This is the Tournament Portal for our 2021 Fall West Tournament which will be held online on November 12-14th.
Registration
Registration for this tournament has closed.
Press Releases
The pre-tournament English press release can be found here.
The pre-tournament Bulgarian press release can be found here.
Tournament Schedule
Duo and Original Oratory have been MERGED for this event due to a lack of participants.
Friday, November 12
18:00 - Student Leader Meeting
19:00 - Opening Ceremony
19:10 - Guest Speaker
19:30 - Students Social Meeting (Zoom)
19:45 - Judge Corner (Google Meet)
Saturday, November 13
10:00 - Round 1 Flight B: Oratory, Prose, and Duo
11:30 - Round 1 Flight A: Debate (Prepared) and Poetry
13:00 - Round 2 Flight B: Oratory, Prose, and Duo
14:30 - Round 2 Flight A: Debate (Impromptu) and Poetry
16:00 - Break
16:30 - Semifinals: Oratory, Duo
Round 3: Novice Prose,
Quarterfinals: Varsity Prose
18:00 - Semifinals: Varsity Poetry
Round 3: Novice Poetry
Round 3: Debate (Prepared)
19:15 - Semifinals: Varsity Prose
Sunday, November 14
10:00 - Round 4: Debate (Impromptu)
12:00 - Finals: Prose, Oratory, and Duo
13:30 - Finals: Poetry and Debate (Prepared)
16:00 - Closing Ceremony
Judging
We welcome all high school graduates or above with C1 or higher English to judge at our tournaments. If you are new to BEST and our tournaments, visit our Judging Basics page!
Coaches, you must register if you are judging, too, and don’t forget to include your judges when you fill out your team roster spreadsheet (see below).
Judge Sign-Up form on this link.
Coaching
BEST Coaches should download our Coaches’ Checklist and make sure their teams are up to date.
Debate Motions
Motions for Novice and Varsity will be the same for this tournament as opponents would be decided based on performance and not division.
This House would abolish the Olympic Games.
This House believes that standardized tests do more harm than good.
This House supports the use of vaccine passports.
INFO: Vaccine passports are documents that are currently being considered or adopted by many countries in the attempt to reopen some economic activities during COVID-19. These can be apps or documentation that prove an individual has received the full dose of the vaccination, has recently recovered from COVID-19, or has recently received a negative test result. They can be required for domestic economic activities, such as attending bars or concerts, or considered for the purposes of international travel, such as allowing those with a vaccine passport to bypass quarantine.
Impromptu motion hints:
Pop Culture
Social Stigmas
Motion-related Articles
Note: These articles are meant to be a starting point for teams to find additional information about the motions. BEST Foundation does not endorse the opinions presented in the articles, but is offering them as an additional resource for students to use at their own discretion.
Additionally, students are reminded of the plagiarism policy. Students’ speeches should be composed mainly of their own ideas, thoughts, and arguments. While students can incorporate evidence, data, and quotes from these articles into their speeches, they must cite their sources properly. Students found to have plagiarized (used another’s ideas without proper attribution) will be at risk of disqualification.
Motion: This House would abolish the Olympic Games.
Prop:
Opp:
Motion: This House believes that standardized tests do more harm than good.
General:
Motion: This House supports the use of vaccine passports.
General:
Prop: