Blaikie Cup

Bill Blaikie Cup 2015-16

University of Winnipeg

Time: Sunday, January 31, 2016. Registration from 9 - 9:15. Awards at 5:45.

Location: University of Winnipeg main campus, 515 Portage Avenue. (Easiest entrance is the one on Portage. Walk north from Portage past the castle-like building and enter through the glass doors)

Style: 3 rounds of impromptu British Parliamentary debate, followed by a finals round, which 4 teams break into, to decide the champions. Let your debaters know to expect challenging resolutions, and university-style judging. After the 1^st round, a tabbing software will be used to pair teams with similar point totals.

Judging: Debaters will be judged by experienced judges only. Teams will be ranked 1-4 in the room, and these rankings will be used to determine the break at the end of the tournament. The first 2 rounds will be open adjudication. Judges will have a maximum of 10 minutes to confer, at which point debaters will re-enter the room. The chair judge will then tell the debaters how each team placed, with a brief explanation of their process (this is called a Reason For Decision, or RFD). The third round will be closed adjudication, to preserve suspense for who will make it to the finals.

Awards: The team that wins the tournament will have their names engraved in the Blaikie Cup trophy, as will the individual who receives the highest speaker’s scores over the length of the tournament. In addition, the four teams that make the finals will be invited to participate in a CUSID (university league) tournament hosted by the UWDS later in the spring (date TBA, probably early March).

Registration cost: $20 per team. If you cannot pay the full price (or if you cannot pay any part of it), please contact us and we will find a way to subsidize the cost. We do not want to alienate any schools from participating, or deter debaters who wish to get university level experience.

Notes: Debaters will be given time for lunch; they may bring their own from home, or purchase food from one of the many establishments around the university.

The phone number of the tournament’s coordinator, Ariel Melamedoff: 204-223-6973. He will assist you and/or your students in finding their way to the right place if they are lost. The registration deadline is January 23^rd. Register by sending an email to uofwdebatesociety@live.com. The email should specify how many teams your school wishes to send to the tournament, and the name and phone number of the chaperone that will be coming with them.