Heart Of Texas District Qualifier

for the 2026 National Tournament

School Judge Obligations

Schools can enter their own judges for the Speech and Debate judge categories like they would for a normal tournament. However, all school judges must be available for the duration of the tournament. Additionally, coaches must answer 'Yes' to each of the questions below for every judge they enter.

-Has this person judged at least 10 rounds this year in this category?
-Assuming there were no conflicts, would you want this person as a judge for your own students?

Schools cannot enter their own judges for Congress. Any school with entries in Congress must pay at least 1 judge fee and a maximum of 2 judge fees depending on number of entries. It was not possible to block schools from adding their own Congress judges, but if you do by accident or otherwise, they will be deleted.

If a school-provided judge is deemed by the committee as unusable due to an excessive number of conflicts, that judge will be deleted and the school will have to provide a different judge or pay the missing judge fee. This determination will be made after entries close on Friday, February 20.

Lastly, please remember that payment must be brought to the tournament. A purchase order or other proof of payment will not be accepted. If you have Congress entries, this means you need to bring your payment on the morning of Friday, February 27. Otherwise, your payment will be owed before your students compete in their first event.