2025 Cherry Blossom Challenge

• Setup:

  This status is used while the tournament is still being setup.

• Open:

  This status means tournament registration is open. Families can register for the tournament.

• Drops Only:

  This status means only registration drops are allowed. There are no new entries allowed but families can drop entries.

• Closed:

  This status means registration is currently closed for the tournament. There are no adds or drops allowed. Please contact the tournament director with any questions.

• Completed:

  This status means the tournament is completed.

PARENTS' PAGE
Parent Judges are critical for a well-run, on-time tournament.

To keep it fun - and to show our appreciation - we will be awarding prizes to those who judge the most rounds over the course of our tournament! So...come to Ballot Push early and often!

To parents fulfilling their judge requirements (judging at least 6 rounds during the tournament), we will award a $5 coupon to your family for use at our Gobbler Fest Tournament in the fall (2025).

Requirements

1. Competitors must be accompanied by a parent or adult chaperone who is available to judge for the entire tournament. Each parent will be responsible for judging at least 6 rounds.

• If a parent cannot attend, prior approval and an alternative contribution must be arranged with the tournament director for the student to participate.
• To meet the tournament's judging needs, each out-of-town chaperone may only cover 2 students. Exception is granted to families with more than two children.

Please report to Ballot Push 30 minutes before the start of each round for ballot distribution. Timeliness will help us keep the tournament on schedule.

• We ask that all parents be prepared to judge a round that may not be listed on their schedule. If you want more control over your judging rounds, come to ballot push early and often. Otherwise, be near Judge Hospitality or Ballot Push to help fill the gaps.
• If you have judging preferences, please indicate them via the dropdown box under judge registration. We try to accommodate requests, but when this isn't possible, we ask that parents be prepared to judge both types of debate and speeches of all categories, regardless of personal preferences.

2. Prior to judging, parents or their designee should attend Stoa Speech and Debate training at least once during the 2024-2025 competition season.

• Judge training will be offered 40 minutes before each round. You will be given a good overview of the events and the judging process. No prior experience is necessary.
• If you would like more detailed information about the debate events, please look at the Lincoln Douglas Debate Page and the Team Policy Debate Page.

3. Be mindful of judging conflicts.

• Be advised that coaches and parents cannot judge their own students, and they may not judge a debate team (in the same event) twice during the tournament.
• If you have a close personal relationship/friendship with, are related to, or have coached a competitor, we ask that you do not judge that individual.

PARLI PARTNER CONNECTION BOARD
For those who do not have a Parli partner but want to connect with one.

We want to help connect available Parli competitors.
If you are attending the Cherry Blossom Challenge and need a Parli Partner,
please send the following information to heidimarshall@gmail.com:

* competitor name *
* club name *
* number of years you have competed in Parli *

JUDGE ORIENTATION

All judges must receive judge training for the 2024-25 competition year.
Judge training will be offered 40 minutes before each round begins.

You may receive training in one of two ways:

* watch our training videos *
- OR - 
* arrive at the tournament for in-person training at least 40 minutes before your round begins. * 

Judge Orientation Videos
(click links below)
Speech Judge Orientation
Team Policy (TP) / Lincoln-Douglas (LD) Judge Orientation
Parli Judge Orientation

REGISTRATION INSTRUCTIONS

** Please populate our waitlists if your event is full.** 
**We will release more rooms during open registration according to demand.**

**IMPORTANT PRE-REGISTRATION DETAILS**

All competitors must be members of Stoa for the 2024-2025 season. A StoaHub family account must be created, and Stoa dues must be paid BEFORE you register for a Stoa tournament.

Follow this link to create a StoaHub Family account and join Stoa: 
https://www.stoausa.org/membership

Video Instructions:
Creating a StoaHub Profile
Completing annual Stoa Membership
Registering for a Tournament on StoaHub

REFUND POLICY
Refunds will only be given for changes made during open registration. 

Cancellations received after registration closes will be assessed a drop fee according to the drop date.
All fees must be paid for the student competitor to participate in the tournament.

Drops by 3/12: $10 fee
Drops by 3/18: $20 fee
Drops by 3/26: $30 fee
Drops by 4/3: $35 fee

SCRIPT SUBMISSION
All scripts must be submitted electronically. There will be NO on-site script submission.

Early Script Submission (final approval): March 18
Script Submissions Due: March 19
Final Script Approval: March 29

EARLY SCRIPT SUBMISSION -- CASH PRIZES!!
All scripts receiving final approval by midnight (EST) on Tuesday, March 18th, will be entered into a raffle drawing for cash prizes.

The deadline for all script submissions is midnight (EST) on Wednesday, March 19th.
All scripts must receive final approval by midnight (EST) on Saturday, November 2nd.
Stoa Script Guidelines: https://stoausa.org/speech-event-documents/

FAST TRACK
We offer a Fast Track submission process for students submitting scripts approved from previous tournaments (and without any changes).

1. Take a screenshot of the approval page from the previous tournament.
2. Attach the screenshot to the submission email with the full script AND submission form. (See script and submission form instructions below.)
3. Label the subject line as follows: FT: Event-Last name, First name

How to Submit Scripts Electronically
1. Follow the rules and submission guidelines for your speech event that can be found here-https://stoausa.org/speech-event-documents/
2. Combine each speech into a single PDF file. See the resources below.
3. Name the file correctly: Event-Last Name, First Name.pdf
4. SUBMIT SCRIPTS HERE: apextournamentscripts@gmail.com.
5. Label the subject line as follows: Event-Last name, First name
6. Correct or Celebrate: If your script is returned for corrections, complete any requirements promptly. Otherwise, it is time to celebrate your approval!

Refer to Easy Bib when creating your Citation pages. http://www.easybib.com/

Before sending us your material, please review the above checklists with your coach or parent.

 TEAM POLICY / LINCOLN-DOUGLAS

Thursday, April 3rd - Saturday, April 5th
Debate Check-In: 12:30 PM (Thursday, April 3rd)

City Gates Church
9401 Little River Turnpike
Fairfax, VA 22301

Debate Events: 
Parliamentary Debate: $40
Lincoln-Douglas, Team Policy*: $40

Timing:
Debate Competitors are expected to self-time their rounds and must bring their own timer.  Cell phones may not be used as timers.

Team Policy Resolution:
Resolved: The United States Federal Government should substantially reform its policy on healthcare.

Lincoln-Douglas Resolution:
Resolved: Debaters will debate the third resolution for 2024-25; we will post the resolution once Stoa publishes it.

PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE

Thursday, April 3rd - Saturday, April 5th
Debate Check-In: 12:30 PM (Thursday, April 3rd)

City Gates Church
9401 Little River Turnpike
Fairfax, VA 22301

Timing:
Debate Competitors are expected to self-time their rounds and must plan to bring their own timer. Cell phones cannot be used as timers.

DRESS CODE
During the competition, students must dress in professional business attire.

Gentlemen:
Suits or slacks and a sports coat, with a shirt and tie, and dress shoes.

Ladies:
Skirt or pant suits; slacks, skirts or dresses with jackets, and professional dress shoes. Hemlines are to be at least to the knee. Nylons are not required.

Awards Ceremony:
Students must attend the awards ceremony in full competition attire.

Violations:
If the competitor’s attire at any time during the tournament is deemed a violation of the dress code, the competitor will be asked to come into compliance with the dress code. A student will not be allowed to participate in competitions or awards without compliance.

TABULATION

Although Virginia tournaments traditionally run with "Open Tab," this tournament will operate with closed tabulation. 
No results will be posted before the awards ceremony.

This tournament will operate under the Joy of Tournaments software from Stoa- https://stoausa.org/tournament-tabulation/

TOURNAMENT LOCATION
Thursday, November 7th - Saturday, November 9th

City Gates Church
9401 Little River Turnpike
Fairfax, VA 22031

Still have questions?
Contact Heidi Marshall
703-963-4526
heidimarshall@gmail.com

PLACES TO STAY
Below are the names of a few hotels located within 10-12 minutes of the venue.

Hampton Inn Fairfax City
10860 Fairfax Blvd, Fairfax, VA 22030
(703) 385-2600

Courtyard by Marriott Fairfax Fair Oaks
11220 Lee Jackson Memorial Hwy, Fairfax, VA 22030•(703) 273-6161
Springfield, VA 22150
(703) 644-5555

SpringHill Suites by Marriott Fairfax Fair Oaks
11191 Waples Mill Rd, Fairfax, VA 22030
(703) 691-7880