PLNU TPDA Round Robin Tournament of Champions

Introduction:  On Friday October 20th, 2023 Point Loma Nazarene University will host the 24th Annual Point Loma Round Robin Tournament of Champions.  This one-day event matches 10 of the top TPDA schools against each other in a modified round robin format.

Philosophy & History:  This tournament was begun in 1998 for several reasons. We saw a need for a tournament that gathered the best of the nation's debaters together with the idea of providing a pleasant environment, three quality judges per round for excellent feedback and tips on improvement, and nicely catered meals to celebrate those that have risen to the top of our activity. The tournament would not only offer a nice opportunity for iron to sharpen iron, but it creates a nice learning atmosphere for others to watch and learn from those who have consistently reached a high level of success. The goal was and is to serve the community in several areas. The top teams could improve by debating other top teams. Beginning teams could improve by watching some of these stellar matches. And the entire community could benefit from a strong field of competition at the Sunset Cliffs Classic, which immediately follows the Round Robin and usually includes most of the Round Robin Tournament of Champions teams in the Open Division of competition. We thank you all for your support in past years and look forward to your continued participation in upcoming years. In Fall of 2023 we will for the first time hold this Round Robin as a tournament featuring TPDA debate, a format we believe will catch on in our region once folks get a chance to see its benefits. 

Methodology:  The 10 schools whose successful bids are selected will be divided into two pools of five teams, and will debate every team in their pool, plus receive a bye round in the preliminary five rounds.  Pools will be rank ordered, and seeded on win-loss records, ballots, speaker points from rounds 1-5. The top two winners will advance to semifinals, power protecting the teams as they hit the top two teams from the other pool.  The winner of each of those semifinal debates will meet in the Final Round to be held at 7:30 p.m. in the Cunningham A & B Nicholson Student Center. This public debate is open to the community, as will the earlier rounds if seats are available. 

Tournament Bids: Schools from around the nation will be invited to submit bids for a top TPDA team to be considered for entering the Round Robin Tournament of Champions.  The bid should contain the names and some competitive high lights from the two debaters proposed as a team, whether by their team or individual debate accomplishments, mentioning the particular format being highlighted in the bid.  The school bid should also include the name of the critic being submitted as a judge for the event and their judging philosophy.  Tournament TPDA judges cannot also be judging other events that same day. Hybrid team bids will not be allowed, nor should schools submit multiple bids per school. Bids should be submitted by Friday, October 6th, 2023.  Please email them to Dr. Skip Rutledge, Tournament Director at skiprutledge@pointloma.edu

Fees: A charge of $100 dollars per team will be assessed and every team is required to provide a qualified critic for each round through finals.  Catered meals will be provided.  Checks can be made payable to PLNU and please notate PLNU Speech and Debate Tournament somewhere on the check. 

Schedule:  Please click the "Schedule" link on the left side of this webpage to see the tournament schedule.

Resolutions and Resolution Areas: The resolutions may be in any format, such as fact, value, policy, metaphor, etc. or even possibly case scenarios. Suggestions for resolutions can be submitted via e mail to the Tournament Director skiprutledge@pointloma.edu up to the Monday prior to the actual tournament.  These recommendations will also be considered for the Sunset Cliffs Classic parliamentary topics in IPDA, TPDA and NPDA.

Rules and Guidelines: First and foremost we are governed by the rules of the campus, which, for example, disallow smoking, drinking alcoholic beverages, recreational use of drugs, sexual harassment, etc. . .   Then we will make every attempt to follow IPDA sanctioned practices and norms regarding times, rules, prep, delivery, content, etc. for TPDA rounds, though the Tournament Director reserves the right to make changes from those practices if circumstances call for it.  For example, we are governed by a tight schedule due to catering demands, so we hope no time-consuming formal protests are followed, and if they are, we will attempt to resolve those as fairly and quickly as possible but will not be bound by IPDA or PSCFA appeals procedures as this is not the IPDA National Championship Tournament or a PSCFA Sanctioned Tournament.  Judges, coaches, and competitors alike are asked to be respectful of others both in oral and written comments.  Debate at this tournament aims to promote disagreeing in an agreeable manner. Thanks for understanding.

Tournament Hotel: No tournament hotel is noted.  Please use travel apps for the greatest deal 

We sincerely hope this tournament experience is enjoyable and informative for you.  Contact me with any questions please. 

Sincerely,
Dr. Skip Rutledge, Tournament Director
Phone: (619) 655-0112 (cell)
skiprutledge@pointloma.edu