Fremd High School is excited (...I think...) to host our very first VIRTUAL tournament on Saturday November 14th 2020. (Note videos will be due earlier than that)

General Format - Current Plan: (I really hope to stick to it)

The 3 Prelim Rounds will run asynchronously.

•  The pre-recorded videos for prelims will be due Wednesday 11/11 at 8 PM.  Once I have the videos, I will release them for the judges. Prelim rounds will need to be judged and submitted by 8 AM on Saturday.

Final rounds will be synchronous for all events except for DDA and HDA which will simply use their same videos from prelims

Finals will run using NSDA Campus.  

• I hope to break finals by 9:00 AM

• I hope to start finals at 10:30 AM * THIS IS VERY MUCH A GUESS! Please make sure that judges are available to judge synchronously on Saturday morning

• I reserve the right to decrease unreasonably final rounds for the sake of all involved.

Awards will be posted for final round participants! May their name live forever in infamy on Speechwire.

General Rules
We will attempt to adhere to many of the IHSA rules.  

ENTRY :  You may enter up to three competitors in each event, but may also request extra entries.  Requests for extra entries should be emailed to Katie Giegler (kgiegler@211.org).  Extra entries will be considered on a first-come, first-serve basis and preference is always extended to those who have allowed extras for our team. Extra entries will be admitted at additional fees, and teams permitted extra entries will be expected to provide additional judges. If you would like extra entries please request them ASAP. Please limit your students to double entries.  If you are really hoping to triple enter someone, please reach out and we can see what our numbers in that event look like. 

JUDGES :  Each team should provide one judge for every six entries in the competition.  A full team (2 entries per event) is expected to have five judges, and teams with additional entries should bring an additional judge following the 1 judge per each 1 to 6 entries ratio.  This is absolutely necessary for the success of the tournament.

FEES :  The entry fee for 1-14 entries is $75. A full team entry fee of 15-28 entries is $150.  Additional entry fees will be as follows 29-42 will be $200 and above 43 entries will be $225.

VIDEOS: Videos must be submitted via an accessible link.  The videos should be unedited and filmed using basic equipment (i.e. iPad, phone). Students should think about using a basic background and test sound quality.  Judges will be instructed to focus on the speaker and ignore the set up. 

Event Specific Rules

DUETS: No students are allowed to record videos while in the same space as each other since we want to encourage students to adhere to the health safety guidelines. I am not sure what the best tech set up will be but I anticipate it being something similar to both students joining the same zoom and recording the session.

RADIO : A radio prep packet will be released at 3 PM on Tuesday November 10th.  This should be used for prelim rounds.  (Videos are due at 8 PM on Wednesday 11/11).  For the final round I hope to run a 45 minute prep by releasing the packet to students 45 minutes prior to their speaking time.  However if technology is not cooperating, students should be prepared to read their script from prelims.

EXTEMP: Extemp topics will be released at 3 PM on Tuesday November 10th.  Students should select one question and record their speech using this.  (Videos are due at 8 PM on Wedendsay 11/11.) For the final round I hope to run a 30 minute prep by having the students check in with a monitor to receive a topic 30 minutes prior to their speaking time.  However, if technology is not cooperating, students should be prepared to use their speech from prelims. Please provide 5 topics by November 4, 2020.

IMPROMPTU : 3 Impromptu topics will be released at 3 PM on Tuesday November 10th.  Students should select one question and record their speech using this prompt. Students should adhere to the 2 minute prep. To honor the judge’s time, the 2 minute prep period should not be recorded.  Instead students should start the video when they begin speaking. (Videos are due at 8 PM on Wednesday 11/11.)  For the final round students will be staggered as they enter the virtual competition room (we will figure out the how as we get closer….) and they will get their topic when they enter.  Then they will have the 2 minutes to prep and give their speech.

TIMING :  There will be no official penalty for time. The only exception will be in radio finals where students outside the 4:50-5:05 time window will rank last in the round.  Judges may consider it as part of the criteria for ranking.

We look forward to hosting you virtually! We hope to host a great day(s) of competition for your students.  If you have questions please reach out! I apologize in advance for flooding your email as we approach the date and adapt to these new deadlines and rules.

Sincerely,

Katie Giegler and the Fremd Coaching Staff 

William Fremd High School

1000 South Quentin Road

Palatine, Illinois 60067

PS:  Look forward to a theme TBA :)

PPS: If I missed anything I will send more information soon!

PS We have not chosen our theme for the year yet but we are already brainstorming!  I will keep coaches up to date! :)

"It's not a party unless you have a theme." 

(vr)