Palm Beach Middle School Forensic League Tournament #1 Invitation

DATE: October 13, 2021

Time : 4:30 PM - 8:00 PM

Friday, October 8, 2021 at 4 p.m. is the deadline for making any changes to student entries.

Eligibility

This tournament is open to ANY student who is in a middle school in Palm Beach, Martin, and St. Lucie counties with a registered program.

Tournament Procedure

The purpose of this tournament is to provide middle school students with an enjoyable competition opportunity that can be completed from their homes. All middle school speech and debate events will be conducted live through NSDA Campus via Speechwire.com. Students will have access to judge feedback after the competition is judged. The top three students in each middle school event will receive trophies. Students in 4th, 5th and 6th places will receive ribbons.

Dates and Deadlines

Registration of students and activation of Speechwire accounts will be due by 4pm on Friday, October 8, 2021.  Any entries without a submitted recording after this window will be dropped from the tournament, and entry fees will not be refunded.

September  21, 2021         Registration opens on Speechwire.com

October 8, 2021        Registration deadline for entry names and linked accounts

October 13, 2021       4:40 PM - Competition Begins

                              

Judges

Judges will be assigned one or more rounds to judge.  Judges MUST provide a cell phone contact number on Speechwire and be available throughout the entire course of the tournament if any questions arise. Judges will go to the password-protected Speechwire website, to access their e-ballots. The ballot will also provide space to write a reason for decision (RFD) explaining their ranks, as well as space to leave individual feedback for the competitors. This feedback is important to competitors.

Helpful video for judges:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJXxeVS-KgM

Fees and Judging Obligation

The entry fee will be $10 per event. There is one speech judge pool. All judges are eligible to judge all events. Based on their entries, each school will be given a number of full-time judges required. A school will owe one judge for every 5 entries or fraction thereof. High school student judges must be sophomores, juniors or seniors with 250 NSDA points.

Judge Obligations

Congress - 1 judge for every 5 entries 

Speech - 1 judge for every 5 entries 

Public Forum - 1 judge for every 2 entries 

Lincoln Douglas - 1 judge for every 2 entries 

Speechwire.com 

All events will use online ballots through Speechwire.com. Every judge is required to create a Speechwire.com account prior to the tournament registration deadline. Judges must be able to log in to live.speechwire.com to learn the passcode needed to access recordings of speeches, learn their judging assignments, and complete their ballots. Including valid contact information in the Speechwire.com account is important so tournament staff can attempt to reach judges.  Review this information on setting up your school on Speechwire.com.  Students, judges, and coaches will have access to a series of webinars detailing using the platform and Speechwire.com to facilitate the tournament. 

Webinar Link : https://speechwiretournamentservices.cmail19.com/t/r-l-juohjhy-otlhyddjhi-t/

Technology Requirements

Competitors are required to have internet access, a microphone, and a webcam in order to participate in competition. Judges must have internet access to judge the rounds. Judges will be instructed not to allow video/sound equipment quality, physical location, or other elements not in control of the individual students to affect their decisions. We understand that many students and judges do not have equal access to the internet and technology. 

Participant Privacy

Speechwire.com and NSDA Campus are the platforms that will be used to conduct competition rounds.  Any unauthorized sharing of a competitor’s photo, video or creative property by any competitor or judge will result in disqualification of the judge or competitor’s school from the tournament.  We will not be recording any rounds through Speechwire or NSDA Campus, and the independent recording of rounds by judges or students is strictly prohibited. Any violation of this rule will result in disqualification from the tournament without return of fees and possible disqualification from future tournaments. 

 

 

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