Judge at the World Championships

WANTED – JUDGES FOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

This September the World Schools Debating Championship will be held in and around Washington, DC. The dates are September 6-14 2008. Thirty-eight nations will each be sending one team to the competition, and one team will be named world champion. Last year the tournament was in Seoul, Korea and Scotland defeated Singapore in the final round.

Each debate has three judges, and we are recruiting judges to add to those already assembled. We hope that you can judge one or more of these debates. You can indicate when you are available when you come to judge training.

The contest takes place in the World Schools format. The format is easy to understand and the evaluation criteria are fairly straightforward. We will be providing basic judge training and orientation. You can find the rules at http://www.schoolsdebate.com/guides.asp .

All judges must attend the Judge Training session that will be held at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, 2799 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, Virginia 22202 on Saturday September 6 starting at 9 AM. The training will be completed in the early afternoon.

Preliminary debates will then take place on Sunday September 7, Monday September 8, Tuesday September 9 and Wednesday September 10. The octafinals and quarterfinals will be held on Friday September 12, the semifinals on Saturday September 13 and the finals on Sunday September 14.

Preliminary debates are usually staged with one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Lunch will be provided on debating days. We will provide transportation from the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in the mornings of each debating day and you will be returned to the Hyatt after the debates.

The debates themselves are of unusually high quality and should provide a stimulating academic experience. New judges will be assigned to “shadow judge” and then will be used in a formal judging capacity. While we are unable to compensate you, we can promise some excellent debates.

If you have debate experience as a coach or student and would like to take this opportunity to judge at a world-class event, please contact our chief adjudicator, Aaron Maniam, at aaronmaniam@gmail.com . Please provide him with some brief information about your debating experience. He will then be ready and waiting for you when you arrive at judge training.

Best wishes,
Alfred Snider
Director of Tournament Operations
World Schools Debating Championships 2008