This is the Tournament Portal for our Spring West Tournament which will be held online on February 19, 20 and 21.

Registration

Registration for this tournament is now open. Deadline to register is Friday, February 5, 2021.

Press Releases

The pre-tournament press release is available here in English. In Bulgarian.

Tournament Schedule

Wednesday, February 17

19:30-20:30 Judge Training (General)

20:45-21:30 Debate Training

Friday, February 19

18:00 - Student Leader Meeting

19:00 - Opening Ceremony 

19:10 - Guest Speaker

19:30 - Students Social Meeting (Zoom)

19:45 - Judge Q&A (Google Meet)

Saturday, February 20

12:00 -  Round 1 Flight B: Oratory, Prose, and Duo

13:45 -  Round 1 Flight A: Debate (Prepared) and Poetry

15:00 -  Round 2 Flight B: Oratory, Prose, and Duo

16:45 -  Round 2 Flight A: Debate (Impromptu) and Poetry

18:45 -  Semifinals: Prose, Oratory, Duo

20:15 -  Semifinals: Poetry

             Round 3: Debate (Prepared)
Sunday, February 21

11:00 - Round 4: Debate (Impromptu)

13:00 - Finals: Prose, Oratory, and Duo

14:30 - Finals: Poetry and Debate (Prepared)

17:00 - 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!

You can sign-up to judge at the Spring West Virtual tournament using this link.

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.

Coaching

BEST Coaches should download our Coaches’ Checklist and make sure their teams are up to date.

Debate Motions

Novice

• THBT Facebook has done more harm than good.

• TH would make voting mandatory.

• THBT non-essential professionals should have the right to refuse to provide their services based on religious grounds.

  • Info slide: Over the last several years there has been litigation around the right of an individual business to refuse service based upon the religious belief of its proprietors. In two specific cases a bakery refused to provide a wedding cake for a gay couple.

Varsity

• THBT the United States should pursue aggressive containment of China (e.g. economic sanctions, diplomatic threats, remilitarization of South China Sea and Japan, countering China's influence in various regions).

• THBT prominent social media platforms (e. g. Twitter, Facebook) should not allow politicians or political parties to make public accounts.

• THW allow police officers to refuse orders on grounds of conscience.

Impromptu hints: Economics, Social Movements, Innovations