Pairing a Small Debate Event

When a debate event is small, you can use the Pair Round Robin / Small Event tool instead of pairing one round at a time. It pairs several rounds at once, and no two entries ever meet more than once. Pick enough rounds and every entry debates every other entry (a full round robin). Pick fewer for a shorter schedule, such as 7 entries over 4 rounds. It's one of the advanced pair/section tools.

When to use it

• A debate event has only a handful of entries, so power matching doesn't make sense.
• You want every entry to face every other entry.
• You don't have time for a full round robin but still want to avoid rematches.

The tool works with debate, world schools, and readers theater events only. It doesn't pair IE, Congress, or British Parliamentary events.

How many rounds you can pair

Each schedule block you select is one round. You can select anywhere from 1 block up to a full round robin:

• Even number of entries: a full round robin is one fewer round than entries. For example, 6 entries take 5 rounds.
• Odd number of entries: a full round robin is the same number of rounds as entries, and one entry has a bye each round. For example, 7 entries take 7 rounds.

Example: 7 entries over 4 rounds. Each round has 3 debates and 1 bye. Four different entries each get one bye and debate 3 times. The other three entries debate 4 times. Nobody faces the same opponent twice.

Before you start

• Finish adds and drops first. The schedule is built from every entry in the event when you click Pair Round Robin. If you add or drop an entry afterward, it won't match the schedule, and you'll need to delete those rounds and pair again.
• Decide how many rounds you want, and pair them all at once. The tool doesn't look at rounds from an earlier run. If you run it again for the same event, it repeats the same matchups.
• Schedule the event into enough blocks. You need at least one block per round. Only schedule blocks that the event is scheduled in show up in the tool. You set this under Setup > Events > Scheduling.
• Use blocks that haven't been paired for this event. A block that already has pairings for the event can't be used again. Other events in the same block aren't affected.

Where to find it

Go to Admin > Pair/Section > Advanced and click Pair Round Robin.

Step 1: Choose the debate event

Under 1. Debate Event, pick the event. Each event shows how many entries it has. The page reloads with that event's schedule blocks. If it doesn't, click Show Schedule Blocks.

Step 2: Select the schedule blocks

Under 2. Schedule Blocks, FTN tells you how many blocks you can select, for example Select 1 to 7 schedule blocks for 7 entries. Select one block for each round you want. Hold Ctrl (Windows) or Cmd (Mac) while you click to select more than one.

• Blocks already paired for this event are grayed out under Already Paired for This Event.
• Rounds follow the order of your schedule, not the order you click. The earliest block you pick becomes the first round robin round.
• If you select more blocks than a full round robin needs, FTN shows an error and doesn't pair anything.
• If the event has no open blocks, FTN shows a warning and the Pair Round Robin button stays disabled. Schedule the event into a block and come back.

Step 3: Check whether you also want to assign judges and rooms.

Check the boxes

Step 4: Click Pair Round Robin

Click Pair Round Robin. FTN returns you to the Advanced page with a green Round Robin pairing has been queued message. The pairing runs in the background and is usually done within a few moments.

FTN checks everything again when the pairing actually runs. If something changed in the meantime, such as an entry being added or a block being paired, nothing is saved. Fix the problem and pair again.

What FTN does

• No rematches. No two entries meet more than once. In a full round robin, each entry debates every other entry exactly once.
• Sides are balanced. Each entry's number of affirmative and negative rounds never differs by more than one.
• Byes count as wins. With an odd number of entries, one entry has a bye each round, and no entry gets more than one bye. In a shorter schedule, some entries get a bye and some don't. A bye is recorded as a win for that entry automatically, and it doesn't need a judge.
• Round numbers pick up where you left off. If the event already has prelim rounds, the round robin continues the numbering. For example, if you've already paired Round 1 the usual way, the round robin starts at Round 2.
• All or nothing. Every selected block is paired together. If anything goes wrong, none of them are saved, so you won't end up with half a schedule.

After pairing: judges and rooms

The round robin tool creates the matchups only. It doesn't assign judges or rooms. For each round robin block, go back to Admin > Pair/Section > Advanced and use:

• Re-Assign Judges to place judges
• Re-Assign Rooms to place rooms

Both tools let you pick the schedule block and the round robin event and preview the changes before you apply them. Then send eBallots or print ballots as usual (see Printing Paper Ballots or Sending eBallots).

Starting over

To redo a round robin, for example after a late add or drop, delete the event from each round robin block under Admin > Pair/Section > Delete (see Deleting a Round). Then run the tool again. Deleting also removes any judge assignments, room assignments and results for those rounds.