This is the tournament portal for the 2022 National Tournament. The tournament will be held in a hybrid format. This means students and judges can decide whether to participate in person or virtually.
English Press Release Link
Bulgarian Press Release Link
Registration
Registration opens on March 17 and closes on March 28. Coaches should refer to the Coach Checklist for detailed instructions.
Host Site
The tournament will take place in American University in Bulgaria’s Main Building in Blagoevgrad.
Accommodation
BEST reserves up to two nights of accommodation for all participants. BEST commits to negotiating accommodation costs at or under 30 BGN per student per night. Participants have to pay for their own accommodation costs while BEST covers the costs of all judges and up to one chaperone.
Hotels
Judges and Team Coaches will receive emails with their hotel allocation for the weekend. Please refrain from communicating with the hotels directly and contact BEST instead if you have questions or concerns.
Hotel Alpha
Baza Bachinovo
Hotel Cardinal
Hotel Fenix
Hotel Kartala
Address: https://g.page/hotelkartala?share
Hotel Pilevski
Travel
All teams are required to bring a chaperone who will be legally responsible for their team’s safety when travelling to and competing at the venue. Chaperones are required to be aged 18 or over and to be fluent in Bulgarian.
Teams are encouraged to apply for a travel scholarship. Coaches can fill out the scholarship application form by clicking here. Teams allocated scholarships will be reimbursed after arriving at the tournament venue. Please read our scholarship terms and conditions for further information BEFORE applying for a scholarship.
Scholarship applications open on March 21 (Monday).
Virtual Participation
Tournament rounds will be held on Discord. BEST will attempt to project virtual participants in the in-person rooms so they are visible and audible by all round competitors, not just the judges. Additional information will be sent to team coaches on the week of the tournament.
Judging
Judge registration is now closed.
We will reimburse all judges for their transport if they use trains or buses, but we strongly encourage taking the most affordable option when possible (usually trains). Please purchase your ticket back from the tournament location as well, as we cannot reimburse you without being presented tickets. We will provide food at the tournament site, and we will also cover one night of hotel accommodations for regional tournaments. In exceptional circumstances when a judge can’t make it to the tournament site before 11:00 AM on Saturday, we will cover two nights of hotel accommodation.
Schedule
Saturday, Apr 16, 2022
09:00 - Team Check-in
10:00 - Student Leader Meeting
10:00 - Judge Q&A
11:00 - Opening Ceremony
12:00 - Round 1 Flight B: Oratory, Prose, and Duo
13:30 - Round 1 Flight A: Debate (Prepared) and Poetry
15:00 - Round 2 Flight B: Oratory, Prose, and Duo
16:30 - Round 2 Flight A: Debate (Impromptu) and Poetry
18:00 - Break
18:30 - Semifinals: Prose, Oratory
Round 3: Duo
20:00 - Round 3: Debate (Prepared)
Quarterfinals: Poetry
Sunday, Apr 17, 2022
9:00 - Round 4: Debate (Impromptu)
Semifinals: Poetry
11:00 - Finals: Prose, Oratory, and Duo
12:30 - Finals: Poetry and Debate (Prepared)
14:30 - Closing Ceremony
COVID-19 Measures
The 2022 National Tournament will be a green-pass event. Tournament participants (competitors, judges, chaperones, and staff) will all be required to present one of the following certificates for:
Being fully vaccinated against COVID-19;
Having recovered from COVID-19 recently;
A negative result from an antigen test (done no earlier than 48 hours prior to arriving at the venue).
All participants, volunteers and staff will be required to wear masks while on the premises of the host site. Exceptions will be made for students presenting during a round. There will be mandatory temperature checks on Saturday and Sunday morning. Students with a confirmed fever or other symptoms will be taken back to their hotel rooms by their chaperones. They can then proceed to compete virtually. For more information, please refer to the official AUBG COVID-19 measures.
Debate Motions
Prepared:
This House believes that environmental activists should advocate for nuclear power.
This House believes that governments should take public steps to disrupt and discourage the use of cryptocurrencies (e.g. Bitcoin).
This House regrets the glorification of ‘benevolent’ dictators (e.g Lee Kuan Yiew of Singapore, Josip Broz Tito, and Atatürk).
Impromptu Hints: Refugees; Social Movement Leadership