 APDA:
A Brief Overview
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 The
American Parliamentary Debate Association (APDA) includes over 50
member schools and hundreds of debaters. Founded in 1981, APDA united
multiple debate organizations, establishing an organized, national
league for debate. APDA hosted its first National Championship in
1982, and the league has grown in size each successive year. On February
11, 2000, APDA reached an important milestone, when it became APDA
Incorporated, a tax-exempt non-profit organization.
APDA
promotes a healthy discourse on contentious issues and an excellent
network of social interaction. APDA has a rich alumni system, a testament
both to the value of debate and the importance of the friendships
made during one’s debate career.
The weekly
tournaments, which range in size from fewer than 25 teams to over
160 teams, lie at the heart of APDA. These two-day tournaments include
debaters from America, Canada, and several other countries. The host
school houses tournament participants, provides a banquet, and sponsors
a party on Friday evening. Over thirty-five tournaments occupy the
APDA schedule from September to April. Many weekends include multiple
tournaments to accommodate the geographic spread of APDA member schools.
In addition
to the regular tournament schedule, APDA hosts an annual September
Novice Tournament, designed to introduce new debaters to APDA through
competition, instructive seminars, and demonstration rounds. APDA
concludes its season with the National Debate Championships (qualification
standards and details will be discussed later). In addition, APDA
schools participate in the North American Debate Championships (in
conjunction with the Canadian University Society for Intercollegiate
Debate) and the World Debating Championships. |
APDA
Board and Meetings
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Every
April, APDA holds elections for its Executive Board, which consists
of a President, Vice-President of Operations, Vice-President of Finance,
and three Members-at Large. In addition, APDA elects two outside trustees,
individuals who are no longer debating, but still have an active interest
in providing advice and expertise to APDA Inc. The elections for the
six executive board positions take place at the last large tournament
of the year, while the trustee positions are filled at the National
Debate Championships.
Elections
allocate one vote to each member school. Each school ranks the candidates
for a particular position and the votes are tallied according to a
system called preferential voting. Elections are held first for President,
then VP Ops, then VP Finance, and finally for the three Member positions.
Each election affords an opportunity for speeches and a question and
answer period. Please refer to the Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws
for a detailed description of the election procedures and the duties
of each office.
The APDA
Board holds at least three meetings per semester. Meetings deal with
issues related to the organization of the league, for example, scheduling,
bidding to host special tournaments, amending the articles, and electing
new officers. APDA does not participate in funding or organizing the
weekly tournaments except to provide a schedule. The fall schedule
is determined at the previous year’s Nationals, while the Spring Schedule
is determined at a Fall Tournament APDA meeting. Like elections, APDA
meeting votes give each school equal representation. Meetings loosely
follow Robert’s Rules of Order, and exact procedures can be found
in the Articles of Incorporation and its By-Laws. |
Awards
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Each
year, debaters on APDA compete for three year end awards, Team of
the Year (TOTY), Speaker of the Year (SOTY), and Novice of the Year
(NOTY). The three awards are cumulative, and reflect performance and
accomplishment at sanctioned tournaments. A sanctioned tournament
is one in which at least 5 APDA schools are represented, with 16 or
more total teams (excluding Nationals, Northams, and Worlds). The
awards are presented at the National Championship in April. The points
for the awards are garnered and tabulated based on the following systems:
 TOTY
TOTY
reflects the performance of a team of debaters from one school (hybrid
teams are ineligible). At a given tournament, the top four teams
receive TOTY points. The top team receives 10 points, plus 2 points
for every 16 teams competing for a maximum of 20 points. The second
place team receives 6 points, plus 2 points for every 16 teams competing
for a maximum of 16 points. The third and fourth place teams receive
2 points each plus an addition 1 point per 16 teams attending with
a maximum of 7 points. The end of the year award counts a team’s
best five finishes.
SOTY
SOTY
reflects the performance of an individual debater. At a given tournament,
the top four speakers receive SOTY points. The top speaker receives
10 points, plus 2 points for every 16 teams competing for a maximum
of 20 points. The second place speaker receives 7.5 points plus
2 points for every 16 teams competing for a maximum of 17.5 points.
The third place speaker receives 5 points plus an additional 2 point
per 16 teams attending with a maximum of 15 points. The fourth place
speaker receives 2.5 points plus 2 points per 16 competing teams
with a maximum of 12.5 points. The end of the year award counts
a debater’s best six finishes.
NOTY
NOTY
reflects the circuit’s top novice speaker. NOTY points are awarded
to the top four novices at a given tournament. The top novice receives
10 points, the second novice 7.5 points, the third novice 5 points,
and the fourth novice 2.5 points. In addition, each of the top four
novices receives 2 points for every 10 novices competing at a tournament,
for a maximum of 10 additional points. The end of the year award
counts a debater’s best six finishes.
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Nationals,
Northams, and Worlds
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In
addition to the regular season tournaments, APDA participates in or
sponsors three major tournaments. APDA and CUSID, the Canadian debate
organization, co-sponsor The North American Championships (NorthAms).
This three-day tournament takes place in the second semester, and
alternates each year between hosts in the United States and Canada.
Northams is an extremely prestigious tournament, and usually attracts
many teams from both countries. The Worlds Championship is a British
style title tournament, which takes place in a different country each
year. Numerous American teams compete in this tournament, flying to
such sites as Australia, South Africa, and the Phillipines.
The National
Championships complete APDA’s schedule. A different team each year
hosts the tournament, which invites debaters who have qualified by
reaching at least one final round at an APDA tournament or participating
in elimination rounds at Northams or Worlds. Each member school can
send one free seed team to compete at Nationals in addition to debaters
who have qualified. Nationals consists of six preliminary rounds plus
break rounds. There is also a formal banquet and party, during which
graduating seniors give farewell speeches. |
Communications
and Networks
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APDA
takes pride in its commitment to involve each member school and debater
in the decision-making process. In an effort to achieve that end,
APDA has many vehicles of communication:
APDA-net
This
is the listserv for the organization. Individuals can join the
listserv by emailing apda-request@anadas.com
with the body text "subscribe your@email apda." The
address for the listserv is apda@anadas.com.
The Web
Page
The
APDA web page includes the schedule, tournament results, APDA meeting
minutes, and contact information for Board members, team Presidents,
and Alumni. The address for the page is apda.anadas.com.
The Clash
The
Clash is the organization’s newsletter, published twice per
semester. It includes debate-related articles from the APDA community,
tournament results, and candidate statements.
Board
e-mail list
Questions
or comments can be emailed to the entire APDA Board. The address
varies from year to year.
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