The Hart House Debating Club and the Hart House Debates Committee were excited to host the 2012 North American Debating Championship. Hart House hosted a successful NorthAms in 2006 and we are looking to replicate and build on this success for next year’s event. Hart House is known for hosting punctual, high class and well-judged events, and January 2012 will be no exception.

Media coverage:

Toronto Star - Debate teams trounce the politicians
Toronto Star - Photo gallery

NORTH AMERICAN DEBATING CHAMPIONSHIP INFORMATION

Dates
Transportation
Accommodations
Competition
Tabs and Statistics
Food and Socials
Registration
Judging Team
Contact

DATES

The tournament will be hosted from January 27 to 29, 2012. More information will be provided as it become available.

TRANSPORTATION

Toronto’s Pearson international airport is a major hub and receives regular flights from all major cities in North America. Toronto is also reasonably close to the US-Canada border, so cars, buses, and trains are all sensible travel options.

ACCOMMODATIONS

Once in Toronto, teams will be able to choose between three official tournament hotels.  

We will also be providing limited billeting and priority will be given to teams traveling furthest.

COMPETITION

The competition itself will run according to the CUSID/APDA Memorandum of Understanding. We will have six rounds of preliminary debate (two on Friday, January 27, and four on Saturday January 28) in accordance with the MoU. We will likely break to octo-finals but this is contingent on our tournament reaching its cap. Our initial team cap will be 80 teams but that this may be increased if it is warranted by demand. If there are sufficient numbers, there will be a novice break.

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TABS AND STATISTICS

Anisah Hassan will be the Tabs Directors for the 2012 NorAms. Anisah is an experienced CUSID debater who currently attends the University of Toronto’s Law School. She worked last year with Ian Freeman to ensure the Hart House IV tab ran on time and without error.

FOOD AND SOCIALS

Hart House will cater five meals: a light dinner on Friday night, breakfast, lunch and a three-course banquet dinner on Saturday night, and bunch on Sunday.

There will be two socials organized by Hart House Debates Committee’s Social Director Louis Tsivilis: CUSID vs. APDA dodgeball in the Hart House Gym on Friday night and the banquet on Saturday night.

REGISTRATION AND FEES

We commit to charging no more than $160 CAD per team and $80 per judge in registration. As is customary of Hart House tournaments, we intend to host a high quality event at as reasonable a cost as possible, so in addition to registration fees, we will be engaging in significant fundraising. We have strong institutional support internally within both the House and the University at large, so we expect to have to have a strong foundation to draw on.

Registration is now closed. Please contact northams2012@harthouse.ca for more information if/as required.

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JUDGING TEAM

Richard Lizius will serve as the Chief Adjudicator for Hart House Norams. In addition as serving as North American DCA for 2010-2011 Botswana Worlds, Richard’s accomplishments include: Koç WUDC 2nd speaker and quarter-finalist, Cork WUDC 9th speaker and octo-finalist, North American Top Speaker, 2 time CUSID national champion and top speaker, and 2009 Yale IV champion and top speaker. Richard has an extensive knowledge of both the Canadian and American judging pools, and has served as CA for the Hart House IV three times. 

Steven Penner will serve as Assistant Chief Adjudicator. Steve is a CUSID National Champion, CUSID British Parliamentary National Champion, a two-time winner of the Seagram Invitational, and has broken at numerous CUSID tournaments. He has served as Deputy Chief-Adjudicator of the Hart House IV and as CA of the Hart House High School Tournament. He will serve as co-CA of the October 2011 Hart House IV.

An American Deputy Chief Adjudicator will be appointed by APDA.

We intend on securing funding to subsidize as many qualified American and out-of-region adjudicators as possible. However, Hart House’s own internal and Alumni judging pool will, on its own, provide international quality judging panels in every room. Toronto is home to multiple World, National, and North American debating champions, and a staggering number who have broken as judges or adjudicators at previous Worlds and North Ams. 

The judging requirement will be n/3, rounded down.

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TOURNAMENT DIRECTORS

Jake Brockman and Sam Greene will serve as the Tournament Directors. Having together hosted the wildly successful 2010 Hart House Invitational, as well as the 2010 Hart House High School Tournament, they have ample experience running numerous successful tournaments at the University and Secondary School levels. 

As with their previous endeavors, Jake and Sam intend on running on time and on budget, and most importantly, putting on a ludicrously fun tournament.

CONTACT

Feel free to contact us for more information: northams2012@harthouse.ca.

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