While we do not require every student to provide a judge for the competitions they attend, we need a number of judges in order to attend. We do have the choice to hire judges, but the payment tends to be expensive and could go towards more resources for the club. Therefore, we ask parents, siblings, or anyone the student knows to volunteer for judging at tournaments. If we do not get an adequate amount of judges, we will not attend that tournament.

In order to be a judge, you must:

1. Be older than 18.
2. Speak English fluently.
3. Commit for the entire day.

Because we try to accomodate every parent and student, we understand that you wish to keep your weekends for relaxation after a long week of work. Therefore, we do offer day-by-day shifts. If you are only available on Saturday for a Friday through Sunday tournament, that will fill a judging assignment. However, if you are willing to judge the entire weekend, that would be great.

At the start of the year, all possible judges must a Tabroom.com account in order to be put into our judging database. By all possible judges we mean siblings, uncles, aunts, parents; essentially anyone who may be a judge throughout the entirety of the year. To make an account, follow these steps:

1. Go to Tabroom.com.
2. Click "sign up" in the top right corner
3. Scroll down to where is says, "If you are not an NSDA or PKD coach, create a new Tabroom account." and fill out the sheet.
• Make sure all information, especially your phone number, email, and name is accurate. If any inaccurate information is inputted, we will get fined. If your information changes throughout the year (ie: a new phone number) please email us [email protected] and we can change that information on our end, or log into the account you created and change your information.
4. This should take you to a page that allows to link your account. Go to "How about a judge," and press "link your account."
5. If your name is already inputted in EVSD database, you should get a choice to link to Evergreen Valley High School. If it it not, fill out the "Contact EVSD" sheet on the left of this page, include your phone number and your name not your child's, and we will link your account on our end.

Judging Debate Instructions:

Most debate tournaments now do online ballots. Please read the following procedure to make sure this is done right. In order to access your ballot, use the account you have made above as that is the one linked to your judging assignment.

On the day of the tournament, you will recieve the information about the round you will judge immediately before the round. This includes the people you will judge and the room you are in. As soon as you recieve this information, you should go to you room. However, do not start the round until the "Start Time alotted is there, or when both sides arrive. When you want to start the round, press "START ROUND." Once the round is over, enter your decision, and put any feedback in the feedback section. Please make sure you give accurate feedback, as the students will recieve your ballots and use them to improve. Finally, enter in the speaking points (please make this as accurate as possible) and submit the ballot.

Judging Speech Instructions:

Unlike debate, speech generally uses hard-copy ballots. When you recieve a notification about a judging assignment or when you are assigned a ballot in-person in the judging room, go immediately to your round after picking up the ballot from the judges room.

Do not start the round, however, until the start time alotted on either the ballot or on Tabroom pairings. Some competitors may be doing several events, not just the one you are judging. If so, most tournaments have their names marked with (*) or other markings to highlight that fact. If their name is marked, that means that they may have gone to another round first, and will be coming to this one late. This means you can begin the round if they are not present. Otherwise, please wait 10-15 minutes after the start time for any absent competitors to come, and then begin the round.

Any late competitors should be excused, and their timeliness should not be heald against them when it comes to the rankings they receive.

When you are making your decision, you will be ranking 5-7 students (depending on the number in your round) a rank from 1-7, or 1-4 depending on the tournament; 1 being the best, 7 being the worst. If you rank from 1-4, 4 is the last place tie. Please make sure you give accurate feedback, as the students will recieve your ballots and use them to improve.

 

** WHEN YOU ARE JUDGING, you must remain objective in your decision. In no case should you pick one competitor over the other because they debated the side you agreed with more on a personal level or gave a speech about a topic you disagree with. All biases must be left at the door, and you must score all students on the basis of speaking skills, argumentation skills, performance skills, etc (depending on the event).

If you have any questions or issues at a tournament, please do not go to Tabroom or tournament directors, go to the student officers and we will help you.

More judging instructions can be found here: Judging Manual

More tabroom instructions can be found here: Tabroom Help