The information comes through the provincial coordinator or provincial debate association presidents.

The information is also posted on the CSDF website.

The try-out is usually attached to the Seminar. For 2010 and 2011, the Try-out will be attached to a National Debate event.

Throughout the years, (as far back as 1999) the committee re-invited team members either directly into the teams, or since 2008, to the tryout, when the members association did not fill the spots. Starting in 2010, the committee can invite reserve members of the team directly to the training camp.

For the selection announcement after the try-out:

The selected debaters are phoned by the coaches within 2 weeks of the try out. The other delegates are informed through e-mails by the chair of the committee. The names of the selected debaters are then posted on the website.

The first mandate of the committee is to win a Worlds Championship.

That being said, the committee understand that this goal will be more achievable if the provincial members hold more training and more tournaments in World Style. The committee support provincial member initiatives in that direction. The committee keeps contact with a great numbers of Alumni of the team that are ready to help provincial members.

The committee will always support any coaches that would like to become a judge at Worlds. We would like to extend an invitation to all to come to judge in Scotland in August 2011 or in South Africa in February 2012.

A member of our committee has started to prepare instructional material to be posted on the Team Canada section of the CSDF website.

In addition, 2 members of the committee will organized a World Style Tournament in their own region (Calgary, Vancouver) in order to increase the debaters and judges experience.

Here is an example of a one day tournament that Provincial members might want to try:

In Calgary, it is a short tournament, 3 rounds, followed by a final.

One Saturday, from 08:30 till 5:00, the first round is impromptu so that we can do the judges briefing during the hour prep, followed by two rounds and a final on the same topic, we make sure kids debate both side of the issue in our draw, it is a random 3 round draw (ie not bracketed after each round) but we make sure kids debate both side of the prepared round.

Alberta also holds another tournament to make our provincial selection for the National Team Try-out; this one is only judged by World Qualified Adjudicator or alumni of the National Team.

You can download an easy tabs spreadsheet (xls), created by John Robinson, for the Pan Am in 2006.

For the 2011 team, debaters from across the country were invited to apply directly to the committee in order to fulfill those spots. The Committee then ranked those debaters solely based on those applications. The top four were invited to the try out.

The committee is working on a more elaborate system for the 2012 selection.

A prepared resolution is given to the debaters prior to the try-out.

The impromptu resolutions are picked from resolutions that have been previously debated either at the World School debating championship or at the World University Debating Championship. The resolutions debated at the try-out cover a vast array of themes usually debated at this level, from science to sports, from economics to World politics. The impromptu resolutions are picked by members of the committee that do not coach any of the debaters trying-out.

The committee tries its best not to pick a resolution that was used for training or competition by the team during the previous year.

The debaters are assessed on their debating skills, their ability to improve on those skills, their ability to work as a team member, and their commitment to the team.

During the try out and the summer training session;

The debating skills are assessed according to the criteria used at the Worlds. The debaters are given those criteria in advance.

Their ability to improve is judge by their ability to interiorise critics that is given after each round, since each debater is judge twice by the same judge during the try out, and again by committee members during the summer session.

Their ability to work as a team member is assessed by observation of the debaters by the members of the committee while the debaters are preparing their impromptu rounds.

The commitment is assessed by a committee member during a one to one interview.

Feedback is given to the debater after each round of debate. That is the extent of feedback after the try-out.

After the summer session, the coach communicates directly with each debater and gives extensive comments on the rationale for the final selection.

Throughout the process, it should be noted that the coaches also look at their needs regarding certain positions on the team, with the ultimate goal of bringing back the World Championship.

The committee will invite up to 12 debaters from the try out to the summer training camp. For the 2011 Team Try out, 10 debaters will be selected at the try out, since two members of the 2010 reserve have been already invited to the summer camp.

From the training camp, the committee will select 5 members and 2 debaters as reserve. None have been selected yet for the 2011 team.

The committee will hold the selection long enough in advance for the coach to prepare the team for the World Championship, by that we mean between 12 to 14 months in advance.

For the last 3 years, the try out has taken place around 14 months before the championship. We think this is reasonable. The result at the Worlds and at the Sr Nationals in the last 4 years seems to indicate that either the selection process or the training process is working, or probably both.

A comparison of the results of Team Australia, USA and Canada in the last few years demonstrates the need of having at least a full year of training.

The result at the Worlds compare to other nations in a similar situation as Canada and at the results at the Sr Nationals and the Oxford Cup in the last 3 years seems to indicate that this is working.

It is interesting to compare the results of the 2 countries that have a similar challenge as Canada. Both the USA and Australia have debating federation regrouping regional members spread over a vast geographical area. In the last 5 years, the results of those 3 teams were

Australia:

• 2006:1 out 35
• 2007:6 out of 35
• 2008:11 out of 39
• 2009:5 out of 39
• 2010: 5 out of 57

Canada:

• 2006:4 out 35
• 2007:4 out of 35
• 2008:6 out of 39
• 2009:6 out of 39
• 2010: 1 out of 57

USA:

• 2006:13 out 35
• 2007:12 out of 35
• 2008:26 out of 39
• 2009:28 out of 39
• 2010: 29 out of 57

Please note:

Australia has only one debating style: Worlds Style.

In 2006, 2009 and 2010, Australia made their selection 10 months prior to the tournament, in 2007 and 2008; they made their selection 2 and 4 months prior to the Championship. The consequences on the results are self explanatory.

The USA made their selection a year in advance in 2006 and 2007.

The USA had a summer training session one year prior to the tournament in 2007. They abandon that system in the last 3 years. The consequences on the results are self explanatory.

Australia, even with all their debaters debating in World Style, needs 10 months to prepare their team. The committee requires that the Canadian coach be given at least 12 months between the first try-out and the Championship.

The scores given by a coach to his own debater are removed from the average of that debater.

The interview of a debater is done by a committee member from a different province.

The committee will try its best to do so, and would support any member initiatives in that direction. The committee keeps contact with a great numbers of Alumni of the team that will be ready to help provincial members in creating their provincial team, provincial world style tournament or provincial world style training camp.

The committee is increasing the number of debaters invited to the training camp in the summer of 2010. The Committee is inviting 12 debaters to the summer training camp.

In addition, the next World is taking place in Scotland at the end of August 2011. The Committee will support with enthusiasm the application of Canadian coaches wishing to go to Scotland 2011 as judges or observers!

By Regional tournaments, the committee is referring to tournament that have debaters from more then one province participating; the Western Seminar comes to mind. This event could be transformed into a Worlds Style tournament, and the top eligible debaters invited to the try out. If the provincial members are in agreement with this, the committee would support such initiative.

Again, the committee would look favourably into the application of eligible debaters doing well at regional tournaments done in Canadian, BP or World Style. Current tournaments meeting the regional criteria include several University-hosted outreach debating tournaments, such as the UBC and McGill High School tournaments.