Parents Rules
Event Rules set the boundaries for what is allowed within the competition space and time for the specified event. These rules apply under the umbrella of our Tournament Participation Policies, Judge Policies, Compliance Policies, and our overarching League Affiliation Policies.
Parent Judge Basics
Before the Tournament Begins
Parents must complete the following steps.
- Toggle Parent in MyPlace.NCFCA.org profile
- Update the Child Safety toggles
- Review the Judge Orientation and Safety Video. This video is required once per season for volunteer and parent judges.
- Review the judge training videos and judge resources available for speech and both styles of debate.
- Review all Parent Guidelines
Selecting a Ballot
About 90 minutes before the round begins, parents will see notifications by text and on the tournament dashboard that they can select a ballot for the next round. A ballot selection button for the round will appear on your dashboard screen.
Our system will show two competition room choices at a time with the names of the competitors. Click to accept a ballot that does not include competitors that you know on a personal basis. For additional information on avoiding judging conflicts, see the section below.
Waiting for Rooms to Open
Once you have selected a ballot, you will see the room you have selected on your screen with a View Participants button. There may be a waiting time while other judges select the rest of the remaining ballots.
When it’s time for the round to begin, you will receive another notification.
- For an in-person tournament, under the Selected Ballots header, an Open button will appear. In the case of Digital Presentation, you will receive a Join button.
- For an online tournament you will see a Join button to enter the electronic competition room.
Avoiding Judging Conflicts
Our system will prevent most judging conflicts, but there are some factors to keep in mind when choosing to accept a ballot.
- Do not take a ballot with a student you know very well or have coached in the event.
- Do not take a ballot for a room where a family member is also judging. If this happens inadvertently, please contact Tournament Administration.
- In elimination rounds, please avoid taking a ballot in an event where your student has advanced.
- If you have a question or have difficulty finding a ballot that seems suitable, please use the Contact Tournament Administration button to let staff know you are available to judge and to discuss the potential conflicts.
Balancing Feedback with the Ballot Deadline
At the end of the round, please exit the competition room to finish filling out your ballot. For in-person tournaments, please remain at the facility until your ballot is complete.
You will receive a notification indicating the time when ballots are due. We want parents to provide ample and excellent feedback; however, for the tournament to proceed in a timely manner, the ballot deadline must also be honored. Until we have all ballots returned, we cannot begin processing the next round. Therefore, please prioritize essential items on your ballot like your win/loss decision for debate and ranking speakers for both speech and debate, then provide as much additional feedback as time allows. If you do not feel you will be able to complete your ballot by the deadline, please notify the Judge Support staff.
Head Judge Service Requirement
Parents must be prepared to serve as the Head Judge for speech rounds as needed throughout the tournament. This role is essential for helping us make sure rounds run smoothly and that Community Judges feel well supported. In every round our system will assign a parent who is on the judge panel for this responsibility.
- If you are selected, please do not delegate the responsibility to anyone else.
- If you have questions or concerns about serving in this role, please contact Tournament Administration before the round.
Complete training information is provided on our Parent Guidelines page. Be sure to review the following sections of instructions:
- Room Management
- Reviewing and Monitoring Rules
- Handling Timer Issues
- Online Tournament Instructions (if applicable)
An instruction reminder sheet will be available in the competition room, and you may download a copy using the button below.
Head Judge Room Management Instructions
Manage the Room
- Competitors are scheduled in 15-minute intervals. Please make sure that competitors conclude their speeches by the end of their speaking window so that the next competitor can start on time.
- If a student arrives with less time remaining than is allowed for the speech (less than 10 for a platform or interp, for example) please remind them to be mindful of the time and conclude speaking at the end of their allotted time.
- Unless instructed to do so by staff, do not allow a student to begin early, speak past their allotted time slot, or speak in a different time slot.
- For In-Person Tournaments, ensure that the competition room door remains open between speakers.
- If necessary, graciously remind other judges not to confer about speakers or rankings.
- Graciously remind other judges to pause note-taking between speeches when it is time for the next speaker to begin.
Confirm and Announce the Speech Times
- Competitors should stop the timepiece at the conclusion of the speech and show the time to the judges.
- Announce the time exactly as recorded on the timepiece to the rest of the judge panel and to the speaker for confirmation.
Preparation Time for Apologetics and Impromptu
- The speaker will set the timepiece to count down from 4 minutes for Apologetics or for 2 minutes for Impromptu and show it to the judges. You may remind the student to start their time piece when the topic is drawn.
- Please also remind them to look for their name on their topic card at in-person tournaments.
- When preparation time is over, students should start their timer for the speech and begin speaking promptly.
- Competitors are scheduled in 15-minute intervals. Please make sure that competitors conclude their speeches by the end of their speaking window so that the next competitor can start on time.
Head Judge Rule Review Responsibility
Review the Rules
Part of your responsibility when serving as a Head Judges is to review the rules for the speech event you will be judging before the round begins. We do not ask volunteer judges from the community to do this, so you may be the only judge in the room who is familiar with the event rules.
Report Potential Rule Violations
If you notice something that seems to be a rule violation, please make a private note (not to be shared with other judges) and bring the issue to the attention of the Compliance Team at the end of the round. This may feel uncomfortable, but as a tournament community, we rely on parents in the Head Judge role to play this part in maintaining fair standards of competition. The longer a rule problem goes without being addressed, the more difficult it becomes for a competitor to correct and the more it undermines the integrity of competition.
Head Judge Instructions for Timer Issues
If a student experiences an error with the timepiece that results in being unable to show you their time or a correct time for the speech, please mark “timer issue” and instruct the other judges to do the same. (For any timing errors during Apologetics or Impromptu prep time, please bring the issue to Compliance after the round.)
Examples of an “incorrect time” would be:
- The student failed to start the timepiece at the beginning of their speech. Judges will mark “timer issue.”
- The student notices mid-speech that they did not start the timer. Please instruct them to continue and mark the ballot “timer issue.”
- The student informs you that they accidentally added time that now exceeds the time limit. Judges will mark “timer issue.”
- The student accidentally cleared the timepiece. Judges will mark “timer issue.”
Examples that do NOT require a timer issue mark:
- The student realizes they failed to start the timepiece within the first sentence. In this case, you may allow them to begin again without marking the timer issue.
- The student fumbles and delays pressing “stop.” In this case, please record the exact time displayed (even if it exceeds the limit), but do not mark “timer issue.”
- The competitor correctly times the speech and is over the time limit. In this case, announce and enter the time displayed. Any time 15 seconds over the limit will automatically receive a 2-rank penalty.
Please bring any questions about this to Compliance after the round.
Head Judge Instructions for Online Tournaments
Additional Instructions for Online Tournaments
- At the beginning of the round, please set the room status to reflect whether the room has all judges present or is still waiting for judges to arrive.
- Competitors should turn on their cameras and microphones only when it is their turn to speak, should introduce themselves, and should begin promptly.
- Please help to ensure that all judges have their microphones turned off while competitors are speaking and encourage them to leave their cameras on except in the event of technical difficulties.
- Change the room status to “Need Help” if you encounter any issues during the round that require input from tournament administration.
- Remind competitors, if necessary, to turn off their cameras and microphones at the conclusion of their speeches.
- Set the room status to “Finished” when the last speaker has finished.
- As the Head Judge, you may give permission for speakers to turn off their cameras if they are experiencing technical difficulties.