2025 The Checkered Flag

• 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.

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.

Alumni Judge Information

As a prior debater you bring a unique perspective to our judge pool, and we thank you for your willingness to give back to the world of competitive speech and debate. We are delighted to have you join us in evaluating these students! To register for judging, please use the Judge Registration tab at the top of the page and follow the prompts.

If a competitor has invited you or you have a close relationship (friendship with student or family, or provided coaching) with a current debater, we ask that you indicate that by typing their name in the conflict box so as to keep the integrity of the judging pool pure. 

On the day of the tournament, please follow the campus signs to the judge check-in table.

Judge Qualifications: To be eligible to judge for the 2024-2025 season, it should be two years since you competed, and you must be at least 20 years old. A student may not compete and judge within the same competition season.

We are offering a meal plan for the tournament for both parents and students. The students will receive lunch and dinner plus morning and afternoon snacks. Each meal will have a gluten free counterpart. Please be sure to have your students bring water bottles!

Friday

Saturday

Team Policy

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

Lincoln Douglas

Resolved: In U.S. law enforcement, accountability ought to be prioritized over effectiveness.

Event Descriptions

For a list of events and their descriptions, please follow this link. You will need to scroll across the horizontal menu under the picture to see the different categories of events. 

Dress Code

During competition, students must dress in modest, professional business attire.

Gentlemen: Suit or slacks and a blazer jacket; collared shirt and tie; professional dress shoes and socks.

Ladies: Skirt or pant suit; or professional slacks, skirt, or dress with a blazer jacket; professional dress shoes. Dress/skirt hemlines and slits should be no higher than the middle of the knee. Hose 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 before being allowed to participate.

Code of Conduct

Tournament participants will exhibit kind, polite, and respectful attitudes toward each other and behave in a manner that brings honor to God.

Conflicts that arise mid-tournament will be resolved at the sole discretion of tournament leadership. Tournament leadership has final authority in all tournament decisions.

Tournament participants will adhere to the Peacemaker’s Pledge derived from Matthew 5:23-25 and 18:15-17. This principle dictates that if an offense occurs, the offended should go directly to the offender to resolve the issue; no gossiping or discussing with another person. We seek to restore relationships. A third party may be necessary to resolve issues.

Hotels

A number of hotels are within a twenty minute drive of the church. Search for hotels near the Mall of Georgia in Buford, GA. 

Host Housing

We may be able to offer host housing. Please contact Robin Axelberd DynamisATL@gmail.com and put "Host Housing" in the subject line. 

Tabulation

We will utilize Stoa Joy of Tournaments for the tabulation software and will follow the Stoa Transparent Tabulation policies.

This page will be updated after registration closes with details around power matching.