Ace Peak x Ziggy Tournament Series

      Due to NCFCA Nationals and Stoa NITOC being cancelled for the 2020 season due to the pandemic currently sweeping our globe, many debaters have been left without options for what to do with the remaining months of this debate season.

     The decision of the leagues to cancel future tournaments was certainly the right one for public health. Even if younger people generally seem less likely to suffer more serious covid-19 complications, there is a much higher risk of being a carrier of the virus, which can and has lead to thousands of deaths—especially of more vulnerable population groups, but certainly not limited to those groups of people—due to a failure to engage in proper social distancing practices.

     Understandably, many debaters are still saddened by the loss of opportunities to put the skills they’ve been honing for months (and perhaps years) to good use. I know I would be, too. But…don’t throw out your debate files just yet!

     I am excited to tell you that Ace Peak and Ziggy Online Debate have teamed up to offer a high quality tournament series! These 4-day tournaments consist of a qualifying tournament for each league’s debaters in May (“The Online Qualifier”) and a national championship for each league’s debaters in June (“The Online Championship”). Qualification standards for The Online Championship can be viewed by clicking the links at the bottom of this post. All tournaments will have 6 prelim rounds and full outrounds all the way to finals.

     The tournament schedule will be very different from a traditional Ziggy tournament. Just like a physical tournament, there will be 3 rounds each day and each round will have a pre-set start and end time. Judges must judge at least 3–4 debates, and will be pre-assigned to judge specific rounds.Although the unique rules for the Ace Peak x Ziggy tournaments will be more rigorous (please review them carefully!) than the traditional flexible schedule offered by the Ziggy Semester tournament series, this is necessary to ensure high quality competition for everyone involved. We’re preparing to have hundreds of teams participating, including at the Online Championship.     

The tournament schedule will be very different from a traditional Ziggy tournament. Just like a physical tournament, there will be multiple rounds each day and each round will have a pre-set start and end time. If you miss two consecutive rounds, you will be automatically removed from the tournament—no exceptions.

     From our end, there will be a much higher level of work required to run a tournament of this scale; we’ll have multiple staff members helping to administer the tournament; and we’ll be working hard to ensure high quality competition. Sibling discounts and early bird pricing are available. And remember—there’s zero travel or hotel costs associated with our tournaments—so it’s still cheaper than physical tournaments!

     We know that an online tournament cannot fully capture the experience of a physical tournament, but we are committed to helping our students have the opportunity to make the most of this debate season despite the unfortunate events of 2020, and the Ace Peak x Ziggy tournament series will provide precisely that opportunity—both through our Online Qualifier and the Online Championship.

Rules, schedule, prices, & registration for the Online Qualifier are linked below!