Getting Started as a Judge
Judges in iRank are volunteers. You register once, then accept invitations to individual tournaments.
Creating your account
Open the sign-up page
Go to irankhub.debaterwanda.org and choose Volunteer as your role.
Fill in your details
You will be asked for your name, email, phone number, and the high school you attended. If you hold a safeguarding certificate, upload it here — iDebate requires one for judges working with students.
Verify your email
iRank sends a link to the address you gave. Open it on the same device.
Accepting a tournament invitation
Coordinators invite judges to specific tournaments. When you are invited you receive an email and, if you have allowed notifications, a message on your phone.
Open the tournament from your dashboard and choose Accept or Decline. Accepting adds you to the pool the tab team draws from when assigning rooms.
Decline early if you cannot attend. The tab team builds the draw around the judges who have accepted, and a judge who does not appear on the day forces rooms to be re-paired.
Conflicts of interest
iRank will not assign you to a debate involving a school you are linked to.
If you have any other conflict — you coach one of the teams, you are related to a speaker, you have a prior relationship that would make your judgment look questionable — tell the tab team. They can record it so the draw avoids that pairing. Do not wait until you are standing in the room.
Turning on notifications
Motions for impromptu rounds are released minutes before the debate. Round results and new assignments arrive the same way.
On your first sign-in, allow notifications when your browser asks. If you dismissed that prompt, you can re-enable it in your browser’s site settings for irankhub.debaterwanda.org.
Installing iRank on your phone
iRank works as an app on both Android and iPhone without going through an app store. See Mobile App & PWA.
This matters for judging: an installed app keeps working when the venue’s connection does not.