The 10th Annual Hilltopper Classic - September 18-20, 2009
Posted on August 17th, 2009 by Bill Batterman (Category: News)
Dear Colleagues,
You are cordially invited to attend The 2009 Hilltopper Classic at Marquette University High School in Milwaukee, WI. The MUHS Webster Club is once again excited to welcome friends new and old from across the state, region, and country to enjoy fine hospitality and excellent competition and judging. We are proud to once again be designated a Final Round Qualifier in Policy Debate for the Tournament of Champions at the University of Kentucky.
The 2009 edition of the Hilltopper Classic will take place on Friday, September 18th through Sunday, September 20th. That’s right: after holding out as long as possible, we have decided for the first time to extend the Varsity Policy Debate tournament to a three-day event.
The semifinals and finals of Varsity Policy Debate will take place on Sunday morning; all other divisions will conclude on Saturday. This will necessitate an additional night of lodging for those teams that are competing in the semifinals, but we have secured enough high-quality hired judges to ensure that no teams that have been eliminated on Saturday will be obligated to provide judging on Sunday. While we have prided ourselves on bringing the “Texas-style” two-day tournament model to the Great Lakes, the move to a three-day event will enable us to return to a full six preliminary rounds without forcing students and judges/coaches to endure a marathon (and admittedly impossible) schedule.
In addition to Varsity Policy Debate, competition will again be offered in Novice Policy Debate, Open Lincoln-Douglas Debate, and Open Public Forum Debate. Given the timing of our tournament (very early in the season/school year), we will do our best to ensure that each of these divisions is viable.
Why should your squad attend the 2009 Hilltopper Classic?
We are a high school tournament run by a high school program whose livelihood depends upon the existence of a strong, supportive, and competitive local and regional circuit. We take our obligation to the community very seriously: our tournament is managed in a way that reflects our commitment to nurturing the growth of debate in our region, not to maximize profits at our neighbors’ expense. We don’t want you to attend our tournament so that we can make more money — we want you to attend our tournament because we want to create excellent competitive opportunities for students from throughout our region. To that end, entry fees will remain unchanged for the second year in a row… we are one of the most affordable TOC qualifiers in the nation.
We know how much time and effort debate coaches and judges spend on our activity and we know how exhausting a tournament can become. We can’t prevent the exhaustion, but we will do what we can to make our guests comfortable and happy by providing complimentary food and beverages and a dedicated judges lounge throughout the tournament to our adult guests. It won’t be anything fancy, but we’ll take care of you the best we can.
We value all formats of debate and are proud to offer competition in Policy, Lincoln-Douglas, and Public Forum divisions. Bring your whole squad and enjoy a full-service tournament with a friendly, supportive atmosphere.
We try to get all the “little things” right:
- Mutual Preference Judge assignments in Varsity Policy supplemented with a strong pool of hired judges;
- Full results printouts available to everyone after every round in every division;
- A transparent, fair, and expertly-managed tabulation process including publication of full elim brackets;
- A second-year breakout division in Varsity Policy for the top four second-year teams that do not clear to octafinals;
- Beautiful, show-your-principal-with-pride quality trophies and certificates for all elimination round participants and the top individual speakers; and
- Affordable, tasty-but-not-fancy food options for students (including a special effort to provide delicious vegan/vegetarian options this year!).
On behalf of the Webster Club and the entire Marquette University High School community, I look forward to hosting you here in beautiful Milwaukee.
Sincerely,
Bill Batterman
Director of Debate & Tournament Director
Marquette University High School