Dear Fellow DANEIS Coaches,

On behalf of the Phillips Academy Philomathean Society, we are writing to invite you to participate in the Andover Invitational Debate Tournament, to be held on Sunday, October 23, 2016. The tournament will consist of three rounds of Parliamentary debate (straight resolutions) for both novice and advanced divisions. Points of Information will be permitted and encouraged. Points of Order, Points of Personal Privilege, and heckling will not be permitted.

Awards will be given to the top three novice and advanced speakers, (the top speaker from each school will also be acknowledged), the top three novice and advanced two-person teams and the top three schools. The top speaker in the Advanced Division at this tournament qualifies to attend the World Debate Tournament next spring.

The day will begin with registration in the Lobby of George Washington Hall from 9:00 a.m.– 10:00 a.m. Breakfast will be provided in Paresky Commons beginning at 9:00. Briefings for Debaters and Judges will begin promptly at 10:15 and round one will begin at 11:00. After the conclusion of the third round of debate, at approximately 2:15, a full lunch will be provided for the debaters and judges in Paresky Commons. We anticipate that the brief awards ceremony will conclude by 3:30.

New resolutions will be provided for each of the three rounds. While no redefinition will be necessary, there will be a 2-minute definition-of-terms period during which all debaters must stay in the room with the judge and agree to terms before the 10-minute preparation time begins. During the 10-minute preparation period, the government should repair to the hallway to prepare separately. As with all DANEIS tournaments, it is strictly understood that teams may not consult any reference materials (electronic or otherwise) during their preparation time or during the actual debate. Teams that violate these rules will be disqualified from the tournament.

The format will be as follows:

Prime Minister – 5 minute constructive
Member of the Opposition – 8 minute speech
Minister of the Crown – 8 minute speech
Leader of the Opposition – 8 minute speech including rebuttal
Prime Minister – 3 minute rebuttal

Each school may register up to two four-person teams in each division, and must also provide one judge for each four-person team. In accordance with DANEIS league rules, student judges will not be permitted to judge advanced debates, and students judging in the novice division must be experienced debaters who have competed in DANEIS tournaments at the advanced level. Parents of students debating in the tournament should judge only in the division in which their student is not participating. In order to save tournament time, the briefing for debaters and judges will be limited to answering questions and explaining logistics. All schools are expected to have briefed their judges thoroughly on the rules, format, and the scoring techniques of parliamentary debating before arriving at the tournament. Judging materials and directions will be sent to confirmed schools the week before the event.

Please email Hijoo Son as soon as possible indicating the number of teams that you would like to register in each division. Fees for the debate are $75 for each four-person team and $15 per observer, and are payable at registration. Registration preference will be given to schools that host DANEIS tournaments. Once registrations from host schools are processed, available spots will be filled in order of request. This tournament fills every year. Please be considerate and only reserve spaces for teams that you are highly confident that you will be able to bring. Names of your debaters and judges are due no later than October 16th. Final registrations will be confirmed once these are received.

We very much look forward to welcoming you and your debaters in a little less than one month.

Hijoo Son, Faculty Advisor to the Philomathean Society

Dear Fellow Debaters:

The St. Sebastian’s Debate Team cordially invites you to participate in our eleventh NOVICE (Grades 7-9) Parliamentary Extemporaneous Debate Tournament on Sunday, October 9, 2016. The tournament will consist of three rounds of Parliamentary debate. We will be debating straight resolutions and using only points of information (no points of order, personal privilege or heckling). Each school may register one or two four-person novice teams (teams should include a judge as well; St. Sebastian’s will not provide judges). Schools may register by e-mail to: michael_nerbonne@stsebs.org. Please respond by Friday, September 30. Fees for the debate are $60 per four-person team and $15 per observer. Checks should be made payable to St. Sebastian’s School. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call us at 617-462-3651. We also request that you call us at 617-462-3651 on the morning of the tournament, between the hours of 8:00 and 10:00, to report any changes in your final registration.

The schedule for the day is as follows:

The maximum length and order of speeches are as follows:

A 30-second grace period will be allowed for each debater, after which the speech will be terminated. The Government will be given 2 minutes to define the terms in the room with the Opposition and the judge, followed by a 10-minute preparation time for both teams. The Government Team should repair to the hallway for the preparation period. Debaters are strictly forbidden from consulting any reference materials during the preparation period or during the debate. Violation of this rule will warrant disqualification from the tournament.

Directions to St. Sebastian’s can be found on our website. Please note that registration, meals and all of the debates will take place in the Academic Building.

Information on rules, scoring, points of information, etc. can be found in the rules section of our league website at www.daneis.org. Please see the five PDFs under the heading “DANEIS Parliamentary Debate with POIs.” We ask that your debaters and judges be thoroughly familiar with all of this information prior to the tournament as we will have just a short time for the judges’ and debaters’ briefing on the day of the debate. There are also a couple of helpful videos in the members’ section of the website.

We look forward to seeing you on October 9, and express our appreciation for your participation.

Michael P. Nerbonne
Debate Coach

Dear Colleagues and Members of DANEIS,

You are invited to the Stoneleigh-Burnham School Public Speaking Tournament. Our tournament will be held on Sunday, October 2, 2016, and will include three speaking opportunities in this order:

1. Interpretive Reading (mandatory)
2. Impromptu Speaking (mandatory)
3. After-Dinner or Persuasive Speaking (choose one)

Speakers and their coaches should arrive between 10:30 and 11:15 a.m. Our brunch will be the only food served during the day. Event guidelines are enclosed and should answer all other questions. This year, in an effort to reduce the number of speakers in each room, we are expanding the number of rooms from five to eight. We will need two judges in each room, so we will need sixteen judges. We are allowing up to six speakers from each school. If we have our usual ten schools, and six of those ten bring two judges, we will be alright. So, if you are bringing one to four speakers, bring one judge; if you are bringing five or six speakers, bring two judges. To be eligible for team awards, you must register at least four speakers. Only the top four speakers from a school will be averaged for awards.

First, second, and third place will be awarded in each of the categories. Team trophies will also be awarded to first, second, and third place finishers. An overall tournament winner will be named. Please read your event guidelines carefully and remember that all After Dinner and Persuasive speeches must be original. Impromptu speeches must be just that — Impromptu!

Please respond by Monday, September 26. Looking forward to seeing you all again.

Sincerely,
Dr. Paul C. Bassett
Karen Pleasant
Victoria Subritzky-Katz and Julia Thayer, Debate Society Presidents

Dear Fellow Debaters,

The Roxbury Latin School Debate Society cordially invites you to participate in our Parliamentary Debate Tournament on Sunday, September 18, 2016. There will be both Novice and Advanced divisions. With all DANEIS parliamentary debates now using extemporaneous straight resolutions and allowing only Points of Information (no Points of Order, no Points of Personal Privilege, no heckling), we hope that you will be able to join us for this league opener. Attached is a file that contains the complete package of DANEIS Parliamentary materials for prepping judges and debaters. It takes time to read through these materials, so please be sure to give new judges this material well in advance. As always, there will be new resolutions for each of the three rounds. While no redefinition will be necessary, there will be a two minute definition-of-terms period, where all debaters must stay in the room with the judge and speaker to agree to terms before the 10-minute preparation time begins. During the 10-minute preparation period, the Government should repair to the hallway to prepare separately from the Opposition. As with all DANEIS tournaments, it is strictly understood that teams may not consult any reference materials of any kind (electronic or otherwise) during their preparation time or during the actual debate. Teams that violate these rules will be disqualified from the tournament. The format will be as follows:

Each school may enter no more than one four-person team in each division, and must also provide one judge for each four-person team. In accordance with DANEIS league rules, student judges will not be permitted to judge advanced debates, and students judging in the novice division must be experienced debaters who have competed in DANEIS tournaments at the advanced level. Parents of students debating in the advanced division should judge ONLY in the NOVICE division.