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Tournament Rules
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Invitational Season Under Way
There is only one preliminary tournament left in the season signifiying the start of a riveting invitational season. The Santa Clara competition from December 9-11 was the first invitational that Granite Bay participated in this year. Invitationals are part of the national circuit, and are incredibly competitive compared to the league tournaments. Despite the difficult competition, GBSD did incredibly well. Four varsity and two novice members competed for 3 days, and came out triumphant. Sana Naeem is the first in Granite Bay's history to go through 8 rounds of competition without a loss. She managed to make it to the Semi-Finals, losing a close round to Bellarmine, and getting 3rd place overall from a field of 53 competitors. She also managed to get to Finals in Persuasion with her Advocacy. Arsani William also came out triumphant winning the entire Santa Clara tournament in Lincoln Douglas Debate. His overall record was 8-2, and was a competitive debater throughout the tournament. Kapil Yedidi also managed to do excellently in both Novice Lincoln Douglas Debate, as well as National Extemperanous. The Invitational was one of his first few tournaments, and his success was quite an accomplishment! We still have Logan, Berkeley, Stanford, and Catholic National Qualifiers to go to throughout the course of the year. Hopefully, they will be as successful as Santa Clara was this December!Rules & Regs: Invitational Travel Policies
Please remember that you are representatives of the Granite Bay Speech and Debate Team, GBHS, and Granite Bay in general. I expect you to behave in an appropriate manner at all times. Lose gracefully and be and even more graceful winner. Winning is our competitive goal but, win or lose, the experience is what you will ultimately value. This does not mean, "Don't have fun." However, having fun and behaving yourself are not mutually exclusive. This will make the trip more enjoyable for all of us.- Take responsibility for your own belongings. Do not leave valuables or debate materials unattended. Make sure you have all materials before you leave home or the hotel.
- The possession and/or use of drugs, alcohol, tobacco, etc. is expressly forbidden. If you are found in the possession or under the influence of such, parents will be notified immediately and you will be sent home.
- Do not trash hotel rooms. We are a forensics squad, not a rock band.
- You will, without argument, abide by all rules as set out verbally, or in writing, by any chaperone or member of the coaching staff. If you chose not to comply with rules and instructions given by chaperones, parents will be notified immediately and you will be sent home.
- Please remember that we are guests in the hotels in which we stay. Please keep the noise at a polite level.
- Never use a late return from a forensics tournament as an excuse for not attending school the following day.
- You will be responsible for paying for your own food. You must bring money and you must eat.
- Because hotel fees are so expensive, students will be required to pay for their room. This allows us to attend more tournaments because we are drawing less money from the school's pocket for each trip.
- There will be times when we get back late from a tournament. Fifteen minutes before we get to Granite Bay, please call home and arrange for transport. Please do not wait until we get home to call for a ride.
Rules & Regs: Tournament Selection
Throughout your speech/debate career you will occasionally be presented with the opportunity to travel to compete at invitational tournaments, usually held at an out-of-town college or high school. Please be aware that traveling is a privilege, not a right; your grade will not be affected if you don't attend an invitational. On the other hand, I will not just hand you the opportunity to travel. I will not grant travel privileges on the basis of seniority. It is my opinion that travel-by-seniority encourages laziness. Instead, travelers will be determined in the following manner:- Can I count on you to behave appropriately at an out-of-town tournament? Invitationals are very stressful on me as a head coach. I am responsible for transporting the team, getting the team registered at the tournament and at the hotel, feeding everyone, and judging rounds at the tournament. Therefore, I have neither the time nor the inclination to deal with immaturity. Can I count on you to stay in your room after "lights out"? Do I have to worry about whether or not you've gone to all of your rounds? If your classroom behavior or your behavior at local tournaments gives me reason to doubt your trustworthiness, you will not be invited to travel with the team.
- How hard have you been working? Because entry fees at invitational tournaments are generally high, it is not cost-effective for me to take students who will not work hard and give their best effort at the tournament. There will be a number of practice rounds, both in-class and after-school, in which you will need to participate. If you choose not to perform your speech for members of the coaching staff prior to the tournament, you will not attend the tournament.
- How have you done in league tournaments? In many ways, invitational tournaments are more difficult than league tournaments. Consequently, if you are successful in league competition, you will be considered for travel privileges. This, of course, does not mean that your traveling is a foregone conclusion. It will, however, give you a "leg up", so to speak, on the competition.
- How are you doing in the rest of your classes? Invitational tournaments usually require that students be taken out of class, either in order to reach the tournament site or for competition. If you're having difficulties in one or more classes, it is difficult for me to justify taking your out of class. As a result, you will be asked to take a progress report around to your teachers a week before the tournament. If your grades are unsatisfactory, you will not attend the tournament.