Borelli Memorial Tournament

Registration	Subscribe	General information	Files for download	Tournament schedule	Fees	Final results

General information

This information is from a tournament in a past season!

This is a High School tournament in New Jersey.

View manager contact information

NEW 2/15: Limited Prep Topics Released

Impromptu

New York Jets

Presidents

Dreams and aspirations

Improv

Beauty and the _____

“It’s Friday, Friday, Friday”

DIdn’t your mother ever teach you not to ______?

Extemp

What will be the US’ role in the events occurring in Myanmar?

How much of a role should Big Tech companies play in moderating the content posted on their platforms?

Will this summer’s Tokyo Olympics be a success?

OI VIdeos MUST be submitted with Video #1 being the Poetry submission and Video #2 being the Prose submission!

 

THE 2021

VINCENT J. BORELLI MEMORIAL ASYNCHRONOUS TOURNAMENT 

FEBRUARY 20, 2021 - SPEECHWIRE.LIVE/VINNIE

Dear Forensic Moderators and Coaches

The New Jersey Speech & Debate League would like to take this opportunity to invite your team to the virtual 2021 Vincent Borelli Memorial Tournament on February 20, 2021. ‘Vinnie’ Borelli coached the Long Branch High School Forensics Team for over thirty years, leading them to many state championship titles and national finalists.   This tournament will fund the NJSDL Scholarship program that awards all NJSDL State Champions with a financial token in ‘Vinnie’s’ memory. We will be offering both middle school and high school divisions.

To learn about Vinnie, visit this blog written seven years following his death in 2005.  Mr. Borelli was in his 33rd year of teaching in the Long Branch Public Schools as a speech and theatre educator.  He coached his students to the following achievements; 27 District Champions and 17 State Champions in Forensics and Speech. His students also were named Speech and Forensic State Team Champions in 1984, 1990 and 1996. Mr. Borelli received the "Outstanding Teacher of Speech and Theatre Award" in 1998 by the Speech and Theatre Association of New Jersey, and earned the "Teacher of the Year" in 1988 and 2000 representing Long Branch High School and the Long Branch Public School's as "District Teacher of the Year." He was also the winner of the Speech and Theatre's "Distinguished Achievement Award" in 1990. The NAACP honored Mr. Borelli in 1993 with the "NAACP Freedom Award". He was voted the "Outstanding Teacher of the Speech Arts" by the New Jersey Forensic League in 1999. In May 2000, he won his fourth Governor's Award in Arts Education as the "Outstanding Educator of the Year" by the Very Special Arts Education of the Year in 2002. He was awarded the Monmouth County Arts Educator of the Year in 2003. He served the National Speech and Debate Association as co-chair of the Impromptu Speaking tabroom at the national championships.  The auditorium at Long Branch High School was named the Vincent J. Borelli Auditorium in his honor.

Michelle Begley, LBHS class of 1982, recalled a bus beeping outside her house at 6:30 in the morning on a Saturday and then hearing the booming voice of Borelli yelling at her to get out of bed and get ready for the forensics tournament. “I was trying desperately to blow off that tournament,” said Begley. “At the end of the day I was always glad he dragged me out kicking and screaming.” 

We hope to have some of Vinnie’s former students speak at the awards ceremony; we hope you can attend even if you do not have students participate in the event.  Tournament registration will take place on Speechwire.com.  Event details can be found at http://speechwire.live/vinnie.  

In addition, the NJ District of the National Speech and Debate Association will be hosting their Big Questions debate national qualifying tournament on Saturday, February 20th.  While the asynchronous speech portion of the tournament is open to any middle-school or high-school affiliated team, the NJ District Big Questions tournament is only open to New Jersey NSDA member schools and students for whom dues has been paid to the national or district organization. Please email District Chair, Mary Gormley, for more information or click here.   

If you have any questions, please let us know.  We hope your students can share their talents and voices in Vinnie’s honor. 

David Yastremski – NJSDL President                                   John Cierpial – Tournament Director
                                                                                

THE 2021 VINCENT BORELLI MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT

SPEECHWIRE.LIVE/VINNIE

FEBRUARY 20, 2021

ALL EVENTS WILL BE ASYCHRONOUS IN THE SPEECH PORTION OF THE CONTEST. 

THERE WILL BE NO LIVE PRELIMINARY OR FINAL ROUNDS.  ALL ROUNDS WILL BE JUDGED VIA VIDEO SUBMISSION.

HIGH SCHOOL EVENTS

(Students must be in grades 9-12)

We will be conducting three preliminary rounds and one final round in each category.

           Improvisational Acting*                                          Duo Interpretation**            

            Extemporaneous Speaking*                                    Informative Speaking

            Impromptu Speaking*                                             Original Oratory

            Humorous Interpretation                                        Declamation

            Programmed Oral Interpretation                           Oral Interpretation

            Dramatic Interpretation                                          

MIDDLE SCHOOL EVENTS

(Students must be in grades 6-8)

We will be conducting three preliminary rounds and one final round in each category.

Reading Interpretation (May be any genre)

Memorized Interpretation (May be any genre)

Declamation

Oratory/Public Speaking (Students may be memorized or scripted)

Pro/Con Challenge

All events will follow NSDA rules except for Declamation and Oral Interpretation (NCFL rules) along with Impromptu Speaking and Improvisational Acting (NJSDL rules).                                                     

* Prompts will be released on Monday, February 15^th.  Students will prepare a speech on ONE of the presented topics and should follow standard preparation protocols when filming.  Only one video will need to be submitted which will be used for all three rounds.   Impromptu and Improvisation prep time should be done on-camera.  Extemporaneous speakers do not need to prep on camera. 

** Duo will follow all NSDA rules for video recording/uploading (TBA 1/26/21) 

SCHEDULE (ALL TIMES ARE IN EST)

JUDGES

One qualified judge for every five speech slots.  Judges must be available to view their videos and submit their ballots between the posted ballot start and end times.  High School students may judge the Middle School divisions. Please ensure that you enter “STUDENT JUDGE” under the NOTES when you register them.  Any dropped judges after preliminary rounds have been posted will result in a $125.00 cancellation fee.  Hired judges may be commissioned at $100.00 per judge.  If needed, HS and MS judges (except students) may cross divisions. 

AWARDS

All six competitors advancing to the final round will have awards mailed to their school address on file.  In Vinnie’s honor, all schools will receive a token of participation as he always made sure every school was recognized at his award ceremonies!

Manager contact information

John Cierpial
Email address: john.cierpial@gmail.com
Phone number: 9083370183

Mailing address

Box #337
203 Main Street
Flemington, NJ 08822