How to Apply for an At-Large Bid
These past few weeks I’ve received a number of e-mails from readers about the TOC at-large process. “For first-time applicants,” reminded Juli Tarsney in one such e-mail, “the process is a bit confusing, especially when compared with how easy it normally is to register online for tournaments.” So, I’d like to take a moment to help explain the process.
As has been noted here and elsewhere, a record number of people have qualified to the TOC this year.
The official web site of the Tournament of Champions notes that “if there are fewer than 68 fully qualified entries in an event, additional entries will be admitted into the Tournament on space-available basis.” Now, by all accounts, more than sixty-eight students are now eligible for participation. Historically, there have been times where there are a few more than sixty-eight competitors in the field. But, according to the rules as of now, there will be no at-large bids if there are sixty-eight fully-qualified entries.
The web site also indicates that two bids are not necessarily a guarantee for entry. “Two qualifying legs [bids] guarantees admission into the Tournament,” notes the web site, “provided that there are seventy or fewer fully qualified entries. If there are more than seventy entries, the TOC Advisory Committees shall examine and rank the two-qualifier applications for their respective events and the Tournament Director will admit the most qualified entries.” Tim Averill, a long-serving former member of the TOC Advisory Committee in Lincoln-Douglas Debate, reminded readers recently that the TOC has not (yet) turned away entries with two bids.
Should one even bother applying?
It is important to remember that while VBD keeps a list of who has received two bids, and many enjoy compiling a scoreboard of who has “qualified,” a debater is not consider “qualified” in the eyes of the TOC until after she has sent in the application and the tournament has verified the bids. J.W. Patterson pointed out to me last week that, to his recollection, there has never been a year in which every entry that could potentially qualify has actually applied. Conflicts with graduation, prom, and examinations have frequently kept at least a handful of participants away.
Eligible at-large applicants must meet a number of minimum criteria and the Tournament Director (J.W. Patterson), after consulting with his Advisory Committees, will accept the most qualified applicants to fill the field. First, the at-large applicant must have earned at least one bid to apply. (The at-large applicant must specify at the top of the application page on the at-large application where the bid was received.) An at-large applicant in Lincoln-Douglas or policy debate must have earned a 60% or greater win-loss percentage at all tournaments attended during the season. There is a space which allows the applicant to list tournaments. Finally, a $80.00 non-refundable application fee must accompany the application in order to be processed for consideration.
The application can be downloaded from the TOC web site. It must be received (not be postmarked) by Thursday, March 15, 2007. As a word of caution, the tournament is very serious about this deadline. If you are applying, be sure to be prompt.
“In applying for an at-large bid in all divisions,” the TOC web site notes, “the applicant is free to include on the back side any additional information that they think will be helpful to the Advisory Committee.” It is important that you do this.
These materials and the $80.00 fee must be sent to the following address and be received, to repeat, by March 15:
Professor J.W. Patterson
Director of Debate and TOC Tournament Director
National Tournament of Champions Entry
225 Funkhouser Building
University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY 40506-0054
Keep in mind that this process can, admittedly, be a bit daunting and intimidating, especially for first-timers, given the tournament involved.
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Posted from: 205.196.218.26
March 6th, 2007 21:49
[...] There seems to be a lot of fear and loathing about the at-large application process, especially since this is the first year that Public Forum Debate has expanded beyond the round robin format. Jon Cruz over at Victory Briefs Daily has a very information article about the at-large bid process. Anyone that is contemplating applying for a bid, should definitely take a look. Filed under Tournament of Champions by PFDebate LLC Permalink • Print • Email • Comment [...]
Posted from: 209.162.38.144
March 6th, 2007 22:27
Is this 60% for prelims or does it also include outrounds.
Posted from: 71.139.21.160
March 6th, 2007 23:00
Is the 60% at *each* tournament or just at all the tournaments overall averaged?
Posted from: 71.8.210.213
March 7th, 2007 00:00
It is my understanding that the “rules” of no at larges when there are 68 debaters or the 60% winning percentage seem to just kinda be guidelines to loosely follow. I’m pretty sure that if you have a 56% winning percentage and you throw down your $80 the application isn’t thrown out. If you have a bid and at least another decent performance or two, it’s probably worth the $80 for your chance to shock the world like Joey Seiler or Eric Palmer. The application process for at-larges seems much more of an art than a science
Posted from: 66.41.180.32
March 7th, 2007 08:14
Duby is correct but I would caution applicants not to pad their records to suggest that a winning percentage is higher than it actually is or which tournaments they attended. It’s relatively easy to verify if you’ve been to more tournaments than you suggest and whether you did poorly.
In general, the most successful applicants have one bid with few TOC bid opportunities. Someone who attended several TOC bid tournaments and continually failed to obtain a bid are likely to be less successful. As Sam mentioned, it’s definitely an art so there aren’t any hard and fast rules about what will be more or less successful.
Posted from: 68.164.172.149
March 7th, 2007 09:28
Multiple “one ballot aways” (losing the bid round on splits) and some quality wins (over debaters w/ lots of bids) are persuasive as well.
Posted from: 167.206.203.14
March 7th, 2007 10:20
Based on my admittedly limited tenure on the committee, I strongly agree with Lexy.
Posted from: 68.164.172.149
March 7th, 2007 11:02
The committee’s job is to select the strongest debaters from the pool of applicants. Different members may have different priorities, but I tend to look for two very different kids of applications.
1)Limited Opportunity Apps–Here I’m looking for a debater who could not attend many bid tournaments, but in her limited opportunities, she kicked in doors. I’m looking for the regional debater who has demonstrated the she can perform in the TOC environment.
2)Bridesmaid Apps–here I’m looking for a debater who has demonstrated her ability to compete at the TOC level by defeating other debaters who will be at the TOC. She may have failed to complete in one or more bid rounds, but she has demonstrated that she can run with the big dogs.
Posted from: 205.188.116.204
March 7th, 2007 17:17
I agree with Lexy about how I looked at the at-large apps (I like the bridesmaid label…). The goal is to accept people who will be competitive at the tournament
Posted from: 24.151.83.199
March 7th, 2007 17:28
Wait…since there are more than 68 people qualified in LD at the moment, and 2 bids does not represent a full qual–do people with 2 bids need apply for an at large this year??
Posted from: 68.209.198.15
March 7th, 2007 17:39
no, that would only be the case if there were like 68 people with 3 bids. if you have 2 bids you’re guaranteed in.
Posted from: 71.139.26.245
March 7th, 2007 17:44
Everyone should keep in mind that even a couple of years ago (2005?) there were more than 72 debaters qualled but they still accepted 10 or so at larges. Someone should correct my history if this is incorrect.
Posted from: 68.175.60.62
March 7th, 2007 17:56
To answer Daniel, that relates to the point I was trying to make up above about what it means to be truly “qualified.” Seventy-two people might have two bids, but generally, not all seventy-two actually register to compete. Conflicts like prom, graduation, etc. generally keep some away.
Posted from: 204.180.72.208
March 7th, 2007 19:01
Something that hasn’t been mentioned so far: Duby alluded to this, but it’s not always the top applicants that receive at-larges. A committee of coaches vote on who gets them, and there’re no definite criteria for comparison. To a degree, each committee member chooses the debaters they like.
That’s not to fault the process, the committee, or the debaters they choose, I’m just saying (as a bit of warning/hope) you never know what’ll happen.
Posted from: 130.49.58.236
March 9th, 2007 13:25
http://www.ndtceda.com/pipermail/edebate/2007-March/070176.html
based on that list of missing results, i bet there are a lot fewer fully qualled debaters than vbd thinks.
Posted from: 209.98.146.245
March 9th, 2007 16:11
First, Jon, thanks for posting this thread. The process can seem complicated for anyone applying for the first time, whether fully qualified or a candidate for an at-large bid, and another problem is that the deadline wasn’t well publicized in former years. For both reasons, providing the info and links here is a big help.
Speaking of piecing together info, does anyone have a link to the schedule for TOC? Our team is trying to figure out travel plans, and I’m wondering how late outrounds tend to go on Monday.
Finally, the fee to apply for an at-large and the entry fee seem so high, especially given what’s required in terms of judge coverage. Any explanation for the cost?
Posted from: 130.49.58.236
March 9th, 2007 17:55
finals usually ends by 6 or 7 in ld
Posted from: 76.172.72.249
March 9th, 2007 17:59
I suppose it is the same explanation for any tournament. Given how much people pay to travel all over the country to capture the bids, seems somewhat apropos that its crowning moment should require a similar (if not the highest) admissions fee.
Posted from: 209.98.146.245
March 13th, 2007 07:49
Bumping this today, because the deadline is just two days away.
I suppose it is the same explanation for any tournament.
It seems we’ve paid somewhere between $50 and $100 to register for most circuit tournaments - and usually one judge can cover at least two LD debaters, three or four with flighting. $150 is more like the fee for a round robin, where food (and sometimes housing) is provided.
Speaking of the judge obligation, if five double-flighted rounds must be covered for each debater, three judges should suffice for four debaters - correct? Unless I’m missing something obvious, the language on the TOC site makes it a little difficult to figure out the required ratio of judges to debaters.
Posted from: 71.160.56.34
March 13th, 2007 09:21
if memory serves, 3 debaters will require two people to cover the obligation.
Posted from: 24.7.65.244
March 13th, 2007 12:53
um last year it was 5 double flighted rounds per debater, so 3 debaters would require 3 judges (unless you can buy a round from someone, which the toc allows you to do…last year someone used spare rounds from 4 judges to fulfill their judging commitment)
Posted from: 24.7.65.244
March 13th, 2007 12:54
but 3 judges will cover 4 debaters, to answer juli’s original question.
Posted from: 24.154.114.137
March 13th, 2007 16:20
Does anyone know when they announce who got accepted?