Parent Judging
You will need to check in at the same time as your student. After confirming that both competitor and parent judge are present, the student will be able to compete.
Thank you for your understanding and efforts to make this tournament successful! If everyone follows this policy, everyone will have some time when they are not needed and the tournament will run smoothly.
We hope to be blessed by the support of many community judges but parents, you are the people who will make the tournament run well! Your willingness to take ballots is essential. Please go to Ballot Push 40 minutes before rounds to see if you are needed to take a ballot.
Plan on judging at least three rounds. Please judge more, if possible. If we have many community judges, ballot push will let you know whether or not you are needed for that round. You can judge alternating rounds, or consecutive rounds if the round is shorter.
Even though you will select specific rounds on your registration, be flexible at the tournament. We want to prioritize community judges that have taken time out of their day to judge our students!
Greatest Needs for judges--8 am round and Finals!
Check-in is 7:00-7:25 am. Check in with your student on time, then come to Ballot Push so that all ballots can be pushed AND we can start the tournament on time.
Online Judge Orientation is available. Use this form to watch Stoa's 20-minute video before you come to the tournament. The Judge Orientation Team will be available to answer additional questions.
Meals
We do not have a time set aside for lunch. Parents will need to eat when they are not judging, and students will need to squeeze meals in between speeches.
We will have light food in the Judges Lounge, and especially want to feed Community Judges well. Coffee and simple snacks will be available throughout the day. For "real meals," please order meals for yourself and your family members when you register. Meal details will be on the website by December. You can also bring your own delicious food!
Judging Preliminary Rounds:
If necessary, we will allow parents to judge students from their own club if:
- The parent has not actively coached that speech,
- The parent does not have a personal conflict with the competitor (e.g., the competitor is her son’s best friend), and
- The parent is able to be impartial in judging the round
It is our desire to ballot 3 judges for every prelim round at the tournament. We trust that parents are able to honestly assess their ability to judge impartially.
Final Round:
Parents will not be allowed to judge students from their own club in the FINALS.
Parents should only judge an event once during this tournament. In other words, a parent should only one round of Apol, not more than one.