The Presidential Parli Premiere!!

Due to popular request, a Parli day has been added to the Presidential Finale schedule!
On Wednesday, April 23, Parli competition will premiere at South Dakota's final Stoa competition for 2014! We will be running 6 prelim rounds on Wed, followed by a Final round on Saturday afternoon. Space is limited, so sign up quickly and be a part of the inaugural Parli competition in South Dakota!

The addition of a Parli day to the Presidential Finale schedule is a gift from our hosts, the RAPIDS Debate Club, many of whom have never experienced or even seen Parli. One goal at this Premiere is to showcase how fun and easy a day of Parli competition can be, but we need every participant to help! We have a deadline to be out of the Parli facility by 6:00PM, and want to avoid affecting the Presidential staff or judge pool with this added competition. So in order to meet those limitations, we expect every debate team to provide an adult judge/helper as follows:

Parent/Adult Requirements!

We are depending on EVERY debate team to be accompanied by an adult who is committed to judge, time, or work for the ENTIRE DAY of Parli on behalf of that team. This means that we should have at least half as many adults at the Parli day as we do debaters! Siblings above 10 years of age are also needed to register and come as timers. Clubs are encouraged to work together to make this happen. If you have extenuating circumstances that prevent you from providing an adult for the entire day, it is your responsibility to contact the Parli Tournament Director (see below) prior to the close of registration, to discuss alternate possibilities.

Please note that unauthorized absence of adult representation for a team during a round may result in a forfeit for that team!

If every team is accompanied by an adult who is helping all day, there should be enough judges, timers, and workers every round and we should have no trouble staying on time. Once each round is started, those parents who aren't judging or timing can help with various tasks or perhaps even watch a debate. No guarantees on the "watching a debate" option though - in order for this tournament to succeed, we will all need to roll up our sleeves and make it happen together!

Food for both parents and competitors will be very limited on Wednesday. A Subway sandwich meal is being offered that both adults and students can order, but if you do not pre-purchase that meal then please plan to provide lunch in addition to all snacks for you and your children. This is intended to be a "brown bag" event, meaning that we will provide some drinks in the judge lounge, but everyone is responsible for their own food for the day (lunch and snacks). All food items brought in must be ready to eat, as no cooking/reheating facilities will be available.

We're excited to work with all of you to make this day happen, and to demonstrate just how fun and easy a parli competition can be! So if perchance you have a penchant for Parli, persuade your partner and parent, and plan to be part of this particularly popular premiere!!

Questions?? Contact the Parli Tournament Director:
Laura Yeates, 303-818-3198, momy8s@mac.com

Parli Information

Stoa Parli Rules…"Each debater must have reached age sixteen (16) by January 1st of the competition year, or have competed for two or more years in another debate format, or must receive consent from her/his coach."

Parli Prep time will run for 15 minutes.

In accordance with Stoa practices for the 2013/2014 competitive season, Parli debaters are free to consult any available resource during prep time, including other debaters, adult coaches, extemporaneous materials, and electronic devices.

Please note that internet access at this facility may be intermittent or slow. The tournament is not responsible for providing any internet capability, so if debaters want to ensure they have access they are responsible to provide their own "hot spot" device.

Parli Judges are asked to avoid participating in debater prep for any round they are judging.

Additional details for Parli are available here:
http://www.stoausa.org/parliamentary-debate

Parliamentary Audience Participation

  • Only students old enough to compete in Stoa (12) may engage in audience participation.
  • Knocking or verbal affirmation is reserved for the strongest arguments. Cheering and knocking for every argument of a favorite team is not the purpose of audible feedback.
  • Audible feedback, knocking or verbal, should never drown out the speaker or be loud enough to distract the judge. Knocking should take place on the desk or chair of the audience member; never on a judge’s chair or desk.
  • Verbal affirmation should be a short phrase that does not drown out the speaker. For example, “Here, here!” or “Well said.”
  • No conversation among audience members should take place while a speaker is at the podium. This is the same for any debate round.
  • If what you do wouldn’t be fun if YOU were the speaker (golden rule), don’t do it.
  • No negative feedback. This differs from College Parli