Rupert's Land Debate & Public Speaking Tournament (Senior Provincial Qualifier)
Balmoral Hall School invites you to the annual Rupert's Land Debate and Public Speaking Tournament for Grade 10 to Grade 12 students, to be held Sunday, December 10, 2023. A complete agenda is located further down in this invitation.
On the day of the tournament, registration for competitors is from 8:45 to 9:00 a.m. Registration for judges in the morning is from 8:45 to 9:00 a.m. Registration for judges in the afternoon is from 12:40 to 1:00 p.m.
Each competitor must enter either the Persuasive Speaking or the Impromptu Speaking sections in the morning and all competitors must compete in the Parliamentary Debating section of the tournament in the afternoon. Note: While there will be an option to choose between Impromptu and Persuasive Speaking in the morning, if the student wishes to qualify for the National Public Speaking Championships, the student MUST compete in the persuasive speaking category. The Debating will be coordinate impromptu style. This means that the competitors will have a different partner each round, and the partner will not be from the same school.
Individual scores will be the total of the 4 rounds of scores completed by the individual. There will be awards for the top 3 individuals in each category, the top 3 individuals overall, and the top 3 schools, based on the combined scores of the top 3 competitors from each school. The top 4 speakers from different schools in the top half of the tournament will represent Manitoba at the National Public Speaking Championships at SJR from February 10 to 12, 2024. Four additional competitors will also be named; however, only if they are able to provide an adult judge for the entire national competition.
In order to ensure your spot at this tournament, coaches must register their students before Wednesday, November 22. Please use the specific registration form at the end of this letter.
Competitors should also register independently and acknowledge that they understand the code of conduct rules for this tournament by November 29. This information will be necessary to determine if additional competitors can be accepted from your school. Please use the specific registration form at the end of the letter.
There is a maximum of 6 students per school. Please indicate if you would like to enter more students, and I will do my best to accommodate you. I will announce additional spots on Monday, November 27.
Schools must bring a minimum of one judge for every two competitors. The same judge can remain for the entire day, or the judging role can be shared by two different judges, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. If you are able to bring additional judges, please let me know so that I can ensure there are an adequate number of judges for the tournament. Anyone who has graduated from high school is eligible to judge, and no previous debate judging experience is necessary. Conferral judging will take place for both public speaking and debate. All judges must register, prior to December 1. Please use the specific registration form shared at the end of the letter.
Please note that we are asking for $20.00 per student and observing adult to cover the costs of snacks, juice, coffee, and lunch. The competitor, judge, and observer registration documents ask for dietary restrictions to be noted. All competitors are required to remain on campus for the lunch period as there will be only 45 minutes allocated for lunch. There is no cost to the judges and coaches who help with the judging for the entire day. Adults who are not assisting with judging or are observing will be charged the $20.00 fee for refreshments during the day. If you are not judging, please use the specific registration form shared at the end of the letter. An accurate list of individuals in the building and intentions for the day will assist in our preparation of meals. Thank you for your understanding.
For meals, please provide one cheque from your school, and please make it payable to: Balmoral Hall School. We will collect the money at the desk for competitor registration. This value should NOT be combined with any MSDA Membership Fees as these are 2 separate entities.
Please find below::
1. Guidelines for Persuasive Speaking
2. Guidelines for Impromptu Speaking
3. Agenda
4. A link to the Parliamentary Debating Rules on the MSDA website: https://sites.google.com/site/manitobadebate/resources-for-debaters-and-coaches/rules-and-scoresheets/parliamentary-debate-rules
The speaking time for constructive speeches is 6 minutes, and 3 minutes will be allocated for final rebuttals. Points of Information should be raised during constructive speeches after the first minute and before the last minute, leaving 1 minute of protected time for each constructive speech.
Please email me if you have any questions, or phone me at 204-784-1600 ext. 637. I look forward to seeing you at the 2023 Rupert’s Land Debate and Public Speaking Tournament.
Sincerely,
Carissa Balcaen
cbalcaen@balmoralhall.ca
Registration Forms:
School Participation Registration Form:
https://forms.gle/AQ2WXy9xUR1nz4nz8
Competitor Registration Form (Completed After School Registration by Coach):
https://forms.gle/tN8DunKszHLLkiMk6
Judge Registration Form:
https://forms.gle/dNhEtk2oSi1irpqK7
Non-Judging Coach / Observer Registration Form:
https://forms.gle/KHVNSkhG8ehSgHfc8
