[eDebate] 50th Annual United States Naval Academy Tournament Invitation

[Danielle Verney]

Dear Colleague,

You are cordially invited to enter the Fiftieth Annual United States Naval 
Academy Debate Tournament. The USNA tournament will take place in historic 
Annapolis, Maryland on January 27-29, 2006. Join us for a weekend of 
exceptional team policy debate competition between some of the nation’s 
premier forensic programs.

The USNA tournament will utilize the 2006-2007 national debate topic.

The USNA tournament will include Varsity, Junior Varsity and Novice level 
competition and feature six preliminary rounds of debate followed by 
elimination rounds.* All debates will use the 9-3-6 minute time format. 
Teams will receive 10 minutes of preparation time during each debate.

We are very pleased to announce that Admiral William J. Crowe will be 
speaking at this year’s banquet.  In addition to serving as Commander in 
Chief of the Allied Forces of Southern Europe and United States Pacific 
Command, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Presidents Reagan 
and George H.W. Bush, and the Ambassador to the United Kingdom under 
President Clinton, Admiral Crowe also founded the Navy Debate team over 
sixty years ago.

The deadline for entering the USNA tournament is January 15, 2005. The 
registration fee is $50.00 for each participant (coaches, debaters and 
observers). Please make checks payable to the “Midshipmen Welfare Fund”. 
Each college or university debate program entering the USNA tournament must
provide a qualified critic to judge three preliminary rounds of competition 
for each team it enters in this tournament. Entering programs are further 
required to provide a critic to judge up to two break rounds of debate 
beyond the elimination of their teams from the tournament. In the event your 
program
cannot fulfill these requirements, a very limited number of ‘for-hire’ 
critics will be available at $125 per two-person team. Please let us know in 
advance if you will need to hire judges.

Trophies will be awarded to all teams advancing to the quarter final round.  
Trophies will also be awarded to the top ten individual speakers in each 
division of debate. The John Jay Pierpont Trophy, an eighteenth-century 
silver cup, will be presented to the college or university forensic program 
that
sponsors the winning the Varsity-level-debate-team. The Pierpont Trophy may 
be displayed at the victorious college or university for one calendar year.

Tournament accommodations are available at the Doubletree Hotel Annapolis 
located at 210 Holiday Court, Annapolis, Maryland 21401 telephone 
(410)224-3150. A special double room rate is available. The Doubletree has 
guaranteed room rate and availability for tournament participants until 
January 15th. After January 15th, the Doubletree will only offer rooms 
subject to availability and only at the going rate. Tournament registration 
and coaches’ meetings will be held at the Doubletree Hotel Annapolis. 
Contact the Doubletree Hotel Annapolis directly to arrange accommodations.  
When making reservations request the “USNA Debate Tournament” room rate. To 
ensure a memorable and pleasant experience at the USNA debate tournament 
please inform your participants of the following:

1.	The Tournament will be governed by ADA rules.
2.	The tournament will be conducted in academic facilities that will be used 
for classes shortly after the conclusion of the event. To help keep the 
rooms clean, please dispose of trash in appropriate receptacles. It has 
become difficult to obtain rooms lately at the Academy so please respect 
both the cleanliness of the room and the materials within it.
3.	 There is absolutely no smoking in any Naval Academy building. Smoking 
areas are located outside all USNA buildings. Please dispose of smoking 
materials responsibly.
4.	Tournament participants are welcome to visit the Officers and Faculty 
Club (O&F Club) aboard the Naval Academy. When visiting the O&F Club, be 
aware that while casual dress is permitted, athletic clothing, jeans or 
t-shirts are inappropriate attire. The O&F Club serves lunch daily from 
11:00 AM until 2:00 PM. Dinner is served Tuesday through Friday from 5:00 
until 9:00 PM. A large brunch is served on Sunday from 10:00 AM until 2:00 
PM. Reservations are always recommended. You may direct questions or 
reservation requests to (410) 293-2611.
5.	The Fifteen-Minute Forfeit rule will be in effect. If a team is not ready 
to debate 15 minutes after the announced start time of a debate they forfeit 
the round. All judges are asked to finish coaching their team 5 minutes 
before round start time and get to the rounds they are judging. Judges 
holding up the tournament who are fifteen minutes late to their rounds will 
cause the top team of the school they are representing to forfeit a debate. 
It is very important
that this tournament run on time, please help us in this regard.
6.	As you register, please be aware that we need security information for 
each vehicle entering the Naval Academy including: Make, Model, License 
plate, Driver name, and Driver’s license number.   We need this information 
at least two weeks in advance.  If you are driving a rental vehicle, all we 
will need is the driver’s name and license number, but you will need to have 
the rental paperwork on you as you enter the Yard.
7.	If you have any questions, please contact me at 410.293.6853. Entry is 
through the Bruschke system (preferred) or through email, and those emails 
should be addressed to verney at usna.edu .
8.	We look forward to enjoying the fine Annapolis-in-January weather with 
you this year!



Sincerely,
Danielle Verney	LT Matthew Sullivan  MIDN Matthew Scorcio
Director of Debate Officer Representative Tournament Logistics
United States Naval Academy

* The USNA Debate Tournament will utilize the American Debate Association 
(ADA) definitions for Novice and Junior Varsity Debaters. Half of competing 
teams will clear, up to a maximum of 16 per division, as we have room 
constraints on Sunday evening.



I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING YOUR VEHICLE INFORMATION IN 
ASAP.  We had serious problems with Academy security last year and I was 
just barely able to charm my way back into their good graces...I'm not sure 
I'm charming enough to do it twice.

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