Hello Northwest Indiana Coaches, 

 

Your team has been cordially invited to the Northwest Indiana District Debate Tournament. This event is scheduled to take place at Penn High School Friday January 27th  through Saturday January 28th. Registration will take place 4:00 p.m.- 5:00 p.m. with the first round scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. (All times will be Eastern Standard Time). 

 

EVENTS: Lincoln Douglas / Public Forum / Policy 

 

Debaters must be members of the NSDA. You can determine eligibility by viewing your roster on the NSDA website, and entries must be members to be entered in Speechwire. REMEMBER: Your school cannot have any outstanding bills with the NSDA. So, do not generate any bills that you cannot pay before January 21st.

 

ENTRY DEADLINE: January 23, 2023 @  8 PM EST. 

 

JUDGES REQUIREMENTS: 

Policy Debate and Public Forum Debate: 1 judge per EACH entry (four teams = 4 judges).

 

Lincoln Douglas Debate: 1 judge for 1-2 entries, 2 judges for 3-4 entries.

 

Neutral Judges: Last year we had 11 neutral judges and were able to successfully run the tournament. I will be working on judges for hire, but if everyone could work to bring as many neutrals as possible, that will help our tournament run efficiently. As an unofficial general rule of thumb, for every four entries a team should be responsible for 1 neutral judge. If you are planning to hire neutral judges, please email jstarkweather@phm.k12.in.us with anticipated numbers and I will work on recruiting. 

 

* Please note that in order for a judge to count for your team's entry, he/she must be present for both days of competition, or you must enter additional judges who will be available for a given day of competition. 

 

* Coaches will be responsible for checking in ALL of their judges at Friday registration between 4:00 – 5:00 PM.

 

* Please make your judges aware that this will be may be a long couple of days and and they should be prepared for a full day of judging. Also, to qualify as a neutral judge, judges must not be able to recognize a competitor or be able to identify which team they are a part of because of inside knowledge of your team. In other words, it's not just that they are "unbiased" but they are able to judge without associating a competitor with a particular team/coach.

 

FEES: $10 per debater. So, $10 for each LD debater, $20 for each PF and Policy team. Checks made out to NSDA Northwest Indiana District. 

 

Fees should be mailed to:

 

Jeremy Starkweather

56100 Bittersweet Rd, 

Mishawaka, IN 

46545

 

Door A is under construction, but is scheduled to be finished by the time this tournament comes around. For now, plan to have your teams arrive through that door, which will be on the corner of Bittersweet and Jefferson with a nice brand new overhang. Stay tuned for details in case construction is behind schedule. 

 

Pizza and other concessions will be available for students both Friday and Saturday. In addition, there will be snacks and drinks available for purchase. There will be a coaches'/judges' lounge with complimentary dinner/lunch, beverages, and snacks available. 

 

Questions? If so, contact Jeremy Starkweather Jstarkweather@phm.k12.in.us, or via my cell phone (574) 370-4758.