Ms.+Hamilton

=Background:= I have been coaching Speech and Debate for the past 15 years. Given the fact that it pays about as much as teaching does, one gets into it because we love it. I have always said that once someone is "bitten" at a tournament, they love it for life! I won my first trophy in Lincoln - Douglas Debate when I was a freshman in high school in McHenry, Illinois. Winning certainly does not mean you know everything; it does mean that you spent some time listening to the judge before the round started. A step in the right direction, most definitely.

A good debate should showcase the best that both participants have to offer. The importance of clash cannot be overstated; as well as clarity in intended responses once the first AC is over. I always flow debates and rarely ask for evidence, only in extreme circumstances.
 * Basic Philosophy:**

These can prove valuable, provided that they are presented as being mostly applicable to the case just presented, and not an overview of the resolution. Stay to the case, don't just throw a DA out there because it sounded good in practice or at another tournament. Make it count for something - I will listen!
 * DAs:**

Within a round, my job as a judge is to be as impartial and open as possible to the information each side presents. Given that, I am also patiently waiting to hear, each time you speak, WHY you make the better argument. This isn't an opportunity for you to tell me how I should vote: it is an opportunity to showcase your ability to persuade using logic, and if necessary, evidence.
 * The Big Why?**

Please stay to the current resolution. It is the only topic up for debate in the round. Please know that if you begin to debate //how// a debate is to be debated and you can't debate this round because the other side isn't following the rules/going off topic/not making it easy on you, //I// will spend a good deal of //my// judging energy listening for when you actually mention something related to the resolution/cases presented/rebuttals. Explaining the merits of debating correctly to a judge, in my opinion, is not good debating at all.
 * Resolution:**

I look forward to seeing you in rounds! Enjoy and good luck!