2014 Allstate Varsity Invitational Announcements

These are announcements pertaining to the 2014 Allstate Varsity Invitational, taking place on Saturday, October 18th, at the Allstate National Offices, 3100 Sanders Rd., Northbrook, IL.

(1) Arrival Time

Teams should arrive on site between 7:30am – 8:00am for registration and a light breakfast. Traffic will likely be light on Saturday morning, but Northbrook is a bit of a trek from the city, so plan your travel time accordingly.

(2) Attire

Dress is business attire. We are in the offices of a major national corporation which has formal business dress expectations, and Allstate executives will be taking part in the event, so we want to dress to impress.

All participants will need a photo ID to get past Allstate security in the front lobby of 3100 Sanders Rd.

(3) Schedule

Here is the full day schedule for the event: 2014 Allstate Varsity Invitational Schedule.

(4) Participating Teams

The following teams will be participating in the 2014 Allstate Varsity Invitational.

Bogan H.S.
Team: Alexis Villagomez & Tyson Geiger
Coach/Judge: Vickki Willis
Coach/Judge: Christine Laadimi

Michele Clark H.S.
Team: Diamond Dortch & Tia Schaffer
Alternate Team: Iris Dickerson & Kayla Carr
Coach/Judge: Phyllis Ford-France

Kennedy H.S.
Team: Husam Haj & Jenna Bilak
Coach/Judge: Caitlin Miller
Coach/Judge: Kevin Trant

Lane Tech College Prep
Team: Aaron Phelin & Joel Veizi
Coach/Judge: Nick Locke

Lincoln Park H.S.
Team: Michaela Sharp & William Patterson
Coach/Judge: Kourtney McAuliff

Lindblom College Prep
Team: Donald Rapier & Kaylen Herring
Team: Chad Tucker & Victoria Susberry
Coach/Judge: Peter Van
Coach/Judge: Gerard Gueringer

Northside College Prep
Team: Maria Sanchez & Wes Jones
Coach/Judge: Adam Hausman

Walter Payton College Prep
Team: Lenny Brahin & Luisa Cusick
Coach/Judge: Vincent Vinluan

PCS Joslin H.S.
Team: K’Jia North & Myles Horne
Coach/Judge: Karen Sheehan
Coach/Judge: Jose Cruz

Phoenix Military Academy
Team: Mayra Deleon & Stephani Lopez
Coach: Robert Edwards
Coach/Judge: Sam Sanchez

Senn H.S.
Team: Andrewa Armanzdi/Muzna Fatima
Team: Jorge Cotaquispe/Tenzin Wozer
Coach/Judge: Amy Coffelt
Coach/Judge: Nikole Burrell

Von Steuben Metro Science H.S.
Team: Jazmin Mercado & Mansur Shawabkeh
Team: Alexis Chavez & Jorell Ellazar
Coach/Judge: Ben Krier
Coach/Judge: Cvetko Georgevich

Whitney Young Magnet H.S.
Team: Charlie Bazzell & Henry Ferolie
Coach: Ben Friedman
Judge: Amit Bindra

(5) Runnable Case List and Affirmative Case Previews

The 2014 Allstate Invitational Runnable Case List identifies all of the affirmative cases runnable at the event. Teams running an affirmative case not on this list will be forfeited.

The 2014 Allstate Invitational Affirmative Case Previews provide all competitors with the plan texts, Harms scenarios, Solvency mechanisms, and 1AC cite list for all runnable cases at the event.

(6) College Scholarships

Each member of the first place team will win an Allstate college scholarship of $1,000 (so $2,000 for the team). Each member of the second place team wins an Allstate college scholarship of $500 — third place is $250 each. The top speaker from each conference wins an Allstate college scholarship of $250. Allstate college scholarships of $4500 total will be awarded. Allstate college scholarships can toward college tuition, or for reimbursement of college-related expenses, with the provision of receipts (e.g., for books, travel, etc.). They can also be used for university debate institute tuition.

(7) Coach Compensation

Coach compensation of $500 per team will be provided on site on October 18th.

(8) Visitors and Observers

If any school wishes to bring visitors or observers, in addition to their coach and judge, they must register those observers by the end of the day on 10/15 by sending an email to register@resources.chicagodebates.org. Allstate’s security is strict — they will not allow anyone into the building who is not on their security clearance list, to be provided to Allstate on the evening of 10/15, per Allstate’s request.

(9) Lunch Mentoring Session

The event will include an informal mentoring program, led by Allstate executives and professionals over lunch, part of a broader talent-cultivation program that Allstate is considering initiating, one that would involve the top-performing Allstate Invitational debaters from this year and the past Invitationals. Each team will be assigned a room in which they will eat their lunch (after picking it up from the cafeteria), and in which they will engage in a mentoring conversation with leaders from Allstate.

Room assignments for lunch are here. Debaters should pick up their lunch from the cafeteria and head to their assigned mentoring luncheon room. Coaches and judges should remain in the cafeteria to eat lunch.

(10) Round Pairings

Round I will be paired randomly, with the proviso that teams cannot debate within their conference.

Round III will be paired off II, high-high.

Round IV will be paired off II, high-low within brackets.

Round II will match the following teams — based on a high-high pre-tournament seeding, 1 vs. 2, 3 vs. 4, etc. — with sides to be revealed on Saturday morning:

Bogan vs. Clark
Lane Tech vs. Whitney Young
Lindblom DK vs. Von Steuben AJ
Northside vs. Payton
Phoenix vs. Lindblom CV
PCS Joslin vs. Senn AM
Senn JT vs. Kennedy
Von Steuben JM vs. Lincoln Park

Judges should not reveal their decisions. Allstate wants to announce the winners at the end of the day.

Les will be on site and running the tab room. Call or text with any questions or concerns and to confirm your registration BEFORE arriving on site Saturday morning (i.e., when you’re en route) — 312-848-2271.

Looking forward to one of the early-season highlights on the CDL Season Calendar, and to the front book-end to the Chicago Debate Championship as it regards the top Varsity teams from across conferences coming together to compete in academic debate.

We thank Allstate for its continued strong support of the Chicago Debate League. Allstate continues to help make the Chicago Debate League one of the city’s leading education programs for public school students.