Each year we at USC The David Damus Trojan Fall Championships. It is one of the largest policy tournaments on the west coast. It is open to all schools and features policy and LD debate. Beginning in 2007 the tournament has been officially renamed for long-time Trojan debater, coach and director, David Damus. Teams reaching the quarterfinals in policy debate t earn a bid for the Tournament of Champions. This year we are pleased to also have a finals TOC bid for the LD division.
We are pleased to invite you to the 45th Annual Trojan Championships, now formally now as the David Damus Trojan Championships. The tournament will be held Friday November 7 through Sunday November 9, 2008 on the University of Southern California campus.
We are pleased to offer JV and Varsity divisions of both policy and Lincoln-Douglas debate. These events traditionally fill the approximately 110 classrooms that we have available for events. The Trojan Championships is a Tournament of Champions qualifier for policy debate in quarter-finals and a qualifier for Lincoln-Douglas in the final round.
To make the process of entering the tournament as easy as possible, please note:
All entries will be accepted through the debateresults website www.debateresults.com
All questions should be directed to the tournament director, Gordon Stables, USC Director of Debate and Forensics at stables@usc.edu or at 213-740-2759.
Warmest regards,
Gordon Stables, Ph.D.
Director of Debate and Forensics
Annenberg School for Communication
University of Southern California
Tournament Policies
Entries
Tournament entry takes place through the debateresults website www.debateresults.com It is important that we use this site because it allows us to have a much better means of managing judging. Schools may enter an unlimited number of teams in the four events we offer. There are only two factors that may limit entries:
• First-Come First Serve - We have firm room limits that will force us to monitor entries. All Entries must be listed on Debateresults by 5 pm Friday, October 17, 2008 . No entries will be taken from fax, mail or phone. We cannot ensure that we will have room for any teams or schools entered after that time.
• Uncovered Teams (i.e., teams without judges) - Schools will be limited to one hired judge per school. Teams entered that require more than one hired judge from the tournament will be placed on a waiting list.
Drops
Drops can be entered on debateresults. After October 17 th , drops must be made by sending an email to stables@usc.edu no later than 5:00 p.m. on Friday October 31, 2008. All late drops made after this day and time will be subject the full entry fee. This is to avoid large drop/adds which make running a tournament this size impossible. Please notify us of any change in your entry as soon as possible.
Rules Governing Debate Events
* In recognition that the our sponsorship of debate is based on a community of professional educators committed to promoting a respectful form of argumentation we recognize that behaviors which belittle, degrade, demean, or otherwise dehumanize others are not in the best interest of the activity because they interfere with the goals of education and personal growth. All tournament participants should recognize the rights of others and communicate with respect for opponents, colleagues, critics, tournament hosts and audience members. Any tournament guest who cannot behave in this manner will be asked to leave the tournament.
* There will be two divisions of policy debate. The varsity division is open to any student whose coach believes can profit from and be competitive in the division.
* In order to maximize the learning experience with less experience, junior varsity division is open only to students with no more than two previous semesters of debate experience.
* The format will be 8-3-5 with 10 minutes preparation time in both divisions.
* LD and Policy debaters from the same school will not meet each other in preliminary rounds and brackets will not be broken in elimination rounds.
* We will use the NFL LD TOPIC for November / December 2008
Judging Requirements
* Schools must provide one qualified judge for every two policy teams or fraction thereof, every three LD entries or fraction thereof.
* Schools are responsible for providing judges for one round beyond the elimination of their students in each event.
* We have a very limited number of hired judges. No school may hire more than 1 judge from the tournament. These judges are only available on a "first come first serve" basis. Once all hired judges are committed, we cannot add entries. If you request a hired judge, you must receive an e-mail confirmation that you have obtained that judge from the tournament. In the event that a schools judge does not show up on time or for rounds or a school cannot provide adequate judging, the tournament reserves the right to drop a schools teams from the tournament.
* Schools should provide the name, event type and any school conflicts/biases your judges may have.
* Judges must be designated for either Policy Debate or LD Debate. We have separate tournament pools and it is not possible to list judges in both events. Please express what events and what divisions your judges are best qualified to judge.
* All debate judges are committed to judge the first elimination round, and one round past where their school has advanced in elimination rounds.
Helpful Tips for the First Day of the Tournament
* We ask all schools to check-in and confirm their entries on Friday, November 7th on campus between noon and 1:30 pm. We don't have any classroom access until 2 pm, so please discourage any students or judges from entering rooms before 2 pm.
* Please print a copy of our campus map to make your travel easier.
http://www.usc.edu/private/about/visit_usc/USC_UPC_map_color.pdf
* Enter the campus through Gate 3, located at the corner of Figueroa Street and 35th St. on the east edge of campus. This is the entrance on Figueroa and located directly across from our new basketball facility, The Galen Center.
* Entry confirmation will be held in the lobby of VKC (Von Kleinscmid Center, the building with the globe on the roof). It is located at G5 on your map.
* All entry fees are due and payable at this time. Checks should be made out to the Trojan Debate Squad. All entry fees Must Be presented at registration. No entry fees will be accepted via U.S. mail. Institutional checks and cash only. No personal checks please.
Hotel Information
We have secured a block of rooms at the Sheraton Los Angeles Downtown Hotel. This is the same property that we have used in previous years. We are pleased to have secured a $109.00 per night rate for up to four guests per room at this property. We realize this is an increase over past years, but the changing nature of downtown hotel properties has made our historical rate structure difficult to maintain.
Contact the hotel at (213) 488-3500 to make reservations. Ask for the block for the 'USC High School Debate Tournament.' We strongly encourage you to use this block. It should be open for reservations by Tuesday evening, September 24 th .
There is a home football game that weekend and Los Angeles housing can be very expensive. Making reservations outside the block with the Sheraton can cost you at least $189 per night (for single occupancy) that weekend. Quad occupancy outside the block that weekend will cost you at least $209 per night.
The block is available on a first-come, first-serve basis to our guests. The block typically fills so please reserve as early as possible. You can contact them directly at:
711 South Hope Street, Los Angeles, California 90017
Phone (213) 488-3500 Fax (213) 488-4110 http://www.starwoodhotels.com/sheraton/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1598
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Friday, November 7, 2008
All Coaches, Judges, & Teams report to VKC.
Pairings will be released at 2 pm. We do not have any classroom access before 2 pm so please keep all students and coaches outside of classrooms until that time.
12:00 pm - 1:30 pm Registration / VKC Lobby Drops only & final entry confirmation
2:00 pm Pairings Released
2:30 pm Round I Policy, L.D.
4:30 pm Round II Policy, L.D.
7:30 pm Round II Policy, L.D.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
7:30 am Pairings Released
8:00 am Round IV Policy, L.D.
11:00 am Round V Policy, L.D.
1:00 - 2:30 pm Lunch Break
2:30 pm Round VI Policy, L.D.
6:00 pm Awards Assembly: Announcement of Speaker Awards & Elimination Round Participants
7:00 pm Double-Octofinals Policy, L.D.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
7:30 am Pairings Released
8:00 am Octofinals: Policy, L.D.
11:00am Quarterfinals: Policy, L.D.
3:30 pm Semifinals: Policy, L.D.
7:00 pm Finals: Policy, L.D.
*This schedule is subject to modification and change based on entry, judge and room constraints. LD elimination rounds will proceed on a single flight schedule as soon as logically possible.
Tournament Fees
Item
|
Rate Structure |
Your entries |
Total cost |
School Fee |
$20 per school |
|
$20.00 |
Policy Debate Team Entry Fee |
$90.00 per team |
|
|
LD Entry Fee |
$80.00 per entry |
|
|
Hired Policy Judge |
$90 per uncovered team (max two uncovered teams per school) |
|
|
Hired LD Judge |
$75 per uncovered student (max two uncovered students per school) |
|
|
TOTAL |
|
|
|
Fees can be paid before or at registration. Checks should be made payable to the TROJAN DEBATE SQUAD. Institutional Checks and cash only no personal checks please.
2007 Results
Policy Debate - Varsity Division
The 2006 Champion in the open division was the College Pepatory team of Tyler He and Leo Chingcuanco who defeated the Notre Dame team of Cecilia Bonaduce and Quinn Powell. Tyler He was also recognized as the top individual speaker. The full results packet, including preliminary round results, elimination round results and speaker awards is available.
Policy Debate - Junior Varsity Division
The Damien High School team of Steven Cassettari and Eric Berggren won the JV division by defeating the La Costa Canyon team of Adrianna Lucero and Carolina Palmer in the finals. Vinay Kumar of the Harker School was recognized as the top individual speaker. The full results packet, including preliminary round results, elimination round results and speaker awards is available.
Lincoln Douglas Debate - Open Division
Justin Pearce from Esperanza High School earned the LD championship by defating Stephen Wu from the Polytechnic School in the final round. Tony Baker of Harvard Westlake was recognized as the top individual speaker. The full results packet, including preliminary round results, elimination round results and speaker awards is available.
Lincoln Douglas Debate - JV Division
Sebastian Park of Grenada Hills High defeated Nathaniel Pribil of Lone Peak High School in the final round. Jessica Warr of Spanish Fork High School was recognized as the top individual speaker. The full results packet, including preliminary round results, elimination round results and speaker awards is available.
2006 Results
Policy Debate - Varsity Division
The 2006 Champion in the open division was Glenbrook North team of Matt Fisher and Stephanie Spies who defeated the Damien Team of Clint Ehrlich-Quinn and Ian Nelson. Nelson had won the JV division of the Trojan Champs in 2005. Matt Fisher, who successfully defended his 2005 Trojan Championships open division First Place finish, was also recognized the top individual speaker. Full elimination round results are available as well as full preliminary round results.
Policy Debate - Junior Varsity Division
Damien High School successfully earned a co-championship of the JV division as well as advancing over another Damien team in the semi-finals. The following three Damien teams were undefeated in the preliminary debates as shared portions of the Championship: Christan Bato, Greg Rodarte, Kevin O'Connell, Kurt Yeager, Colby Brown and Sean Hernandez. Christine Yu of the Harker School was recognized as the top individual speaker in JV. Full elimination round results are available as well as full preliminary round results.
Lincoln Douglas Debate - Open Division
Ellen Morris of La Costa Canyon defeated Josh Motley from Phoenix Central High. Taylor Pfeifer of Calabasas High School was recognized as the top individual speaker. Results for both elimination rounds and preliminary rounds are available.
Lincoln Douglas Debate - JV Division
Kanna Song and Phenia Hovsepyan of Grenada Hills Charter High School were the co-champions of the JV LD division. Sachin Rangarajan of the Harker School was the top seed, going undefeated in preliminary rounds, and top individual speaker in the JV division. Results for both elimination rounds and preliminary rounds are available.
Earlier Results
Full results from earlier Trojan Fall Championships and the California Cup are available in the results archive. |
