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J.P. Morgan Chase Lincoln Douglas Debate Rules

GENERAL RULES

1. In order to be eligible to enter in the J.P. Morgan Chase Lincoln Douglas Debates, a student must be a student in the 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grade in a New York City Public School.

Each student has a total of 8 semesters of eligibility. Any semester in which a student competes in one or more JPMC Lincoln Douglas event counts against this eligibility. Participation in the tournaments of other debate leagues will not count against this eligibility.
Coaches will be expected to judge rounds at tournaments. Failure to fulfill judging obligations may result in disqualification of the school from the competition.
1. Tier 1 schools will be defined as all schools that do not qualify or opt to compete in tier 2
2. Tier 2 schools will be defined as all schools that advanced to elimination rounds the previous year in either tier 1 or tier 2. In addition, any school that wishes can voluntarily compete as a tier 2 school.
The award structure and plan for distribution of awards will be announced at the Early Bird tournament. Options for award distribution and pick-up will be detailed on the website. It is the obligation of the students to make arrangements to get their awards. Students will be required to pick up their awards by June 30th of the year they competed or the award will be forfeited.
Coaches are expected to be aware of rules of competition, date of events and other expectations detailed at the kick-off event, the symposium, on the tournament organizers website, through monthly Coaches' newsletters and at professional development events.
Coaches are required to attend all tournaments with their students and uphold ethical standards in preparing for debate competition.
Students must be enrolled in school to be eligible to compete.
If a student or coach is found to be in violation of any of the rules listed in this document, the team will be stripped of their awards and removed from further competition for that year and may be subject to additional penalties.
Issues arising from the interpretation of these rules and situations where there are not specific governing rules will be evaluated by the tournament organizers in consultation with financial sponsors, the Board of Advisors and the NYC Department of Education.
Concerned parties may submit brief written support and relevant evidence to aid the tournament organizers in arriving at their decisions.
Governance decisions made by tournament organizers are final and not subject to appeal.

EARLY BIRD RULES

Any three students from a school may compete as a team in the Early Bird tournament
Each school may send up to the three teams of three students each to the Early Bird Tournament.
Event organizers reserve the right to place 3rd teams on a waitlist to meet space needs.
Schools may bring alternates to the Early Bird to substitute for a missing team member.
If a school has one or more team members absent on the day of the Early Bird, the following options will be employed at the discretion of the tournament organizers:
1. Substitutiong other debaters from the team's alternate pool;
2. Matching the debaters from other schools in similar circumstances (known as hybrid teams)
3. Allowing them to compete as a two-person team;
4. Removing the team from the competitive pool.

GOLDBERG RULES

No student that reached the finals of the Goldberg in the previous year may compete in the finals of the Goldberg the following year
Each school may send one team of three students to the Goldberg tournament.
Schools may bring alternates to the Goldberg to substitute for a missing team member.
If a school has one or more team members missing for the Goldberg tournament, they will be allowed to substitute other debaters from the team's alternate pool.
No hybrid teams or teams with only two members will be eligible to compete in the Goldberg tournament.
At the Goldberg tournament, each team must be made up of three students from the same school.