In which we hit, at best, a two-bagger

Here’s the problem. Virtual tournaments, for the most part, are going to be limited in the number of rounds. The biggest tournaments, the ones with octas bids in any of their divisions, are going to have to cap at a meaningful point. If you can only reasonably hold 6 rounds, and you want to break all the 4-2s, you’re at around 172. Meanwhile, a tournament like Princeton gets a field of about 240 in PF. We do 240 for no other reason than because we have room space for 240. 

On the other hand, Princeton IRL has no novice PF division, because there’s not enough room space. Princeton Virtual has unlimited rooms. Problem solved, add a novice division until RL comes back.

Meanwhile, the 172 cap in varsity meant about 70 teams don’t get in. There has been a lot of talk around the circuit about creating a new division in light of probable future caps. This would be a division with non-novices, on the belief that actual novices deserve a field of their peers. It would be a division of younger or less seasoned varsity debaters, what might in some parlances be called JV or Intermediate. Sadly, either of these terms has a slight pejorative tinge in the debate universe. Instead of being seen as a launch pad for varsity, as I think is the usual case in JV sports (“Sorry, pal, the varsity roster is all filled up this year”), it is seen as bush league or, simply, not good enough. What we would want to do is take away the faint scent of second-class citizenship in that division, and I think the name will be everything. 

I’ve heard a lot of suggestions so far, and none of them work for me. So for the time being I’m going to propose my own name for this division until something better comes along: Triple-A. Granted, this isn’t great, but it’s better than anything else so far. It has the least amount of negativity, except maybe among the avid baseball fans in the debate universe, which number, according to the last count, 7 or 8 countrywide. 

If you can do better, go for it. Until then, I'm putting together some AAA divisions.