• :: Debate Home
• :: Henry Clay Debates
• :: Ohio Valley Invitational
• :: Tournament of Champions
• :: Lincoln Douglas Institutes
• :: Policy & Public Forum Institutes
• :: Scholarships
• :: Contact Us
• :: JULIA BURKE award

• Debate Home
• UK Home
• Chellgren Center
• Visitors
• Site Index
• Search

Tournament of Champions (TOC), May, 2008

Download TOC Details (MS Word File)

Download forms

• Registration & Fee Worksheet
• Entry Form for LINCOLN-DOUGLAS Debate
• Entry Form for POLICY Debate
• Entry Form for PUBLIC FORUM Debate
• Entry Form for STUDENT CONGRESS Debate
• At-Large Bid Application for LD, POLICY & PUBLIC FORUM
• At-Large Bid Application for STUDENT CONGRESS

SUBMIT A NOMINATION FOR THE "JULIA BURKE" AWARD

The Kentucky National High School Tournament of Champions in Lincoln-Douglas, Policy Debate, Public Forum and Student Congress

Hosted by the University of Kentucky Student Forum
May 3, 4 & 5, 2008
Professor J.W. Patterson, Tournament Director

TOURNAMENT HOTEL - "RADISSON PLAZA HOTEL"
Located Downtown
Special Rate: $99 a night, up to four people
859-231-9000; Ask for reservations, then mention UK Debate
After 5:00 P.M. call 800-333-3333
After 5:00 P.M call 800-333-3333
SPECIAL AMENITIES: FREE PARKING & FREE WIRELESS INTERNET
RESERVATIONS DEADLINE: APRIL 11, 2008
SURCHARGE FOR DROPPING MORE THAN ONE ROOM AFTER APRIL 11, 2008: $100
SURCHARGE FOR DROPPING ANY ROOM AFTER TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2008: $99 PER ROOM

SPONSORED EVENTS: Policy Debate, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Student Congress Debate and Public Forum Debate.

TOURNAMENT PHILOSOPHY

Now in its 37th year, the Tournament of Champions serves as the forum of competition for the nation's very best Lincoln-Douglas, Policy, Public Forum and Student Congress debaters. A public service of the University of Kentucky Student Forum and Henry Clay Debate Council, the TOC strives to offer the national high school debate community the highest quality judging, impartial tournament officials, and a friendly, congenial atmosphere. Dr. J.W. Patterson, Director of Forensics at UK and TOC Tournament Director welcomes all championship competitors who qualify to compete at the National Tournament of Champions--America's foremost debate competition.

IMPORTANT FOR TOC 2008

1. TOURNAMENT HOTEL

   The official tournament hotel will be the Radisson Plaza Hotel located in downtown Lexington at 369 West Vine Street (Broadway and Vine). Call 859-231-9000 ask for reservations then mention UK Debate After 5:00 p.m. call 800-333-3333. The hotel offers free parking for cars, vans and busses as well as free wireless internet.

2. NUISANCE FEE INSTALLED:

   Schools that do not meet the deadline for entries, entry fees and judge philosophies will be charged a nuisance fee of $50 per entry. In addition, such schools will not be given permission to participate in the judge selection process.

3. NO HIRED JUDGES AVAILABLE:

   Kentucky will have no hired judges in any divisions. In all divisions, if requested, we will direct judges to you if people have contacted us wanting to be hired.

4. JUDGE APPROVAL:

   If your judge is someone other than your Director of Debate or full time Debate Coach hired by the school, you need to submit with your application the judge ' qualifications for approval by the TOC in Lexington.

5. REGISTRATION FRIDAY EVENING ONLY:

   We are requiring all debaters participating in Round 1 to register Friday evening by 11:30 p.m. You may register between 6:30 and 11:30 at the Radisson Plaza Hotel, 369 West Vine Street (Broadway and Vine) in downtown Lexington. Please ask at the hotel Registration Desk for the specific location for TOC registration. Please try to keep within this time frame. Please note that there is no Saturday morning registration. If you see that you cannot make it Friday evening, please call the Radisson Plaza Hotel at 859-231-9000 and ask for J. W. Patterson.

6. JUDGING PHILOSOPHIES:

   Please post judging philosophies to: /http://www.thendca.org/philosophies/v2/. If a school has not submitted judging philosophies for all of its judges seven days before the TOC, that school will be charged a nuisance fee of $50 and will not be offered a preference and strike sheet for the TOC.

7. GHOST BIDS:

   A team or a LD debater must win at least one elimination round to be eligible for a ghost bid. For example, if a tournament breaks at the double-octas level and is a TOC qualifier at the octos level, if two people or teams from the same school met in octos round, a ghost bid would be awarded. If a tournament breaks at the octos level and is a TOC qualifier at the quarters level, if two people or teams from the same school met in the quarters, a ghost bid would be awarded.

8. TWO QUALIFIERS REQUIRED:

   In all four divisions, debaters must have two qualifiers to qualify for the TOC. In both Policy and Public Forum debate, debaters must have two qualifiers as a team to qualify. If a debater or a team does not have two qualifiers, they may submit for an at-large. If a debater or team has only one qualifier, they may submit for an at-large.

9. MINIMUM JUDGING:

   If requested, we are asking each Director, Coach and all support staff in both LD, Policy and Public Forum to judge a minimum of two rounds in the prelims and be available for all out rounds.

10. AT-LARGE BIDS:

    In applying for an at-large bid in all divisions, the applicant is free to include on the back side any additional information that they think will be helpful to the Advisory Committee. Do not include extra sheets of paper. We send one page only to the Committee.

TOURNAMENT FORMAT

1. General Information:

   The Tournament offers championship-level competition in Lincoln-Douglas, Policy Debate, Public Forum and Student Congress. In LD and policy, the tournament will include seven preliminary rounds with the final four rounds being power-matched. In LD and Policy, elimination rounds shall begin with octafinals (top 16 entries advancing) provided that there are forty or more entries per division.

2. Debate Topics:

   Lincoln-Douglas debaters shall debate the January-February 2008 NFL L-D topic and Public Forum debaters will debate the April topic for PFD to be announced March 1st by the National Forensic League. Policy debate teams shall debate the 2007-08 national high school topic.

3. Debate Formats:

   The Lincoln-Douglas Debate format is 6-3-7-3-4-6-3 with five minutes of preparation time for each debater.
   Policy Debate uses the cross-examination format 8-3-5 which consists of eight-minute constructives, three-minute cross-examination periods, five-minute rebuttals, and ten minutes of preparation for each team.
   Public Forum Debate will be the same as NFL.

JUDGING REQUIREMENTS AND INFORMATION

General information:

Each entry must be covered by a qualified school-provided debate judge. Unless the judge is the director of debate or an assistant debate coach employed by that school, the judge must be approved by the Tournament Director. This includes debate judges who are hired by schools specifically to cover their judging commitments at the Tournament of Champions. Judges must be at minimum, a second year college student or at least one-year out of high school competition. Unless they are the official coach hired full time by the school, parents are ineligible to judge. Please contact the Tournament Director if you have any questions about judge qualifications. AN ADULT MUST ACCOMPANY THE DEBATERS. The REGISTRAR or PRINCIPAL must sign the entry form stating that the entrant/entrant team is eligible to receive a diploma at the school they are representing at the TOC.

Judging Commitments:

Lincoln-Douglas:

If a school has 1 LD debater entered, the school is obligated to cover 4 double flighted rounds.
If a school has 2 LD debaters entered, the school is obligated to cover 7 double flighted rounds.
If a school has 3 LD debaters entered, the school is obligated to cover 11 double flighted rounds.
If a school has 4 LD debaters entered, the school is obligated to cover 14 double flighted rounds.
If a school has 5 LD debaters entered, the school is obligated to cover 18 double flighted rounds.

Policy Debate:

You must provide 5 rounds of judging for each team. Thus two teams require 10 rounds of judging, three teams require 15 rounds, four teams require 20, etc.

• 1 team: Needs 1 judge for 5 rounds.
• 2 teams: Needs 2 judges to cover 10 rounds.
• 3 teams: Need 3 judges to cover 15 rounds.
• 4 teams: Needs 4 judges to cover 20 rounds.
• 5 teams: Needs 5 judges to cover 25 rounds.

Public Forum:

Each school is required to furnish 1 judge for two teams.

Student Congress:

Each school is required to furnish 1 judge per school.

Preliminary and elimination round commitments:

School-provided judges must be available for all preliminary rounds and one round past the final elimination of their students in that event. Run-offs are not considered elimination rounds. So, for example, if your last student is eliminated in quarterfinals, one of your judges must be available to judge the semifinal round. If a school does not clear any competitors into elimination rounds, school-provided judges are committed for the first elimination round only (usually octofinals on Monday morning).

Missed ballot policy and fines:

School-provided judges who fail to pick-up their assigned ballots shall be fined at a rate of $20.00 per round. Fines must be settled by the end of Round VII or participants from that school will not be allowed to compete in elimination rounds. In addition, results sheets, ballots, and awards will not be distributed to the school until all fines and other financial obligations are settled.

Disclosure of decisions and oral critique policy:

The Tournament serves as both a competitive and educational forum for the nation's best debaters, coaches, and judges. As such, the Tournament encourages judge-debater interaction by making decision disclosures and oral critiques in all four debate divisions, but only after the decision has been made in writing on the official Tournament ballot.

COACH / SUPERVISING ADULT RESPONSIBILITIES

Availability for consultation with Tournament Officials:

Coaches should be on-site and available for consultation with the Tournament Director and/or Tabulation Room Officials who will seek out the coach for decisions regarding their debaters. If a reasonable attempt has been made to locate the coach without success, Tournament officials reserve the right to make decisions on behalf of the coach.

Medical emergencies:

The Tournament expects the coach or supervising adult of each debater to be available at the tournament site and have proper school and parental authorization to arrange for medical transportation, care, and payment in the event of an emergency. Since nearly all debaters are minors, the coach should have proper medical releases and parental authorizations for each debater should they be required by a physician, hospital, law enforcement agency, and/or assistance provider. The Tournament cannot assume responsibility for any emergencies or expenses.

Debaters without their school coach and independent entries:

The Tournament will accept debaters without a debate coach, provided an accompanying adult is responsible for them. The adult can be a parent, a teacher, or a coach from another school. The name of the accompanying adult must be listed on the entry form. The supervising adult must also have proper medical releases and parental authorizations for each debater as outlined in the previous paragraph. We must also have a written statement from the coach and the parents approving that person as a chaperone.

TOURNAMENT QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

General information:

The qualification eligibility period for the 2008 Tournament of Champions begins September 1, 2007, and ends on March 1, 2008. Debaters and coaches should retain results sheets from each tournament attended during the 2007-08 season. Each school may submit applications for as many debaters who meet the tournament eligibility guidelines.

Fully-qualified entry information:

Participants in all divisions are considered TOC-qualified if they earn two or more qualifying legs. A âqualifying leg is earned when an L-D debater, Policy Debate team, Student Congress debater or Public Forum team reaches or surpasses the designated elimination round at a TOC-approved tournament. See the Approved Tournament section for the lists of TOC-approved tournaments for 2007-08 in all divisions. Both members of a policy debate team or a Public Forum debate team, must be from the same school--there are NO EXCEPTIONS to this rule. Applications are accepted based on the following criteria:

• Three or more qualifying legs guarantees admission into the Tournament;
• Participation in elimination rounds of the 2007 TOC tournament guarantees admission, provided that the application is submitted by Friday, February 1, 2008.
• Two qualifying legs guarantees admission into the Tournament, provided that there are seventy or fewer fully qualified entries. If there are more than seventy entries, the TOC Advisory Committees shall examine and rank the two-qualifier applications for their respective events and the Tournament Director will admit the most qualified entries.

Each team or debater in each division should apply to the Tournament using their own separate entry form and the coach should complete the School Registration and Fee Worksheet form. Feel free to photocopy the entry forms if you have multiple TOC entries. It is very important that entry forms be filled out completely and neatly. Each year it is impossible to read some e-mail addresses. Please write legibly. The coach's e-mail address should be on all forms, not student's e-mail address. You must use our entry form. Do not submit an entry on a white typed sheet of paper.

You must submit the following with your entry form:

• School Registration and Fee Worksheet filled out in full with signature of Director/Coach at the bottom certifying that none of his judges are in their first year out of high school. This must be signed.
• Entry form for each team or debater filled out in full with principal signature.
• Check covering all fees. You must submit all fees by April 1, 2008. Checks covering all fees must be in Lexington by April 1, 2008. If the full registration fee is not in Lexington by this date, entries will not be accepted as fully qualified. We do not have the time to write, call or e-mail you asking for registration fees when you know in advance what is required. There will no exceptions made on this.

Remember, the fully qualified application deadline is Friday, March 14, 2008, at 5:00 pm EST for all divisions. This means we must receive it in our office by Friday, March 14, not postmarked Friday, March 14th.

At-large qualification entry information:

If there are fewer than 68 fully qualified entries in an event, additional entries will be admitted into the Tournament on space-available basis. Eligible at-large applicants must meet the following minimum criteria and the Tournament Director will accept the most qualified applicants to fill the field:

• The at-large applicant(s) must have earned at least one leg to apply. Applications submitted without one leg will not be considered and refunds will not be made.
• The at-large applicant must specify at the top of the page on the at-large application where the qualifier was received.
• The at-large applicant(s) in Lincoln Douglas and Policy must have earned a 60% or greater win-loss percentage at all tournaments attended during the 2005-06 debate season.
• The at-large applicant(s) must earn the TOC Advisory Committee's recommendation.
• The at-large applicant(s) must be accepted by the TOC Tournament Director. A $80 non-refundable application fee must accompany each application in order to be processed for consideration. Do not include any entry, judging or breakfast fees with your at-large.

How to apply for an at-large bid:

• List the tournament at which you earned your qualifying leg first.
• Check the appropriate box for either Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Policy Debate or Public Forum.
• Complete the contact information including first and last names of debater(s).
• Print or type coach's e-mail address (not student's e-mail address) legibly. This is how you will be contacted concerning your at-large status.
• List all tournaments attended during the 2007-08 competition season. See sample for format. Be sure to indicate which tournaments were TOC-qualifying tournaments by placing an asterisk (*) before the name of the tournament.
• Enter prelim round W/L record and enter judge panel decisions for each elim round (3-0, 1-2, etc.)
• Calculate and enter the W/L records and percentages for both preliminary and elimination rounds.
• Attach a check or money order for $80.00 payable to Student Forum to cover at-large application processing expenses. This charge covers processing expenses and is non-refundable. Important note: Applications received without the $80.00 processing fee will be returned without further consideration. This also applies to promises that the fee will be paid later.
• Do not prepay any entry, judging or breakfast fees with your at-large. This only creates problems if your at-large is not accepted and this office will be unable to make refunds until after the tournament. We will inform you of your at-large status and remaining fees due if your at-large is accepted. The only check accompanying your at-large application should be $80 processing fee.
• Print or type your application neatly and in black ink; each application must be very clear because they are photocopied and/or faxed for TOC Advisory Committee review.
• You must use our at-large form. Do not submit an at-large application on a typed white sheet of paper.
• You must fill out all information on the at-large form, including telephone and fax numbers and e-mail address. This information is used for all correspondence, including notification of at-large status. If we do not have this information or it is not legible, we will be unable to notify you. We will notify by e-mail of your at-large status. If you do not have e-mail, we will notify by fax.
• If either of the people applying for an at-large have debated with other partners, please list name and record on the back of the at-large application.

If an at-large entry attended more than nineteen tournaments, please enter remaining tournament information on the back side of the form. The statistical win/loss and percentage information, which reflects all tournaments attended, should be entered in the appropriate boxes at the bottom of the application form.

Remember, the at-large application deadline for all divisions is Friday, March 14, 2008, at 5:00 pm EST. This means we must receive it in our office by Friday, March 14th, not postmarked Friday, March 14th.

Permissions, public disclosure, and verification policy:

By submitting entry applications to the Tournament, both coaches and debaters certify that their applications are complete and correct. Submission of an entry form or at-large bid application grants permission for the information contained in the entry/application form to be distributed to TOC Advisory Committee members, TOC Tournament Officials, tournament directors of TOC-qualifying tournaments, and posted on electronic distribution sources such as CX-L and LD-L for community and peer review. Permission is also granted for Tournament Officials to verify any information included on the application.

Mailing address for entry form and payment:

Submit your entry forms and payment via U.S. Postal Service or overnight courier service to:

Professor J.W. Patterson, Director of Debate and TOC Tournament Director
National Tournament of Champions Entry
225 Funkhouser Building, University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY 40506-0054

Entry deadlines:

Fully qualified entries in all divisions must be submitted to the Tournament Director no later than Friday, March 14, 2008, at 5:00 pm EST. This means we must receive it in our office by Friday, March 14th, not postmarked Friday, March 14th. Earlier applications will be appreciated!

At-large applications in all divisions must be submitted to the Tournament Director no later than Friday, March 14, 2008, at 5:00 pm EST. This means we must receive it in our office by Friday, March 14th, not postmarked Friday, March 14th.

Entries qualified by virtue of participation in the elimination rounds of the previous year's TOC Tournament should enter no later than Friday, February 1, 2008. Entries received after this date must qualify under regular qualification guidelines.

Changes after the entry deadline:

Please direct all changes to Ms. Linda Barker, Tournament Registrar, at 859-257-6523, send her a fax at 859-323-1995 or e-mail her at linda.barker@uky.edu Do not contact Dr. Patterson, as changes may never get passed on to Ms. Barker!

Payment of registration, judging, and at-large application fees:

Please make your check(s) payable to: UK Student Forum. Full registration fees must accompany the registration form or entries will not be accepted. There will be no exceptions.

At-large applications:

Please attach a check for $80.00 to each at-large application to cover processing expenses. This fee covers processing expenses and is non-refundable. Applications without the processing fee cannot be considered and will be returned. Do not include any entry, judging, breakfast or dinner fees with at-large application.

Assessment date:

Tournament fees for all divisions will be assessed as of April 1, 2008, at 5:00 p.m. EST. Schools will be responsible for registration fees assessed at that time. No refunds shall be made after the assessment date.

TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR AND REGISTRAR CONTACT INFORMATION

The Tournament Director is Dr. J.W. Patterson.

The Tournament of Champions Administrator and Tournament Registrar is Ms. Linda R. Barker.

Phone and Fax numbers:
Ms. Barker's office: 859-257-6523
Ms. Barker's e-mail: linda.barker@uky.edu
Debate Council FAX: 859-323-1995
Dr. Patterson's office: 859-257-1665
Dr. Patterson's home: 859-272-4268
Dr. Patterson's cell: 859-552-7297
Dr. Patterson's e-mail: jwpatt00@uky.edu

Web site address: http://www.uky.edu/Provost/ChellgranCenter/Debate/

Mailing and overnight courier address:
Professor J.W. Patterson
Director of Debate and TOC Tournament Director
National Tournament of Champions Entry
225 Funkhouser Building
University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY 40506-0054

Official Tournament of Champions World Wide Web (WWW) site: http://www.uky.edu/Provost/ChellgranCenter/Debate/

Please check the Official TOC web site frequently as important updates are posted here and before calling Dr. Patterson or Ms. Barker.

Qualifying legs posted on the TOC web site are subject to review and verification. If a leg is posted in error, it will not count as a qualifying leg to the TOC.

TOURNAMENT FEES

Tournament registration fees (must accompany application):

• $150.00 per Lincoln-Douglas debater who is covered by a critic-judge
• $175.00 per Policy Debate team which is covered by a critic-judge
• $175.00 per team for Public Forum Debate
• $150.00 per debater for Student Congress

At-large application processing fee (non-refundable-must accompany application):

$80.00 per at-large application (tournament registration fees due upon acceptance-do not send entry, judging or breakfast fees with at-large application)

Tournament Awards Breakfast (must accompany application):

$16.00 per person, payable in advance.

The Tournament of Champions Awards Breakfast will be held on Monday, May 5, 2008, at 8:00 am at the Radisson Plaza Hotel The cost is $16.00 per person. Reservations for the TOC Awards Breakfast should be made on your tournament registration form.

Designated Tournament Housing:

The 2008 TOC hotel will be the Radisson Plaza Hotel. The hotel is holding a block of rooms until April 11, 2008, or until the block is gone. When calling, be sure and ask for Reservations then mention UK Debate. The hotel is located in downtown Lexington at 369 West Vine Street (Broadway and Vine) and the telephone number is 859-231-900. After 5:00 p.m. call 800-333-3333. All tournament social functions as well as all out rounds will be held at the Radisson Plaza Hotel. The hotel offers free parking for cars, vans and busses as well as free wireless internet.

The Radisson Plaza Hotel
Phone: (859) 231-900 and ask for "Reservations" then mention UK Debate
After 5:00 p.m. call 1-800-333-3333
Rate: $99+ tax /per night (up to 4 in a room)
Deadline: April 11, 2008

Overflow Hotels:

In case the Radisson Plaza Hotel fills, listed below are four you can contact:

Hyatt Regency Hotel Phone: 859-253-1234

Spring Hill Suites Phone: 859-225-1500

Ramada Inn Phone: 859-299-1261

University Inn Phone: 859-278-6625

TOC-APPROVED TOURNAMENTS IN LINCOLN-DOUGLAS FOR 2007-2008

The following L-D tournaments are designated as OCTAFINAL qualifiers:

• Apple Valley (MN)
• Barkley Forum at Emory University (GA)
• The Glenbrooks (IL)
• Greenhill School (TX)
• Harvard University (MA)
• St. Marks School (TX)
• Stanford University Spring National (CA)
• University of California at Berkeley

The following L-D tournaments are designated as QUARTERFINAL qualifiers:

• Archer's School for Girls (CA)
• Blake School (MN)
• Crestian Classic (FL)
• Hendrick Hudson (NY)
• Lexington (MA)
• Mid-America Cup at Valley (IA)
• Silver and Black Invitational at Alta HS (UT)
• Wake Forest University (NC)
• Yale University (CT)

The following L-D tournaments are designated as SEMIFINAL qualifiers:

• The Bronx High School of Science (NY)
• Dowling (IA)
• Florida Blue Key (FL)
• Grapevine (TX)
• Harker (CA)
• Iowa Caucuses
• Manchester-by-the-Sea (MA)
• Monticello (NY)
• Ohio Valley Invitational (KY)
• Princeton University (NJ)
• University of Texas at Austin
• Whitman College (WA)

The following L-D tournaments are designated as FINAL ROUND qualifiers:

• Auburn Senior High School (WA)
• College Prep. (CA)
• Colleyville-Heritage (TX)
• Columbia University (NY)
• Federal Way (WA)
• Isidore Newman (LA)
• Meadows (NV)
• Memorial-Houston (TX)
• Nova (FL)
• Omaha-Westside (NE)
• Project PRIDE/Newark City Invit. (NJ)
• St. James (AL)
• Vestavia Hills (AL)
• Winston Churchill (TX)

The following tournaments/awards are INELIGIBLE as qualifiers:

• Any round-robin, summer institute, NFL, CFL, or state championship tournaments (even if conducted or hosted by schools/colleges/universities which host TOC-approved tournaments)
• Any speaker award at any tournament (even if earned at TOC-approved tournaments)
• Any tournament held outside the eligibility period (September 1, 2007 to March 1, 2008)
• Any tournament not on this approved tournament list unless added by the TOC Tournament Director. Please check the official TOC web site and if you still have questions, contact Dr. J.W. Patterson if you have any questions about the approval status of tournaments.

TOC-APPROVED TOURNAMENTS IN POLICY DEBATE FOR 2007-2008

The following policy debate tournaments are OCTAFINAL qualifiers:

• Barkley Forum at Emory University (GA)
• The Glenbrooks (IL)
• Greenhill School (TX)
• Harvard University (MA)
• Montgomery Bell Academy (TN)
• St. Marks School (TX)
• University of California at Berkeley

The following policy debate tournaments are QUARTERFINAL qualifiers:

• Blake (MN)
• Georgetown Day (DC)
• Lexington (MA)
• New Trier (IL)
• Ohio Valley Invitational (KY)
• University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
• University of Redlands (CA)
• University of Southern California
• University of Texas at Austin
• Wake Forest University (NC)

The following policy debate tournaments are SEMIFINAL qualifiers:

• Colleyville-Heritage (TX)
• Dowling (IA)
• Golden Desert (NV)
• Grapevine (TX)
• Iowa Caucus at Cedar Rapids (IA)
• Kansas City, Kansas, Community College (KS)
• Lakeland (NY)
• Maine East (IL)
• Memorial-Houston (TX)
• Mid-America Cup at Valley (IA)
• Silver and Black Invitational at Alta HS (UT)
• Stanford University Spring National (CA)
• University of Georgia
• Vestavia Hills (AL)

The following policy debate tournaments are FINAL ROUND qualifiers:

• Auburn Senior High School (WA)
• The Bronx High School of Science (NY)
• Carrollton (GA)
• Florida Blue Key
• Gonzaga (WA)
• The Head-Royce School (CA)
• La Costa Canyon (CA)
• Long Beach (CA)
• Marquette (WI)
• Meadows (NV)
• Omaha-Westside (NE)
• Samford University (AL)
• Westminster (GA)
• Whitman College (WA)

The following tournaments/awards are INELIGIBLE as qualifiers:

• Any round-robin, summer institute, NFL, CFL, or state championship tournaments (even if conducted or hosted by schools/colleges/universities which host TOC-approved tournaments)
• Any speaker award at any tournament (even if earned at TOC-approved tournaments)
• Any tournament held outside the eligibility period (September 1, 2007 to March 1, 2008)
• Any tournament not on this approved tournament list unless added by the TOC Tournament Director. Please check the official TOC website and if you still have questions, contact Dr. J.W. Patterson if you have any questions about the approval status of tournaments.

QUALIFIED TOURNAMENTS FOR STUDENT CONGRESS FOR 2007-08

1. Debaters who broke at the 2007 TOC
2. Top Six at the 2007 NFL National Tournament
3. Top Six at the 2007 CFL National Tournament

The following Student Congress debate tournaments are SEMIFINAL round qualifiers:

• The Glenbrooks (IL)
• Harvard
• NFL 2007 National Tournament
• CFL 2007 National Tournament

The following Student Congress debate tournaments are FINAL round qualifiers:

• Barkley Forum at Emory University (FL)
• University of California at Berkeley
• Crestian Classic (FL)
• Florida Blue Key
• Grapevine (TX)
• University of Texas
• Villager (PA)
• Yale (CT)
• Wake Forest (NC)

TOP SIX:

• George Mason
• The Head-Royce School (CA)
• James Logan (CA)
• Nova Titan (FL)
• Princeton University (NJ)
• University of Pennsylvania
• St. Marks
• Winston Churchill (TX)

Top Six in the Super Congress at the February Illinois Congressional Debate Association Tournament

State Tournaments

Top Six if the state has a district qualifying tournament to advance or if it has more than 48 contestants in Congress open competition.

In addition to the above, any tournament that has five states and fifty entries can qualify the top six.

TOC APPROVED TOURNAMENTS IN PUBLIC FORUM FOR 2007-08:

1. Quarterfinals at the 2007 TOC
2. Quarterfinals at the 2007 NFL National Tournament

The following Public Forum debate tournaments are OCTAFINAL qualifers:

• Barkley Forum at Emory University GA)
• Dowling (IA)
• University of California at Berkeley
• The Glenbrooks (IL)
• Harvard (MA)
• Silver & Black Invitational at Atla HS (UT)

Octafinals of the 2007 NFL National Tournament

The following Public Forum debate tournament are QUARTERFINAL qualifiers:

• Arizona State (AZ)
• Columbia University (NY)
• Crestian (FL)
• Florida Blue Key
• Manchester-by-the-Sea (MA)
• Lexington (MA)
• Ohio Valley Invitational (KY)
• Stanford (CA)
• Wake Forest University (NC)
• Yale (CT)

Any tournament with 50 teams from 5 or more states

Catholic Forensic League

The following Public Forum debate tournaments are SEMIFINAL round qualifiers:

• The Bronx High School of Science (NY)
• George Mason (VA)
• Harker (CA)
• Hendrick Hudson (NY)
• Lincoln East (NE)
• University of Pennsylvania
• Villager (PA)

The following Public Forum debate tournaments are FINAL round qualifiers:

• James Logan (CA)
• Nova Titan (FL)
• St. Marks (TX)

All NFL National Qualifiers count as 1 bid

©2006, Intercollegiate Debate Program, The Chellgren Center. University of Kentucky. Site contact. Last updated: 3/10/08. An Equal Opportunity University.