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Welcome to the 20-21 Speech and Debate Season! Please read below or on SpeechWire for an invitation to join us as we host the UHS Irish MS/HS Speech and Debate Tournament on October 31st, 2020!

Dear Speech and Debate Coach:

The Ursuline High School Speech and Debate Team cordially invites you and your team to attend the UHS Irish HS/MS Tournament on October 31st, 2020!

PLEASE NOTE: THIS TOURNAMENT WILL BE HELD VIRTUALLY AND WILL BE COMPLETELY LIVE (SYNCHRONOUS) USING THE NSDA CAMPUS PLATFORM, PER THE YOUNGSTOWN DISTRICT PLAN!

TOURNAMENT OFFERINGS:

HIGH SCHOOL EVENTS

**There is no entry limit in any event. However, no adds will be accepted after Monday, October 26th at 9:00 p.m. **NO DOUBLE ENTRIES AT THIS TOURNAMENT**

Individual Events: We will offer a total of three (3) rounds of competition.

Public Forum Debate: We will offer four (4) rounds of competition. We will follow the NSDA Topic for NOV/DEC.

Lincoln-Douglas Debate: We will offer four (4) rounds of competition. Please follow the NOV/DEC NSDA topic.

There will be NO HS BQD OR POLICY DEBATE.

Congress: We will be hosting student congress at the tournament in both HS and MS. The docket of legislation will be posted on the OSDA website.. We will have 2 preliminary sessions of Congress for HS and 3 sessions for MS. We will be scoring based on judge preference/ranks. We will also be using direct questioning and precedence and recency will reset each session. We will break to a final chamber in HS ONLY and final session legislation will be determined the week prior to the tournament.

MIDDLE SCHOOL EVENTS

Individual Events: We will offer a total of three (3) rounds of competition. Students may compete in MS Interpretation, MS Oratory, or MS Declamation. Please enter competitors in their respective grouping on SpeechWire.

Extemp Debate: We will offer three (3) rounds of competition.

Public Forum Debate: We will offer four (4) preliminary rounds of competition. Please follow the November/December OSDA MS topic.

Congress: We will have 3 sessions of at least 1 hour of debate. Specific docket will be forthcoming but will be from the OSDA yearly docket. No final round of MS Congress.

Schedule: 8:00-8:30 am Registration/Check-in- We will have an NSDA room dedicated for registration purposes to begin the morning in which HEAD COACHES may check their team in. Please note: as of Oct. 22, we are still experiencing some access issues for the individual squad rooms. Please make other arrangements to meet with your teams in the morning.

*An official schedule of rounds will be posted by Wednesday, October 28th after final entry counts are conducted.

**Please also note: There will be a mandatory 'round zero' for all judges and competitors. This will ensure the proper working of equipment and allow for judges and tab staff to effectively coordinate using e-ballots in the Youngstown District for the first time.

Registration: Please register for the tournament on SpeechWire

Deadline to add entries: Monday, October 26th @ 9:00 p.m.

Deadline to add/edit judges: Thursday, October 29th @ 5:00 p.m.

Registration Fees: $5.00 per entry in both HS and MS (PF & DUO count as 2 entry fees). All checks should be made payable to Ursuline High School Speech and Debate Team

Judge Requirements:

IE: One (1) judge for every five (5) IE entries (a Duo team counts as one entry) for either HS or MS.

Public Forum/LD/EXTD: One (1) judge for every 2 debaters/teams.

Congress: One (1) scorer or parliamentarian for each school that has Congress entries. IF YOU HAVE HS AND MS CONGRESS YOU MUST HAVE ONE JUDGE FOR HS AND ONE FOR MS.

The fee for being short judges is $30.00 per judge. This fee will be enforced. JUDGES DROPPED THE DAY OF THE MEET WILL RESULT IN A $30 FINE.

Awards: At this point in time, we hope to do an awards ceremony. Certificates will be awarded to the top six placements in all events in both HS and MS. School sweepstakes will be presented based on the top ten competitor’s sweepstakes points per school in HS only. Certificates will be e-mailed to head coaches at the conclusion of the tournament along with access to complete results packet.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at joanwilliams2222@gmail.com

We look forward to seeing you all on October 31st!

Joan Williams

Head Coach, Ursuline Speech and Debate

Joan Williams
Email address: jwilliams@youngstowndiocese.org
Phone number: 3307444563