Setting Up a Tournament
Create the tournament
Give it a name, dates, and a location. Attach it to a league — the league decides whether it is Local, International or Dreams Mode, and that in turn affects how rankings are calculated and whether speaker rotation is available.
Choose the format
World Schools is the only supported format. The others appear with a “Coming soon” badge and cannot be selected: pairing, ballots and breaks all assume the two-team World Schools model.
Set the team size
World Schools requires exactly 3 speakers per team. iRank enforces this — you cannot save a World Schools tournament with any other number, and ballots check it again at submission.
Set the rounds
Choose how many preliminary rounds and how many elimination rounds. The elimination bracket is sized from the number of teams that break, always to a power of two.
Set speaking times
These drive the timer on every judge’s ballot, including its warning chimes. Judges cannot override them.
Enter the motions
For each round, enter the motion and mark whether it is prepared or impromptu.
Fees and waivers
Set a fee per team if the tournament charges one. Schools then record payments against it, which you confirm — see Payments.
Waiver codes let specific schools enter without paying. Each code has a usage limit and an optional expiry, and the limit holds even if several schools redeem it at the same moment.
Publishing
A draft tournament is invisible to everyone else. Publishing makes it visible and opens invitations.
A tournament cannot be moved back to draft once teams have registered. Remove the teams first, or the change is refused — this prevents a tournament disappearing from under the schools that entered it.
Inviting participants
Invite schools, students and volunteers from the Invitations tab. Each invitee gets an email with accept and decline links.
Judges who accept join the pool the draw is built from. Invite generously — the draw is limited by how many judges accept, and a short panel is reported rather than silently accepted.