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The Hunterdon Central Regional High School Speech & Debate Team cordially invites you to attend the Hunterdon Central Winter Invitational on Saturday, January 9, 2021. Competition will be offered in all 11 New Jersey Individual Events, including Declamation (open to 9th and 10th grade students only), Dramatic Interpretation, Duo Interpretation, Extemporaneous Speaking, Humorous Interpretation, Impromptu Speaking, Improvisational Acting, Informative Speaking, Oral Interpretation, Original Oratory, and Program Oral Interpretation. Novice, JV, and Varsity divisions of Lincoln Douglas, Parliamentary, and Public Forum Debate will be offered, as well as Congressional Debate. Students may double-enter in any individual event, but not in debate or Congress. All events will occur synchronously on the day of the tournament.

To ensure equity, students entered in partner events are expected to compete in different rooms. If this presents a difficulty, please reach out with questions prior to the tournament.

The tournament will feature three preliminary rounds and one final round for all individual events. There will be four rounds of debate (with the possibility of a final round if time permits) and two sessions of Congress plus a supersession if numbers warrant it. Awards will be presented to the top six competitors in all events. Please indicate novice competitors (defined as 9th or 10th grade students in their first year of competition) in individual events at the time of registration, as we will also honor the top non-advancing novice. The top three schools will receive sweepstakes awards. We will continue our tradition of offering a special sweepstakes award to the top school with 15 or fewer entries.

We will continue to offer Parliamentary Debate to promote this enjoyable form of impromptu debate. Teams of 2 students should be registered. Competitors will receive and select their topics 15 minutes prior to the start of a round. Judges for Parli will be selected from the Public Forum pool. For those seeking additional information, please reach out with questions or reference the information sheet provided under the "Files for Download" section of the tournament page on Speechwire.com.

Registration should be completed via www.speechwire.com. Students must have an active Speechwire account in order to be registered for the tournament. We recognize that this tournament falls immediately following winter break and in the midst of a transition point for many districts, but it would be incredibly helpful to have accurate information at least a few days prior to the tournament. Name changes and drops can be done without penalty until 3:00 P.M. on Friday, January 8, 2021. Competitor and judge drops after that time will be assessed a penalty in addition to the initial registration fee.

Registration on the day of the tournament will occur between 7:45 and 8:30. Coaches are encouraged to check in with their teams and judges to ensure that all are present before confirming the team’s presence. One coach from each school must inform the tab that the school is prepared to compete.

Students and judges will access their competition rooms through Speechwire, which will interface with NSDA Campus. It is imperative that all participants understand how to access the resources available through Speechwire and that judges be trained in the protocols and procedures for each event as well as in the use of electronic ballots prior to the tournament. There are a number of excellent training materials available from the NSDA and New Jersey Speech & Debate League.

A tentative schedule for the tournament can be found on the Speechwire site as well as in the live document. Adjustments will be made as needed during the course of the tournament. All participating schools will receive access to the live document approximately two weeks before the tournament.

Final rounds will be livestreamed on Zoom! Links will be shared on the live document at the end of the tournament. Please encourage your non-advancing students to join the finalists as spectators in the round.

The awards ceremony will follow as quickly after the final round as possible. Trophies will be mailed to the school address following the tournament. Tournament champions will also receive digital “posters” in recognition of their accomplishments.

Please present payment in the form of cash, check, or purchase order on the day of the tournament.

Please make checks/purchase orders payable to: Hunterdon Central Regional High School

- Schools in attendance must provide 1 judge for every 2 Lincoln Douglas, Parli, and Public Forum competitors/teams, or fraction thereof. Parli judges will be selected from the Public Forum pool.

- Teams must provide 1 judge for every 5 competitors in the Individual Events and Congress, or fraction thereof.

- Experienced seniors may judge novice rounds in Lincoln Douglas and Public Forum. Please mark these judges as a student in the notes section of the judge registration.

- Judges are obligated to be available for the entire tournament. Please emphasize this point with your judges.

-A limited number of judges will be available for hire on a first come, first served basis. Please make every effort to bring your school’s required number of judges.

- Meals and snacks will be available in your kitchen all day throughout the tournament.

- Lincoln Douglas and Public Forum will use the January/February and January resolutions, respectively.

- Congress legislation is due by January 1 at 9:00 P.M. Legislation can be sent to Adam Leonard (aleonard@hcrhs.org). Ideally, Congress legislation should be available on January 2. If you can send it prior to the winter break, it would be much appreciated, as it would give the competitors the sufficient time they need to prepare!

We are looking forward to “seeing” everyone virtually at Hunterdon Central on January 9 to kick off the new year!

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