Trick or Speak Tournament

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General information

This information is from a tournament in a past season!

This is a College tournament in Minnesota.

View manager contact information

Dear Friends,

The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities speech team would like to invite you to the first ever Trick or Speak Tournament, a fully synchronous IE tournament on Saturday October 31st. This single flight virtual tournament will offer all 11 AFA/NFA events as well as some smaller contests. This past summer, our university was rocked by racist police violence and subsequent protests. In the wake of the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others, we offer a tournament that acknowledges and responds to state-sanctioned murders and celebrates what power our voices might have. In that vein, our tournament will deviate from norms in the following ways:

1. We strongly encourage all hired judges to donate their fees to the Redeemer Center for Life (RCFL), “a nonprofit committed to youth training, attainable housing, and workforce development in the Harrison neighborhood of North Minneapolis.”

2. Students are encouraged to dress how they please. In the spirit of the holiday, we will be hosting a costume contest. Any judge coach or student may enter. Participants will be able to vote through a change drive and all proceeds will be donated to the aforementioned charity.

3. In order to keep costs down, there will be no physical awards. Fee waivers are available for student-run teams.

4. The tournament will be a single flight and students may be no more than double entered. 

Finally, as a team that only recently shifted from a student-run model, it is my pleasure to announce the Myna Sharma Award. Myna Sharma was team president during our transition to our current funding structure and constantly went above and beyond what was expected of students. She made detailed budgets, met with upper level administrators to secure funding, and spent extra time coaching other students. This time commitment often prevented her from developing her own events. Her work is the reason I am able to write to you today. The Myna Sharma Award honors students who put time and effort into their team at the potential expense of competitive success. Anyone wishing to nominate their teammate or student should send a brief description of their contributions. These notes should avoid mentioning competitive success. This is not meant to discourage competitive students from applying, but instead honor students for work that too often goes unrecognized.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. 

We hope to see you soon!

Sincerely,

Bill Heinze Rebecca Froehlich

Heinz178@umn.edu Froehlic@augsburg.edu 

630-414-5330 605-565-5024 

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION

Entries:  Each student may enter a maximum of two events. There is no limit on the amount of entries a school may enter per event; however, for schools with larger entries we may have to artificially move competitors to utilize judges from that school. The deadline for receiving entries for both parts of the tournament is 5:00 p.m., Tuesday, October 27th. No additions will be accepted after this time. Drops will be accepted after the deadline without penalty until 12:00 p.m. Wednesday, October 28. Entries for both parts should be submitted to Speechwire.com.

IE Judges & Fees: There are no entry fees. A nuisance fee of $6.00 per slot will be added to the original entry fee for every drop after 12:00pm on Wednesday, October 28. No-shows on the day of the tournament will be charged a $15.00 nuisance fee per slot in addition to the original entry fee.  

Each school should furnish one judge for every six slots. Hired judges are available at $15.00 per uncovered slot. Judges dropped after the Wednesday, 12:00 p.m. deadline will result in a nuisance fee of $25.00 each plus the additional cost of hiring a judge. ALL fees are assessed as of 12:00 p.m., Wednesday October 28. Due to the difficulties of maintaining a pool of high-quality hired judges, we strongly encourage every school to bring at least one judge. All “full-time” judges are on standby for finals.

Sectioning:   We will use Speechwire to take all entries, section rounds, assign judges and tabulate scores. 

Competition: This tournament will take place via Zoom. All participants (including students) should have a Speechwire account and a reliable internet connection. If possible, final rounds will be livestreamed. 

Awards:  The top six contestants in each event will advance to open finals and receive handmade digital awards.  The top three quadrathon entries will receive awards based on final rounds. Sweepstakes will be awarded to the top five schools. In open finals, winning first place earns 10 points and sixth place earns two points. Other open finalists, and all open semifinalists, will earn 1 point each. 

Schedule:
9:30 am: Welcoming Assembly/Call

10:00 am: Round 1(all events, students may be DE)

11: 30 am: Round 2

1:00 pm: lunch break

2:00 pm: Finals

4:00 pm Awards 

RULES OF EVENTS

General:  All programs and speeches must not have been used in competition prior to September 1, 2020. A novice is a student who is in their first year of collegiate competition OR has competed in three or fewer collegiate tournaments. Competitors must be undergraduates working on their first degree.  

NFA event descriptions will be used for all events; both tournaments will use AFA-style speaker points and tie breaks (except majority of 1s in finals).  

Impromptu:  “Prompts will include ideas that can be comprehended and interpreted quickly such as quotations, both actual (from history or contemporary culture) and fictional (from movies, plays, novels etc.), song lyrics, proverbs, etc."  We will not use images or objects in Impromptu.  

Extemp: Draw will take place on Zoom; instructions will be sent to coaches by Wednesday October 28.  Topic areas may include, but are not limited to: Domestic Politics, Domestic Social, International or Domestic Economics, International Hotspots, or Social Justice Issues.

Manager contact information

Bill Heinze
Email address: heinz178@umn.edu
Phone number: 6304145330

Mailing address

None provided