Law Foundation Cup 2025
(BC Debate Provincials)

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This is a tentative invitation and will be updated in late January 2025. 

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Dear Participants, Judges, Volunteers, and Coaches,

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​​Congratulations on your qualification to the BC Provincial Debating

Championship, the Law Foundation Cup! ​

 

The DSABC is pleased to invite you to attend this event.

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Please contact the DSABC president (dsabcpresident@gmail.com) for any

inquiries about the LFC. 

Event Information:
Venue: Brentwood College School,  2735 Mt Baker Rd, Mill Bay, BC V8H 1K8

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A tournament hotel block will be arranged in Victoria. Transportation will be provided to/from the tournament hotel and the tournament venue on Saturday morning, Saturday evening, and Sunday morning. Buses on Sunday evening will depart to Swartz Bay.

 

We may be able provide bussing for one sailing between Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay on Friday, February 28 - TBC. 

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Date: Saturday, March 1 - Sunday, March 2

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Registration and Fees:

• Registration will open in late January​

• Registration fee per team: $120 ($60/debater) 

• Registration fee per observer: $40 (to allay the cost of food)

• There are no fees for judges or volunteers. 

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Submit payments here (TBA). 

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Registration Links

• Team and Judge Registration (one per school): TBA

• Independent Judges: TBA

• Youth Volunteers: TBA

• Observers: TBA

By registering, all tournament attendees agree to abide by DSABC policies, bylaws, and code of ethics. 

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Judging Expectations:

• All schools on Vancouver Island are expected to provide one judge per team. For all other teams, this requirement is reduced to one judge per two teams, rounded up. 

  • Grade 12 students with significant debate experience may act as judges in the junior category.

• At least one judge or the chaperone in every school's delegation must have a recent clear criminal record check. The DSABC has the ability to facilitate this online, provided we are given sufficient notice to submit the request. 

• Judges must be fluent in English and comfortable with following fast-paced speeches using high-level vocabulary.

• Delegations failing to provide appropriate judges without first alerting the tournament organizer may be subject to disqualification, prohibition from advancement to Nationals, or other appropriate sanctions.

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Tournament Format:

• Senior Debaters (Grades 10, 11, 12)

  • 2 rounds of unbracketed prepared debate in Cross-Examination Style 

  • 3 rounds of bracketed impromptu debate in Canadian National Debate Format

  • Impromptu Senior Final in CNDF for the top 2 teams

• Junior Debaters (Grades 6, 7, 8, 9)

  • 2 rounds of unbracketed prepared debate in Cross-Examination Style 

  • 3 rounds of bracketed impromptu debate in Canadian National Debate Format

 

Prepared Rounds​

• Both the junior and senior division will use the same prepared motion, which will be released in February. 

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Debate Information

• Students will argue both sides of the prepared motion and will be guaranteed both a different opponent each round and that they will not oppose teams from their own school.

• Once bracketing begins in round 3 there will be no protections and pairings will be based solely on win/loss record and average team score. This may result in repeat pairings and/or same-school matches.

Impromptu Rounds

• All impromptu rounds will have different topics with 30 minutes of preparation time.

• Topics will be relevant to local or national politics, current events and policy discussions, and/or prevalent social or moral issues

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Advancement and Qualification

• Students must participate in the same teams and categories as in their regionals

• Teams competing in the Junior Category are eligible for qualification to the Junior Debate Nationals

• Teams competing in the Senior Category are eligible for qualification to the Senior Debate Nationals

• Any Grade 10 student who places in the top 50th percentile of the senior category will advance to the BC Qualifiers for a chance to attend the Canadian National Team Tryouts. Remaining spots at this event will be given to juniors in ranked order until we have 24 qualifiers (6 spots are reserved from each category)

 

Chaperone Policy

• Students are required to have a chaperone at all times for both online and in-person debating. 

• A chaperone can be a coach, teacher sponsor or parent/guardian who is authorized by their child’s school and is willing to take on all chaperone related responsibilities, including risk management, health, and tournament-related decisions. 

• The chaperone can also act as a judge to satisfy a team’s judging requirement. 

• Senior students are not considered chaperones. 

• All adults acting as chaperones are expected to uphold the DSABC Code of Ethics.

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Observer Policy

• Registered observers are permitted to watch students under their affiliation provided everyone in the room feels comfortable with this.

• Observers should not intervene in any way.

• Observers are not permitted to communicate with debaters during prep time or while rounds are taking place

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Preliminary Schedule  - subject to change