Learn to Judge
Calling All Parents...
Sign up to judge! An adult is required to judge a minimum of 2 times per student member during the tournament season.
Lending your time allows students to participate in tournaments, learn from constructive criticism and put into practice all of the hard work they've done. You will be awed and inspired by these kids and will leave reassured that our future is truly bright.
Anyone can learn to judge! Many speech events do not require additional training, just your opinion. Check out the resources here and talk with other judges and students about their experiences. Jester Jam, held early in the season, is a mock tournament at Midtown for hands-on judge training — great for new judges, a refresher, or to learn how to judge a different event.
We need you and this is why: For every tournament the Jesters attend, we are required to provide judges for rounds of other teams. The number is based on how many of our students participate. If we don't have enough volunteer judges, we must pay fees to hire judges. This can greatly increase the cost per student and can limit the number of tournaments we can attend.
Volunteering to judge goes a long way to support our team.
Judge Training
A treature trove of resources from the National Speech and Debate Association
Providing Feedback
All judges are encouraged to be mindful of how they provide feedback to students verbally and/or in writing. We encourage all community members, especially those providing constructive criticism to students, to consider the words they use. Simply put, words matter.
Check out the NSDA resources for tips.
Judge Guidelines
An overview for judging Speech and Debate events
Sign Up Here
Grab the judging slots that best suit your calendar
Tabroom
Tabroom is a tournament management system. To get set up to judge, you must first create a Tabroom account. The Midtown coaches will then register you to judge at a tournament by linking to your account. When you judge at a tournament, you'll be able to see your judging assignments and ballots through Tabroom and can set up handy text and email notifications. See Virtual Tournament Tips below for helpful information on judging from home during the 2024-25 season.
If you have a question about navigating Tabroom, veteran parent judges are always happy to help!
Want to help another way?
Donate so that every student may have an opportunity to compete.
Your support makes our tournaments possible.
Thank you!
