Icda Rules
Icda Rules
Icda Rules
Fall located in the appendix at the end of this document ELIGIBILITY, APPORTIONMENT, AND GENERAL RULES An invitational tournament must follow these ICDA rules in order to be eligible for the State Competition. Schools wishing to host an ICDA tournament must be approved at the spring coaches meeting, and placed on the ICDA schedule. 1. An ICDA invitational tournament has the requirement that all entries must be current high school students in good standing. 2. Fees are based on original entry number or actual participant number, whichever is greater. Suggested registration fees are $7.00 per student for the Training Workshop; $8.00 for a one-day tournament; $10.00 for a two-day tournament. 3. Judging responsibilities are determined by the needs of the tournament according to the tournament director. The general rule of thumb is one judge for 1- 10 participants (expect to judge all three rounds); more than 10 participants will judge the fraction thereof. Tournament host should count the oversight committee/tab room personnel as judging assignments. The tournament director should make every effort to post a judging schedule on Edline prior to the tournament. 4. Coaches should make sure that hired judges are qualified. In order to maintain objectivity, hired judges should be out of high school at least two full years. 5. All judges must attend a training workshop to be eligible to judge at an ICDA tournament. 6. The tournament manager has the option of turning away a late entry. (This may happen if trophies have been purchased based on the original registration number or if additional rooms/judges are not available). 7. Once registered, schools are responsible for their registration fees and judging fees (@ $60 per session) even if they do not participate. This holds true even in the case of inclement weather, as long as the tournament has not been cancelled. 8. The tournament manager will respect requests to pair students in chambers only when the request is made on the original registration. Changes will not be made at the tournament registration desk unless it is in the best interest of the tournament to balance chamber. 9. The tournament manager will provide a copy of the rules in every chamber. 10. Teams are capped at 45 entries per school. 11. It has been determined that hosting schools will follow registration deadlines, and any school that does not submit their registration by the Friday prior to the tournament will not be allowed to participate. A confirmation e-mail will be sent to all schools that registered for a tournament the Monday following the registration deadline. 12. The host school will pay the Illinois Congressional Debate Association a $1 fee per student participant (not the number registered, but the number in actual attendance).
LEGISLATION 13. Each school may submit legislation for the next tournament, which must be in the hands of the tournament director by 9:00 am Saturday of the tournament. Each school is limited to one bill, as determined by the draw at the fall coaches meeting. Only the legislation that is submitted by the due date and in the proper format may be considered for debate at the following tournament. 14. Bills should be authored by no more than two students. 14. A maximum of five bills per committee will be selected for the following tournament. The oversight committee is responsible for maintaining this ratio. Every effort will be made not to eliminate bills from the same school twice in a row within the current season.
COMMITTEE SESSIONS 15. Each chamber shall have a committee for each of the three areas for legislation. The host school shall assign the chairpersons for the committees. Tournament managers should assign experienced debaters to serve as chairpersons.\ 16. The committees shall meet (not before 5:00 P.M.) to select the bills to be debated within the respective chambers. The committees will provide a prioritized list of the top four bills recommended for debate. The purpose of such committees is to select the most debatable bills. Discussions within the committees shall be restricted by the chairperson to the issue of debatability. ("Is the bill controversial, timely, well written? Are there substantial pro and con arguments concerning the bill?) 17. Only committees shall have the authority to amend legislation providing that the amendments are for the purpose of clarification or correction of errors and does not change the intent of the legislation. 18. The bills on the prioritized committee lists shall be considered in the order recommended by the respective committees, selecting the top priority bill first from Economics (100), Foreign Affairs (200), then Public Welfare (300). The process shall continue until time expires or until all bills are debated. PROCEDURES WITHIN THE CHAMBERS 19. The judges assigned to the chambers shall be responsible for circulating a seating chart in each chamber. Participants shall neatly print their name and school on the charts. When the chart is completed the judges shall assign a person to take the chart to the tab room to obtain duplicate copies. 20. The judges shall then conduct elections for Presiding Officers. Students may be nominated or may nominate themselves. Each nominee shall be given an opportunity to present a brief statement in support of his/her candidacy. Each person within the chamber may cast one vote for presiding officer, except that no school shall have more than two votes. Voting will continue until one person receives a majority. If there are more than three candidates, the candidate (or candidates if they are tied) with the lowest vote total shall be dropped from consideration on subsequent votes. The person who obtained the majority shall have first choice regarding the session for which he/she wishes to be presiding officer. The person with the second greatest number of votes shall have second choice. The person with the third greatest number of votes will preside over the remaining session.
21. Voting in all elections shall be done as in the election of Presiding Officers, one person one vote except that no school shall have more than two votes. 22. Voting on all procedural matters, motions, rules, votes for and against bills and resolutions all matters except for election of Presiding Officer, Best Presiding Officer, First Place and Second Place Speakers, Best Legislation shall be one person one vote. 23. Debate shall begin once the presiding officers have been selected. Both judges must be present for debate to begin. Debate on a bill shall be limited to a maximum of one hour, no exceptions. 24. Debate on each bill will begin with a request for a four minute authorship speech to be given by the author or representative from his school. In the absence of an author, the Presiding Officer will call for a speech in favor of the bill. Following the delivery of the authorship or three minute first pro speech, the chair will ask for a speech in opposition of the bill. This speech will be four minutes long if it follows a four minute authorship. It will be three minutes long if it follows a three minute first pro speech. This alternating process of three minute speeches will continue until the one hour limit expires. Should a session terminate while a bill is still being debated, the Presiding Officer will instruct the Presiding Officer for the following session concerning the amount of time left for debate on that bill. 25. Following a four-minute speech will be a three-minute question and answer period. Following each other speech, a two-minute question and answer period will be held. The time clock shall run continuously for the question and answer period 26. Voting procedures: In the case of needing a majority vote, 51% of those on the seating chart must vote in favor to pass. In the case of needing a 2/3 majority vote, it will be 2/3 of those on the seating chart. In cases of ties, the Presiding Officer may vote to break a tie. 27. A speaker who speaks on both sides of a bill will receive a 0 for the speech opposing his/her original speech. This will occur even when the second speech is given in a different session than the original speech
JUDGES RESPONSIBILITIES 28. Judges shall be responsible for evaluating all participants speeches. Judges may evaluate their own participants speeches, but these scores will not be averaged into speech totals. Judges should leave critique forms face up so the other judge may see the evaluation. Make all attempts to keep speech scores from participants in the chamber. 29. Judges shall keep track of the participation of members of the chamber, including speeches and questions. 30. Judges shall each individually nominate at the end of each session two people to be considered for First and Second Place Speaker Awards. They will not confer, and they will not nominate students from their own school. 31. Judges shall award participation points to each member of the chamber following each session. Those points may range from zero through six and shall be based on participation as indicated by the number of speeches and questions. Though the quantity of participation is the main source of consideration, judges may also take into account whether or not a debaters participation contributed to
the furtherance of debate in the chamber. A student who does not participate should receive a 0. A student on the seating chart who is absent should be marked as absent, not with a 0. 32. Judges shall evaluate the performance of the presiding officer following each session. The P.O. shall be given a score which will result in his/her earning 10% to 100% of the point total earned by the top speaker in the chamber for that session. Points should be rounded up or down to the nearest number. The percentage scores shall be based on the criteria forms and shall not include a consideration of the quality of the speakers within the chamber or the typical speaking performance of the presiding officer. 33. The judges shall be the ultimate authorities in parliamentary procedure and fairness in recognizing speakers. They shall have the power and responsibility to correct or overturn a decision of the Presiding Officer. 34. All judges should return to the tab room with results at the end of the session in case there is a question concerning said results.
VOTING 35. Judges shall conduct elections for Outstanding Legislation at the end of the third session. Only legislation that was debated and voted upon within the chamber shall be eligible for consideration. Each person in the chamber shall be allowed one vote with the exception that no school shall have more than two votes. 36. Each chamber will record the total number of votes received for each piece of eligible legislation. Chamber results will be tallied in the tab room. The top three legislation will receive awards. 37. Judges shall conduct elections for best Presiding Officer at the end of the third session. Each person in the chamber shall be allowed one vote with the exception that no school shall have more than two votes. The winning candidate must receive a simple majority of the votes cast. If no person earns a simple majority, the candidate who receives the lowest vote total will be dropped from consideration and voting will be repeated. 38. Judges shall conduct elections for the First Place and Second Place speaker awards at the end of the third session. The host school shall provide the judges in each chamber with the names of participants who have been nominated by judges for speaker awards. (The winner of the Critics Choice shall be deleted from balloting.) 39. The names of all nominees shall be announced, and all chamber members shall be entitled to one vote with the exception that no school shall have more than two votes. The winner of the First Place Speaker Award must receive simple majority of the votes cast. If no person earns a simple majority, the person who receives the lowest vote total (or all candidates with the same lowest total) will be dropped from consideration until such time as a candidate does obtain the required simple majority. On the balloting in which a candidate does receive a simple majority, the person with the second highest vote total shall be awarded the Second Place Award. (In the event there is a tie among persons with the highest vote total, a run-off election for the Second Place Award shall be held). 40. A Critics Choice Award shall be given to the person with the highest total points in each chamber. Those points shall include participation points, speaker points, and Presiding Officer points. Students may give as many speeches per session as desired, but only the top two speeches will be counted. The total number of nominations will be used to break any ties for the Critics Choice Award.
CALCUATION OF SWEEPSTAKES (TEAM) AWARDS 41. This contest is divided into two divisions, Large Teams and Small Teams, based on actual participants at the tournament, including all students even those entered for only part of the tournament.
42. Students may give as many speeches per session as desired, but only the top two speeches will be counted.
CALCULATING SWEEPSTAKES AWARDS FOR LARGE TEAMS 43. The first, second, and third place school awards shall be based on calculations as described below: 44. Scores for each individual participantincluding participation points scores for speeches, and presiding officer pointsshall be totaled. 45. The number of high point speakers used to determine the sweepstakes award shall be the top eight per school. 46. The high point speaker scores shall be totaled by school and ranked accordingly. The three schools with the highest totals shall be declared the first, second, and third place winners. In the event of ties, duplicate awards shall be presented.
CALCULATING SWEEPSTAKES AWARDS FOR SMALL TEAMS 47. The first, second, and third place school awards shall be based on calculations as described below: 48. Scores for each individual participantincluding participation points scores for speeches, and presiding officer pointsshall be totaled. 49. The number of high point speakers used to determine the sweepstakes award shall be the top four per school. 50. The high point speaker scores shall be totaled by school and ranked accordingly. The three schools with the highest totals shall be declared the first, second, and third place winners. In the event of ties, duplicate awards shall be presented.
DECORUM AND BEHAVIOR 51. No eating or drinking of any kind in chambers by contestants and judges. 52. Inappropriate language will not be allowed. 53. Disrespect or misuse of facilities or furnishings will not be tolerated. 54. Appropriate behavior is expected at all times. 55. Unsportsmanlike behavior will not be tolerated.
56. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Plagiarism is defined as work or ideas taken word for word and passed off as ones own. 57. Falsification of evidence will not be tolerated. 58. Consequences for infractions may result in the following actions by the Oversight Committee: Disqualification from the tournament Loss of participation points Forfeiture of awards Schools held financially responsible for all damages incurred School administrators being notified of any misconduct Any additional consequences deemed appropriate to the severity of the infraction
59. Judges are responsible for enforcement of the rules and reporting infractions. 60. Special needs students will be accommodated according to individual needs. Coaches should report those needs to the tab room at the beginning of the tournament.
APPENDIX
OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE FUNCTIONS AND MEETINGS
The responsibilities of the Oversight Committee include: Acting as an advisory body to tournament hosts Sponsor of the All State Team Assisting with the operation of the State Tournament
The Oversight Committee will meet during the 1st session of each tournament in lieu of a judging assignment. Committee members should be very familiar with this activity, should have coached for at least three years, and should have hosted at least one tournament. The President, five committee members (one committee member will function as secretary) will be elected annually at the Spring Coaches Meeting. To be considered for election to the oversight committee, coaches should submit their names to the ICDA secretary prior to the spring meeting. Voting will occur by secret ballot. Electronic Devices Electronic Devices of any kind may not be used in the chambers. Internet access during competition is strictly prohibited.
CAPTAINS MEETINGS Captains are an advisory body. Captains meetings occur during the Saturday lunch break. Host school will provide an appropriate meeting space and lunch. One representative per school will attend the Captains Meeting. The ICDA President and the host of the upcoming tournament will attend the meeting.
The All State Team recognizes the top 10 debaters annually, as determined by the number of nominations received at the 5 ICDA invitational tournaments. To qualify, the schools must be ICDA members.
A student will receive one point per session for one or more nominations. A presiding officer will receive .5 points for each point earned by nomination at that tournament, with a maximum of three points per tournament. The All State Team will consist of the top 10 point earners. Ties will be broken by: Highest average points per speech for the five tournaments Greatest number of 6 point speeches for the five tournaments Total number of nominations for the five tournaments UNIFORM FORMS (PO, JUDGING, ETC.) See forms on Edline.
TRIAL CHANGES FOR FALL, 2010 The following rules will be piloted during the fall of 2010. Coaches will review these changes at the December 2010 tournament and recommend adoption, modification, or elimination of these rule changes. The only authorships that will be given are those by the actual author(s) of the bill. A maximum of two authors may submit a single bill. If the author is not in the chamber, the PO will call for a sponsorship. The representative school will not automatically be granted the sponsorship; all debaters have equal opportunity to present a sponsorship. The maximum number of bills per committee is to be reduced from 5 to 4. There will only be a committee of the whole for each chamber. Committee will be scheduled for hour. During the first 15 minutes, at a minimum, chamber members will place nominated dockets on the board. The chamber will then vote on the most desirable docket during the last 15 minutes of committee. Only one vote per school is permitted. Each session will be its own legislative day, with no bills carrying over to the next session. All debated bills will be voted on at the end of each session. A tracking sheet will be provided in each chamber for the PO to complete and the judges will verify at the end of each session. If a bill is tabled and has not been debated, it may carry over to the next session. Once a speech has been given on a bill, it must be tabled or voted upon by the end of the session and cannot be removed from the table in a later session.
2 1 0
Points could be deducted: Debater is out of the chamber for an excessive amount of time Debater is disruptive during session Debater has not participated throughout the majority of the session (inattentive, reading during session, playing games, sleeping, etc.) Debater uses rude, offensive language or behavior Debater participates only during short intervals which would indicate sporadic attention and participation
On the seating chart, judges should indicate reasons for major point discrepancies. Both judges must agree on the points assigned and sign the seating charts.
Revised, September, 2010