WFCA State Tournament

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General information

This is a High School tournament in Wisconsin.

View manager contact information

2021 WFCA  State Tournament

April 7-10, 2021

Judges Notes  - https://docs.google.com/document/d/19xjYJMZ_TEONF4kYWHzgCa2gZ1QeWR6Mn5pSOSS5ZmQ/edit?usp=sharing

Link to limited prep materials - https://docs.google.com/document/d/12XcVligO2HT0QQ8jopSbMli_Rul3FTAP4Pv8GGLwklg/edit?usp=sharing

Tabroom (starting Saturday 7:15 am) - https://meet.google.com/cvb-aizf-due

Awards (starting at 3:30 pm on Saturday) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTni60Wq2sI

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Tuesday News FLASH!  - Impromptu has hit 50 entries! Which means it will break to quarterfinals. So now it is time to think through strategy with your Impromptu students.  Remember, that you will now use all three of their speeches in elims.  But do you put the best one in quarters or semis or finals?  Please take time and consider your options before finalizing your entries and the links to their speeches before Wednesday at 7:00 pm.

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Monday, April 5th Update - Happy Monday of State Tournament week!  I have several points of information and reminders for all coaches.

• Last Friday, the link for limited prep materials was sent to all coaches.  (if you have not seen this link, please contact me immediately)

• All contestants and the links to their recording are due this Wednesday (April 7^th) at 7:00 pm.

• All judges are due to be entered into registration also by Wednesday (April 7^th) at 7:00 pm.

• Please remind your judges that prelim rounds will be available by 9:00 am on Thursday morning.

• All Prelim rounds must be completed by 8:00 am on Saturday. If their round(s) are not started and/or we do not have communication from them, by 7:30 am on Saturday, we will replace them and fine the school that hired them.  Most assuredly all judges will be used on Saturday for elimination rounds (quarterfinals, semifinals and finals) so please make sure that your judges are available for all prelim and elim rounds.

• At the time of sending this update, we will have three categories that have met the standard and will break to quarterfinals (Informative, Prose and Poetry). But if any other categories reach 50 entries, they also will break to quarterfinals. Otherwise, all other categories will break directly to semifinals. Should any of the limited prep categories or storytelling reach 50 entries, I will notify all, and time will be given to consider the strategy that you may wish to incorporate in selecting which of the three recordings will be used for quarterfinals. (Please remember that in the limited prep categories and storytelling, a recording can only be used once in elimination rounds.)  I would also highly recommend double checking that limited prep and storytelling links have the correct link in each of the prelim rounds.

• Please instruct judges to take time to read through the Judge meeting notes which will be sent out to all judges on Wednesday evening.

• Next, here is the link to identify the division breakdown of schools entered to this point.  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hbwMrwc-4twqc12TJQ6gykH8Jk6A9pbl/view?usp=sharing  I share this because as stated in our bylaws – (Any Division 2 or 3 schools may participate as a Division 1 school by so informing the Tournament Director before the State Tournament begins.) thus if any coach of a division 2 or 3 team wishes to be moved to division 1, please notify me before 9:00 am on Thursday.

• The link to the Awards ceremony which will begin at 3:30 pm on Saturday, April 10 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTni60Wq2sI

• Please remember to send any images or photos of your team that you wish to include in the opening video for awards to Cole Pankratz  cpankratz@ecasd.us

Finally, I hope you and your students enjoy this event. It is hard to believe… but we did it!  We are completing a full season of forensics through this most trying of times. When so many pieces of our lives are struggling to fine a sense of normalcy, we have found a way for this activity to persevere.  I am so grateful for all the students, coaches and supporters who continue to prove that this activity is more than just an extra-curricular, but an exercise and development of a lifelong skill.

Michael Traas

WFCA State Tournament Director

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Friday, April 2, 4:40 pm  -  The link to limited prep materials has been sent out to coaches. If you are a coach and have not recieved the link, please email me at traasatae@yahoo.com and I will make sure that you get that link.

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General Information update for Monday March 29 –

To all WFCA State Tournament participants – Here are several updates pertaining to the upcoming State Tournament. Please note that these updates will also appear at the top of the “General Information” page on Speechwire.

• REMINDER – All entries and video links are due by April 7^th, 7:00 pm.

• NOTE – The limited prep materials link will be sent to coaches at 5:00 pm on Friday April 2^nd. Also take note that the link will be sent only to coaches of teams that have been marked as “ATTENDING” in Speechwire.  Additionally, note that emails from Speechwire can sometimes end up in spam folders if your email domain has active filtration. (so please check there also if you do not see that email immediately.) Finally, if you do not receive the link for the limited prep topics by 5:30, please contact me at traasatae@yahoo.com and I will send the link directly to you.

• NOTE – Coaches, you are responsible for the validity of your student’s video link. Thus, should a link be found to not function properly or be set to private, judges will be instructed mark that participant as a no-show.

• REMINDER – Coaches, please remind your judges that preliminary rounds ranking needs to be complete by 8:00 am on Saturday since we will be holding quarterfinals rounds for those categories which will have more than 50 participants.  Should a judge not meet the deadline, a fine will be assessed. If a judge needs to be replaced, your team will also be assessed a fine per round replaced.  Coaches, please remember that you are responsible for the judges you supply to the State Tournament.

• FINALLY – Please watch the “General Information” page for all updates and further information.

Thank you to all of you coaches as you continue to commit yourselves to your students and this activity. It is because of YOU, that they are succeeding!

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The WFCA invites ALL Wisconsin high schools and their forensic students (grades 9-12), regardless of their school's association membership, to participate in this online tournament. All students will be eligible for individual awards, however only WFCA teams will be eligible for team awards.

Registration will be done through www.speechwire.com When you register, please enter a link to the unpublished YouTube video of the contestant’s performance. The State Student Congress portion will proceed seperately from this site, it will be operated completely from here - http://wfcacongress.tabroom.com/

Eligibility – ALL Wisconsin high school forensic programs are invited to participate in this tournament, regardless of the school’s affiliation with any forensic associations.

Entries – Each school will be allowed 25 entries with no more than four entries in any category. Students are not permitted to double enter categories.

Categories – All WFCA sanctioned categories and category rules will be used

Format – The State Tournament shall consist of three preliminary rounds, a semi-final round, and a final round for each category.  Additionally, at this particular tournament any category that has over 50 entries will hold a quarter-finals round.

Fees – An entry fee of $10 per individual entry and $15 per group events.

Judges – All schools participating must provide 1 judge for every 5 entries (or fraction thereof). 

Awards – Awards will be awarded to all the finalists, semifinalists and quarterfinalists (where applicable). Sweepstakes trophies will be awarded to the top Division 1, 2 and 3 schools based on State of Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) school enrollment for that school year. Only teams with fully paid membership in WFCA will be eligible for team awards. (if interested, schools can still pay membership fees and be eligible for team awards.)

VIDEOS:  Record as many times as you would like, but submit only an unedited, one-take video as the official entry.  Upload videos to YouTube as unlisted and include the links with the entry (you will see an icon for the video links in Speechwire). 

STORYTELLING: videos should be in the following order: Round 1: Finally being heard; Round 2: Fable; Round 3: Ghost/Undead.  Round 4 Quarterfinals (if numbers dictate), Round 5 Semifinals and Round 6 Finals – students can use any of their prelim recordings but can only use each prelim speech once in elimination rounds.  

ORAL INTERP: please enter Rounds 1, 3 and finals with the PROSE link and Round 2 and semifinals with the POETRY link. Please leave the quarterfinals link empty (Should the number of entries in Oral Interp reach 50, we will adjust links so rounds will alternate for all involved)

IMPROMPTU: Impromptu competitors will provide three separate videos, one for each of the prelim rounds. The videos should be the full 5 minutes, which includes all the prep time and speaking.  For Round 4 Quarterfinals (if numbers dictate), Round 5 Semifinals and Round 6 Finals, students can use any of their prelim recordings, but can only use each prelim speech once in elimination rounds. Limited prep materials will be sent directly to coaches.

RADIO and EXTEMP: Radio and Extemp competitors will provide three separate videos, one for each of the prelim rounds. They do not need to record and submit their prep for those speeches. For Round 4 Quarterfinals (if numbers dictate), Round 5 Semifinals and Round 6 Finals, students can use any of their prelim recordings, but can only use each prelim speech once in elimination rounds. Limited prep materials will be sent directly to coaches.

GROUP INTERP, DUO, and PLAY ACTING: please have students record videos in split screen, even if competitors reside in the same household. 

DEMONSTRATION: Please remind demonstration speakers to include their set-up and strike in their recording, as it is part of their timed presentation.

STUDENT CONGRESS STATE COMPETITION: Student Congress will take place live/synchronous on a seperate site - http://wfcacongress.tabroom.com/  All information pertaining to Congress and the competition its self will occur there.

DEADLINES and SCHEDULE:

Friday, April 2 – Limited prep materials sent to coaches by 5:00 P.M. for distribution to students.

Wednesday, April 7 – All entries and video links must be in Speechwire by 7:00 P.M.

Thursday, April 8 – All preliminary rounds sent to judges by 9:00 A.M.

Saturday, April 10,

8:00 A.M. – Deadline for judges to return all preliminary round ballots.

9:00 A.M. – Release schematics and judge assignments of Quarterfinal Rounds.

10:30 A.M. – Deadline for judges to return all Quarterfinal round ballots.

11:00 A.M. – Release schematics and judge assignments of Semifinal Rounds.

12:30 P.M. – Deadline for judges to return all Semifinal round ballots.

1:00 P.M. – Release schematics and judge assignments of Final Rounds.

2:30 P.M. – Deadline for judges to return all Final round ballots.

Saturday, April 10, 3:30 P.M. – Release of Awards video.  We will send information and link to you the week of the tournament.  We will release student critiques and the results packet ASAP after the tournament.  We will mail awards to the team address listed on SPEECHWIRE.

Michael Traas

WFCA Online State Tournament Director

WFCAtournament@yahoo.com     

(920) 517-7676

Manager contact information

Michael D Traas
Email address: traasatae@yahoo.com
Phone number: 920-517-7676

Mailing address

Burton Davis, WFCA Treasurer, MUHS
PO Box 070754
Milwaukee, WI 53201