The 2015 Elkhart Memorial Winter Speech Frolic!

SPEECH TOURNAMENT

Dear Coaches:

You are invited to the Elkhart Memorial Winter Speech Frolic on Saturday, January 31^st, 2015 at Elkhart Memorial High School. . We will be offering all 14 IHSFA speech events as well as congress at the VARSITY level of competition. Our school is only 10-15 minutes away from Penn High School, so if you are planning on bringing your debate team to the District Debate tournament at Penn, you could easily bring your speech team to our school.

• Registration will be through Speechwire (www.speechwire.com). Deadline for registration will be 7pm (EST) on Tuesday, January 27^th. Changes for drops only will be allowed up until 7:00pm (EST) Friday, January 30^th.
• Final Registration will start at 7:30am on Saturday, January 25^th, and continue until 8:30am.
• Please TEXT my cell phone between 6:45am and 7:30am to report any drops. The number is 574-596-7246. Also, for the day of the tournament, the tab office phone number will be 574-262-5621 (but don’t leave a message… call again)
• Schematics (if all goes well) will be posted outside the Media Center (the tab office) at 8:45am.
• Extemp Prep will begin at 8:30 with schematics posted in the prep room.
• All first rounds will start at 9:00.

ENTERING AND JUDGING

• You may have a total of 40 entries per team (“A” Team) with a limit of 4 entries in each event.
• We will also accept a non-Sweepstakes “B” team (unprotected) up to 20 additional entries, however with a limit of 6 entries overall in each event (“A” team entries + “B” team entries no more than 6).
• Doubling guidelines. All contestants may double at their own risk, except the following:
  • Contestants in a duo team may not double in another duo event.
  • Discussion, Broadcasting, and Congress may not double.
  • Extemp may double in Impromptu or Original Oratory at their own risk.
• Each team will provide one judge for every five entries, or fraction thereof (6 entries = 2 judges). Please encourage judges to write meaningful critiques. If you have an entry in Congress, please specify one judge for Congress in Speechwire.

SPECIFIC EVENT INFORMATION:

• Broadcasting: Materials will be provided for four prelim rounds and a final. Speaking and prep times as per IHSFA.

• Round 1: Breaking News
• Round 2: Original Editorial
• Round 3: Commercial
• Round 4: News Program
• Final: On the Spot

• Extemp: Topics will be selected from National Federation and/or Newsweek, Time, USA Today, the Christian Science Monitor, from December 2014 to date. Contestants will draw for all three rounds and the final.
• Discussion: Topics will be uploaded on SpeechWire by Wednesday, January 28^th at 5 pm EST. 
• Congress: State bills will be used, with half allocated for the morning session and half for the afternoon.

TOURNAMENT STRUCTURE:

• Three preliminary rounds and a final round in all events (except broadcasting).

Tentative Schedule: Round 1- 9:00am; Round 2- 10:30am; Round 3- 12:00am; Finals- 2:00pm; Awards- 4:00pm.

• If possible, we will include an Honor Final.
• This will be an all-varsity competition. However, novice competitors are welcome to compete as varsity.
• Ribbons will be given to the top 8 competitors in each event. Depending on size of tournament, we will either offer trophies to the top 5 or top 10, depending on attendance. Sweeps point values shall be from 8 down.
• We will make slight alterations to the tournament out of necessity and in fairness to the majority.

CONCESSIONS

• There will be a small break in competition for lunch; however, food and snacks will be available throughout the tournament with lunch being served from 11:00 – 1:30. The judges’ lounge will be in the faculty dining room.

ARRIVAL AND FOUL WEATHER DELAYS

• We will contact you by 5:30 a.m. EST via the contact number you provided in Speechwire, should weather cause us to cancel or delay the tourney. You can contact me any time before or on the day of the tournament at 574-596-7246.

Sincerely,