• 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.

To all Parents of Competitors:

Thank you for your commitment to your students and this community.

Please review the following parameters that will help the tournament to run effectively.

1. Every competitor must be accompanied by a parent or adult chaperone at all times while on tournament grounds. Your student will not be able to check-in at the tournament without an accompanying parent or adult chaperone, who is at least 21 years old. Please note that a new process has been put in place where students and parents/chaperones will both be required to check-in EACH DAY of the tournament. Failure to do so will result in your child not being able to participate.

2. All parents are expected to judge. You will need to register as a judge before completing your student registration. For each debate event that your student(s) are registered in, you must judge at least 3 rounds. For each speech event that your student(s) are registered in, you must judge at least 3 rounds. Please register for rounds in which you intend to judge. We will stick to your chosen rounds to the best of our ability. Please do not sign up to judge back to back rounds unless you are certain that you can fill out your ballot between rounds.

3. Chaperones, you are required to fulfill judging requirements for your own students PLUS the additional student you bring. Please take this commitment seriously before agreeing to bring another competitor. In order to meet the judging needs, each chaperone may only cover 1 additional student outside of their own children.
Chaperones must carry signed Medical Release forms for their students.

4. At the tournament there will be a required orientation meeting for all students and parents.

5. All parents who have not attended Judge Orientation this school year are required to attend Judge Orientation before judging at this tournament. Judge Orientation will be offered 45 minutes before each round.

6. All parents must report to Ballot Push 30 minutes prior to each debate round to assure that all judging slots are filled. We will be using the slots you sign up for as much as possible, however we may need additional judges at any time.

7. If you have a unique circumstance that does not allow you to fulfill the above requirements, then please email us, interritusdebate@gmail.com.

Thank you for your commitment to these students. We hope that you have a great tournament!

Sincerely,
Interritus Debate Club

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS & SUITES GRIFFIN
1361 N Expressway, Griffin, GA 30223 United States
Front Desk: 1-678-4086693
Reservation: 1 888 HOLIDAY (1 888 465 4329)
Holiday Inn Express

Home2 Suites by Hilton Griffin
1331 N Expressway, Griffin, Georgia, 30223
1 678-661-3707
Home 2 Suites, Griffin

Comfort Inn & Suites
1906 N. Expressway, Griffin, GA, 30223, US
(770) 233-4747
Comfort Inn and Suites

New Hotels Closer to I75, but not too far from the Tournament
These may be less expensive and this is not a bad area either. It's about 20 minutes (or less) away.

Candlewood Suites Jackson
112 Hospitality Drive Jackson, Georgia 30233
Hotel Front Desk: 1-470-7436100
Candelwood Suites

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS & SUITES JACKSON
116 Hospitality Drive, Jackson, GA 30233 United States
Jackson Holiday Inn Express

There are also some Airbnb options available in the area.

Mars Hill Categories are:

• Current Film and Television (last 5 years)
• Current Music
• Classic Music
• Classic Film and Television (Finals)

Apologetics Categories are:

• Category 1: The Character and Nature of God
• Category 3: Scripture
• Category 4: God and Man
• Category 2: Foundations of Christianity(Finals)

Dress Code and Code of Conduct

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.

MANDATORY ELECTRONIC SCRIPT SUBMISSION

All scripts must be reviewed prior to the tournament within the given deadline. If you need to have a deadline extended, please contact the Script Review Team.

OPENS: Monday, October 7th
DEADLINE for initial submissions: Sunday, October 20th, 11:59 PM EST. 
FINAL CORRECTIONS: Sunday, October 27, 11:59 PM EST Your script must be corrected AND approved by this date. Failure to meet this deadline could result in your being dropped from the event.

Competitors who are entered in the following events must submit scripts for approval:

Interpretive Speeches: Dramatic, Duo, Humorous, Open
Platform Speeches: Expository, Original Oratory, Persuasive
Wild Card Speech: Slam Poetry

Before you begin:

Watch the tutorial! Just 6 minutes will save you (and us) loads of time! While the video is somewhat out of date when referencing the Wild Card event, the basic principles and instructions still hold true.

Instructions:

1. READ THE RULES for your speech event HERE.

2. READ THE SCRIPT PREP INSTRUCTIONS & OBTAIN FORMS HERE.

3. PREPARE your SCRIPT SUBMISSION FORM with your parent or coach. Include initials and signatures. BE SURE "Pumpkin Patch Match" is listed as the tournament.

4. COMBINE each speech into ONE FILE in .pdf format. To combine files:

• Use a printer to scan into a single pdf file, or
• Use a PDF joiner, or
• Use the Notes app on an iPhone to scan documents. (Open Notes app; create a new Note; tap Done; tap the paper clip icon at the bottom of the screen; choose "Scan Documents." Or,
• Use the Google Drive app on your mobile phone. (Open Google Drive and tap the camera icon in the bottom right, above the + sign.)

5. NAME YOUR FILE using the following naming format: Last Name, First Name - event.pdf  For example:  Twain, Mark - Persuasive.pdf Students - This is a small detail that is incredibly helpful for your script reviewers. Please take just a few extra seconds to properly name your files!

6. SUBMIT SCRIPTS HERE

Help:
CITATIONS HELP PAGE: PLATFORMS
INTERP PUBLICATION GUIDELINES INTERPS

Scripts requiring corrections:
When a script is returned as incomplete or unapproved, it will be returned with suggestions for correction. Once you have made the corrections, you must resubmit the script within 24 hours using the same script submission link above in Step 5. You will select "Corrected Script" from the appropriate drop-down box.

Because this is an early tournament, each team will be required to share their case title and mandates.

 Once registration closes, a form will be sent out for each team to fill out this information.  

*Case Mandates will be due by October 23rd

at midnight EST.*  

Any team that does not share this information by the due date will not be allowed to view the case list and will be dropped from the tournament. The case list will be released on October 24th and will not be shared outside the competitors registered for this tournament.

Tabulation
Joy of Tournaments is the software used for tabulating results. All tabulation will follow the Stoa Tabulation Manual procedures and guidelines.

Team Policy, Lincoln Douglas, and Parli will be powermatched based on the number of competitors. But this is the overall plan:

Rounds 1 & 2  will be randomly paired. We will be power matching rounds 3-6 only. If there are not enough teams, power matching will begin round 5.

If there is an odd number of competitors, then the bye will be randomly assigned until power matching begins.

Rounds will be power-matched using Stoa’s standard tab procedures. Necessary byes will be assigned to the low seed, with no team receiving a bye twice.