Registration of debaters under special provisions for WSDC 2007

At the postal ballot held in November 2006, two proposals to temporarily amend certain World Schools Debating Championships rules relating to debater eligibility for the 2007 championship only were passed by the World Schools Debating Council.

The proposals passed by the Council were as follows:
- The WSDC Rules insist that debaters must be aged 14-18 on the day that the championship begins. For 2007 only, this rule is to be changed to allow debaters who are aged 18 on 20th February 2007 (the day the event was originally scheduled to commence before it was postponed) to participate,even if they subsequently turn 19 before the tournament begins, providedthey meet all other eligibility criteria in the WSDC Rules.
- All countries who are planning to use a 19 year-old debater under the provisions of the temporarily amended rules for 2007 shall be required to register the name of that debater with the organizers in Seoul by 20th February 2007, and provide a description of that individual's circumstances. After that date, countries will not be allowed to newly-select debaters under the provisions of the temporarily amended rules. If a debater registered under these provisions subsequently drops out of the team, they may only be replaced with a student who would meet the regular entry requirements under the WSDC Rules.(A third proposal to allow debaters who had already begun tertiary education courses to participate was also voted on at the postal ballot, but was defeated.) The registration deadline for debaters who countries intend to enter underthe temporarily amended rules noted above is 20th February 2007 (Tuesday next week).

Council Executive: Mark Gabriel - mark.gabriel@iname.com
Claire Ryan - tautoru@xtra.co.nz
Norman Leach - norman@normanleach.com
Chris Erskine - cerskine@ozemail.com.au
Trevor Sather - trevor@squareeye.com

Countries will only be allowed to use debaters who are aged 19 in July if they submit the form by 20th February. Submitting this form does not constitute an obligation to have that debater on your team. But if they subsequently drop out of the team, they may only be replaced by debaters aged 14-18 in July and who meet all the other regular WSDC eligibilitycriteria.The existing debater eligibility criteria from the WSDC Rules are: A member of a country's team must:

(i) be ordinarily resident in the country
(ii) have been a full-time student at a secondary school in thecountry within six months of the start of the Championships
(iii) have reached their 14th birthday by the start of theChampionships
(iv) not to have reached their 19th birthday by the start of theChampionships
(v) not be enrolled at a tertiary or post-secondary schoolinstitution[Note: For the purposes of point
(v), the World Council ruled last yearthat debaters will be ineligible if they are enrolled for a tertiary orpost-secondary course at an institution where their first term begins on orbefore the opening day of the championships.]

To clarify, the temporarily amended rules for 2007 also allow debaters whomeet the following criteria to be eligible:

(a) They are aged 19 in July 2007, but were aged 18 on 20th February2007;
(b) They are not registered for a tertiary or post-secondary educationcourse at an institution where their first term will begin before thechampionships begin in July;
(c) If they graduate from secondary school before the championshipsbegin, their last day of school must not be more than six month prior tostart of the competition in July;
(d) Their country must register their intention to send the debater tothe championships before 20th February 2007; and
(e) The debater meets all other eligibility criteria as outlined in theWSDC Rules.

Please feel free to e-mail me if you are unsure about anything I've writtenhere. And please ensure you submit the attached form by Tuesday next week ifyour country intends to send any debaters to WSDC 2007 under the provisionsof the temporarily amended rules.

Regards,
Mark Gabriel
Secretary
World Schools Debating Council Executive Committee