Why do you need community judges?
Simply put, judges are the most important participant in a tournament. Without you, we cannot hold a tournament and students aren't given feedback that helps them improve their skills.
Additionally, community judges, in particular, listen and judge from a different perspective than a parent, and so your feedback helps them learn and grow in their skills in different ways. Our goal is to develop communicators who can speak boldly and change the world for Christ, not debaters who overwhelm judges with information or do not have the ability to adapt their message to the listener.
Who is qualified to be a judge?
Generally, anyone who has completed high school and has been properly trained (don't worry - we provide this) can serve as a judge. Most judges fall into three categories of individuals:
Community volunteers
Parents and Coaches
Former high school or college debaters
What about the parents?
All of our parents are required either to serve as part of the tournament staff or to judge throughout the tournament whenever there are empty slots that we are unable to fill from the community. Our preference is to utilize community judges whenever possible to allow students the opportunity to present their cases (for debate) and speeches to new audiences. We especially need judges on the last day of the tournament as many of our parents will have already judged the competitors and cannot judge them again in the same event.
What types of events will I be judging?
At this tournament, we will only be offering debate events: Parliamentary, Team Policy and Lincoln Douglas. In debate, students compete to present and explain to a judge their ideas or proposals. Judges are asked to weigh the information that is presented and decide which side has the stronger case.
Who are the students I will be judging?
The competitors are homeschool students ranging in age from 12-18 years old. Some of the students are just starting to learn debate and others have been competing for years. Many are from the Atlanta area, but we also have students travel from across the nation to compete. So, you will see a wide range of skills, abilities, and styles.