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| Clarification of the CX 8 Round Rule |
In Cross-examination Debate, debaters advance from district to state, with first and second place teams qualifying for the State Meet. The CX 8-round rule affects only districts that have only one school participating or districts that have fewer than eight teams participating in the district competition.
A statement of the rule can be found on page 96 of the CC&R, Section 1001, (k) (1) (B). The rule stipulates that in districts with multiple schools competing, first place teams will advance to state competition and do not have to meet certification requirements. However, in districts with only one school entered in the district meet, first place advances to state competition only if the high school principal certifies that the team has competed in a minimun of eight competitive interschool debate rounds prior to the certification deadline. Also in districts with fewer than 8 teams total participating in the district meet, placing teams with the exception of first place must be certifiable to compete at the State Meet. In order for a second place team from these limited participation districts to be certified, that team must have participated in a minimum of 8 interschool competitive rounds of debate during the current academic school year.
The intent of the rule is to insure that debate teams have experience debating in a competitive situation on the current topic prior to the CX State Meet, since this debate event advances straight from the district level to the state level. Teams are allowed to accumulate their rounds to meet the certification requirement in a variety of ways:
- competitive rounds at a debate tournament
- after-school adjudicated rounds with a neighboring school
- district meet rounds against opposing schools
The
certification form can be located online, in the Academic Coordinator's Manual, Spring Meet Manual , and the District Winner's/Coach packet.
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Questions & Answers |
| Q |
Does only 1 member of the team have to meet the 8 round rule in order for the team to advance after district placement?
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| A |
No, both team members must be able to document 8 rounds, though the rounds for certification could be with a different partner than the one with whom they are debating at the district meet.
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| Q |
If my school is the only school competing in the district meet, who has to be certified?
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| A |
Both first and second place teams must submit certification forms.
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| Q |
If more than one school competes in the district meet, who has to be certified?
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| A |
Second place must submit certification forms.
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| Q |
If the second place team is not certifiable, does the third place alternate team have the opportunity to advance to State?
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| A |
Yes, if the second place team cannot meet the certification requirement and the third place team can be certified, the third place team has the opportunity to advance to State.
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| Q |
If the district champion elects not to come to State, can the secnd place team advance to State even if they are not certifiable?
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| A |
No. The rule states that only the first place team from a district with multiple schools participating automatically advances to State. Second place teams from certifiable districts must still meet the certification rule to advance.
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| Q |
Is this rule exclusionary in nature?
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| A |
No. For several years, a provision has been made in districts where fewer than a total of eight teams are entered on the official Cross-Examination entry form for each school to be allowed to enter a fourth team.
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| Q |
What procedure must be followed in order for a placing team to be certified?
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| A |
The team's high school principal must sign a certification form included in the District Winner's/Coaches packets, testifying that these debaters meet the certification rule. A coach may choose to use ballots from rounds, signatures from invitational tournament directors verifying numbers of rounds debated, etc. to document certification for their principal. The Contest Director will submit the district results online to the League office by the deadline (see C&CR.) Schools with teams that require certifications must fax the certification form by the specified deadline. If they are unable to do so, the District CX Director should be contacted in order the obtain the proper paperwork from the 3rd place team, if certifiable.
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