cash or one lump sum check if paying for the team. Checks can be made payable to Orange County Debate League. 

Lunch on Sunday May 14 will be catered by TheMecianTaco and provided to judges, coaches, and students at no cost. All judges, coaches and volunteers are welcome to join us on both days in the judge/coach break room for food and refreshments. 

Other things to know: The Auto Show on campus

There is a strong possibility that there will be another group holding an event on campus at Fullerton High School on Saturday: an auto show. This show will be held in the northern side of campus and should not interfere with our event, however, please advise your debaters and guests to remain in the debate tournament area of campus. 

Thank you all. We are excited to see the best of the best at the Middle School Championship next weekend!