The Angel Tournament Overview – January 22-23, 2016
Location: English High School (144 McBride St, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130)
Divisions Offered:Spanish Novice & JV (no changes from previous tournaments)
English Novice (recommended for new debaters)
English JV (open to all first time debaters and previous novice debaters)
English Varsity (open to previous JV debaters and Varsity debaters who have only competed in this division at one tournament, and did not qualify for elimination rounds)
English Championship (open to previous Varsity debaters and Champ debaters who have only competed in this division at one tournament, and did not qualify for elimination rounds)
Angel Divisions Registration Information: Registration on Tabroom will look slightly different than for a normal tournament. You will be registering three students per team, the two debaters and their angel. When you register, you do not need to make a distinction between who is debating and who is the angel; that will be marked clearly on the ballot by the judge in each round. The option to register ‘hybrid’ teams will also be open, so if the angel for your team is from a different school, you will be able to add that student from another school’s roster. It is important to note that if your students are part of a hybrid team, the school that has the debaters is in charge of the registration, the school providing the angel does not need to take any action for registration.
Guidelines for Angels:
Angels SHOULD:
- Help debaters flow and take notes
- Help debaters determine which pieces of evidence to use
- Help debaters stay organized
- Help debaters generate questions to ask during cross examination
- Help debaters answer questions during cross examination, by whispering to the speakers
- Help debaters stay organized during their speeches by reminding them to roadmap, signpost, and helping them follow their flow line-by-line for their speech
- Help debaters write their speeches and teach debate strategy during the round
Angels SHOULD NOT:
- Speak at any point during the round above a whisper to their team
- Speak at all to the judge, the other team, the other angel, or the spectators in the room
- Write entire speeches or word-for-word answers to questions, so that the speakers are just reading speeches, instead they should support them in creating their own arguments in their own words
- Stop debaters from making arguments they want to make, instead they should help them think through why certain arguments are or are not effective, and which arguments should be extended or dropped during the round
What if my English JV, Varsity, or Champ team does not have an angel?
We will do our best to match your students with an available angel from another school prior to the tournament, but if a team does not have an angel for any reason, they will still be allowed to compete. However, we are unable to differentiate in these divisions between teams with and without angels, so your team without an angel must understand that they have the possibility of facing a team with an angel, and they will receive no preference in the round. Power pairing will still exist, so the strongest teams will face the other strongest teams in rounds three and four, so all students will have an opportunity to succeed in this tournament.