To register for a league invitational tournament, you will need (1) the name and contact information of an official school representative attending the full day of the competition, (2) participarting student names, (3) participating judge names, (4) information regarding judge certification for each registered judge, (5) school waiver document, and (6) affirmation of Claremont McKenna College’s minors policy for sponsored events. 

To register for a league invitational tournament, please send an email with the subject line “HSPDP Registration – Name of Event” to Katie Na, katherinena13@gmail.com, and Maya Kurkhill, mkurkhill@gmail.com, HSPDP Southern California League Presidents. The school coach or a person designated by the coach should submit registration – there should be one party registering per school.

If you are registering for a league workshop, teacher or student conference, or event at Claremont McKenna College, please send an email with the name of the event in the subect line to John Meany, Director of Forensics at Claremont McKenna College and Director of the Public Debate Program, john.meany@cmc.edu. 

Unless otherwise noted, registration needs to arrive by Wednesday, 6:00 PM, prior to the date of a league tournament (e.g., for an event on Saturday, November 11, the deadline for registration would be Wednesday, November 8, 6:00 PM).

That is the registration deadline for all league invitational tournaments, that is, the Saturday/Sunday competitions during the school year, with the exception of the championship tournament. Coaches may submit registration anytime prior to the deadline.

Please let Katie Na and Maya Kurkhill know if there is an emergency and you need to extend the deadline for a particular tournament or make changes prior to the start of a tournament. The request for an extension must arrive prior to the deadline. Text messages should be sent to the league presidents and the tournament tab director for any last minute registration changes.Teachers will receive cell phone contact numbers prior to each event.

Eligibility – Team Members

HSPDP teams have 3 members. Coaches may not register 2-person teams. Exception – After forming and registering teams, a coach may request that one additional 2-person team may be entered at a tournament (e.g., there are 8 students available for a tournament, 2 3-person teams and one 2-person team.) This is an exceptional circumstance; students may not regularly debate as part of a 2-person team. Generally speaking, a coach may not divide 4 students into 2 two-person teams for a competition. Rather, 4 people constitutes one official team and one additional person seeking a debate partner. The tournament staff will work with registering schools to accommodate as many students as possible, although it is helpful for schools to find more debaters so that their entries are for 3-person teams.

Required Registration Information

The registration should have the following information:

• Name of school

• Name of coach or responsible school party attending the tournament

• Mobile phone number of coach or responsible school party attending the tournament

• List of teams –

Teams should be listed by three full names, for example,

1. Helen Doe and Justin Doe and Jennifer Doe

2. Monique Doe and Charles Doe and Darius Doe

• List of judges –

1. Geoffrey Doe, certified

Eligibility – Judges

A school must register 1 certified judge for every two teams or fraction thereof. Please do not attempt to register teams without sufficient judges. That means the name of one person for 1-2 teams, the names of 2 judges for 3-4 teams, the names of three judges for 5-6 teams, etc. A judge must be available for all 4 debates unless a judging responsibility is shared among more than 1 person. It is possible, for example, to have several people, each serving part-time, to meet the requirement for a single judge (to provide judging for 2 teams, 1 judge is responsible for 4 debates or 2 judges for 2 debates each or 4 judges for 1 debate each.) If one judge is available for the first 2 debates and another judge is available for the latter 2 debates, that is only equal to 1 total judge (one person for all four debates), which would permit 2 teams to register for the competition. If registered judges do not arrive at the event, it may be necessary to withdraw one or more of a school’s teams from debates.

If a school is new to the HSPDP or does not yet have certified judges, please contact Katie Na and Maya Kurkhill to accommodate teams at events, until such time that the school can secure certified judges for entries. Judge certification for coaches, teachers, parents, and community volunteers is available at workshops prior to competitions and every HSPDP tournament. It is possible to complete certification during a tournament but it is not possible to both complete certification and judge at the same event.

High school students may not judge high school contests. Judges must be MS/HSPDP-certified. It is possible to receive certification prior to or at a debate tournament. Teachers and school administrators, parents and family members, college students, and community volunteers who have completed middle school certification are eligible to judge at high school events. 

Judges should be listed by full name.

Sample Registration

Graham Bell Academy

Joanna Doe, coach

555.222.3333

Teams

1. Helen Doe and Justin Doe and Jennifer Doe

2. Monique Doe and Charles Doe and Darius Doe

Judges

1. Geoffrey Doe, certified