Judging

Judge Requirements and Eligibility:

- Judge requirements are:

- 1 judge per 5 speech entries.

- 1 judge per 2 PF/LD/Policy entries.

- 1 judge per 6 congress entries.

- All judges must have prior experience as a coach or competitor in the category they are registered to adjudicate OR must completeNSDA accreditation for the event they are judging by 11/6/25. We will apply a $20 fee per unqualified judge to each team’s invoice. Registered policy judges who are new to the activity must also complete the NSDA step 2 accreditation in policy debate.

- All judges must have a posted paradigm. We will charge a $5/judge fee + the $20/judge accreditation fee for those without.

- All judges must have a linked tabroom.com account.

Judging Procedures:

- Online ballots will be used.

- Disclosure of decisions and brief constructive feedback is permitted in debate events.

- Judges should enforce a 10-minute forfeit time.

- The first speech should begin promptly at the start time. Judges and debaters should arrive to their rooms prior to the start time to ensure the tournament can proceed on time.