SpeechWire Tournament Services - Forensics Tournament Software

Dear Forensics Coaches:

The Poland Seminary High School Speech & Debate Team cordially invites you to attend our Speech & Debate Tournament on December 11, 2021.

Individual Events: We will offer a total of three (3) preliminary rounds of competition. There will be unlimited entries per category.

Public Forum Debate:

We will offer four (4) preliminary rounds of competition. Please follow the November/December NSDA topic. There will be unlimited entries.

MS PF will use the Middle School November/December Topic.

Lincoln-Douglas Debate:

We will offer four (4) preliminary rounds of competition. Please follow the November/December NSDA topic. There will be unlimited entries.

IE and all Middle School Speech events will be at Poland Middle School (47 College Street Poland, Ohio 44514)

LD, PF Debate, Congress, Middle School PF, MS Congress, and Extemp Debate will be at Poland High School (3199 Dobbins Road Poland, Ohio 44514). This arrangement is subject to change depending on the number of entries. We will know for certain which building Debate and Congress will compete in by November 29th and I will communicate that to coaches through email.

Extemp:

The prep room will be in a location TBD. Topics will be from the past 90 days of the standard news magazines used. If you have any suggestions for topics, send them to me by November 29th. Please note for usage of laptops that there is minimal power outlets available in the media center and the outlets that the media lab computers are connected are NOT ALLOWED to be unplugged for competitor usage.

Student Congress:

We WILL be hosting student congress at the tournament and registration for this event is unlimited. PA schools that are attending; please send legislation by November 22nd. We will be utilizing the DECEMBER docket assigned for December 11th from the OSDA for prelim legislation. (It will also be available to all the schools on Speechwire. Legislation will not be accepted the day of the tournament.)

MS Congress will follow the Middle School docket legislation MS21-7 through MS21-12.

We will NOT offer BQD or Policy Debate.

No double entries!

Registration Fees:$4.00 per entry (PF & DUO count as 2 entries). Make checks payable to Poland Forensics Boosters.

Judge Requirements:

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

Public Forum/LD/BQD: One (1) judge for every 1-2 teams/debaters; two (2) judges for 3-4 teams/debaters

Congress: One (1) scorer or parliamentarian for every 6 entries.

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 REGARDLESS OF DROPS IN ENTRIES.

In I.E., a judge who just graduated from high school last year may NOT judge the event in which he/she competed. A parent or other close family relative should NOT judge the event in which the current competitor competes; INCLUDING CONGRESS. (not applicable in L/D or PF Debate) PLEASE NOTE ANY JUDGE PROBLEMS OF THIS NATURE WHEN YOU REGISTER. Do NOT drop judges even though you may be forced to drop contestants. A dropped judge on the day of the tournament will cost you $30.00. The judge drop fee will be enforced.

Please register ALL judges on SpeechWire. We will be using online ballots through SpeechWire. When registering your judge you will need to provide an email address for him/her. Once they are registered, your judge will recieve an email from SpeechWire asking them to create a password for Live.SpeechWire (if they have never judged before. If they have judged before, they will use the same password that they have been using). The day of the tournament the judge will go to live.speechwire.com and log in using the email that they were registered with and the password that they made or have been using all season. Judges are expected to provide their own devices (laptop, iPad, tablet, etc...). I would not recommend using a phone, reason being the judge would not be able to have the phone in airplane mode while filling out the online ballot, making it more likely that the phone could go off in the middle of the round.

IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT THAT YOU REMIND YOUR JUDGES TO HAVE THEIR DEVICES FULLY CHARGED THE MORNING OF THE TOURNAMENT. There will not always be a convienent place to plug in the devices in classrooms. I will do everything I can to make sure there are multiple outlets available in the judge lounge to allow judges to charge in between rounds, but charging a device during a round could be a little more complicated. The last thing we want is for someone's device to shut off in the middle of a round due to a low battery. Please keep your judges informed.

If your judge will need a paper ballot, please send me an email informing me as soon as you can and I will make sure paper ballots are printed for that judge. The sooner I am informed the better.

Lunch & Snacks: Snack items will be available for purchase at reasonable prices in all schools. Lunch will be served in the School cafeteria.

Speech will have a delayed Round 3 to allow them to eat lunch.

Congress Lunch: 11:30-12:00PM (After prelims have completed)

Debate Lunch: 11:55- 12:25PM

No contestants are allowed to leave the premises for food to bring back to the tournament (i.e. McDonalds, Arby's). This pertains to competitors, coaches, and judges. Failure to adhere to the rule can result in a fine or disqualification.

Awards: Trophies will be awarded to those in the top six in all high school events. TBD awards for Middle School to be decided based on entries. School sweepstakes will be presented based on the top ten competitors sweepstakes points per school.

Sweepstakes:

Sweepstakes will be decided by the scores of your best ten contestants overall. In I.E., a 1=3pts.; a 2=2pts.; a 3=1pt. In L/D, 2P, and P/F, a win=3.0pts. (0 pts. for a loss) In Student Congress you will scores for your best three speeches with a score of 6 =4pts. ; 5= 3pts.; 4= 2 pt. for a max total of 12 points.

Event Locations:

Depending on the size of the tournament and our space limitations, we may use the High School building in addition to using the Middle School building. Thus, in the likely situation where we would need to use the high school building, WE ARE ASKING YOU TO DROP OFF YOUR L/D, P/F, and Congressional (MS & HS) DEBATERS AND JUDGES AT THE HIGH SCHOOL AFTER YOU DROP OFF YOUR SPEECH

(MS and HS) COMPETITORS AT THE POLAND MIDDLE SCHOOL/MCKINLEY ELEMENTARY. Then, you can have your busses park at the High School parking lot. There will NOT be a bus available to shuttle people back to the Middle School at the end of the day for awards. Teams are responsible for transporting their students back to the Middle School at the end of the day. Student Congress will take place at the POLAND HIGH SCHOOL (subject to change dependent upon entry numbers).

By November 29th, you will be notified of any changes to event locations for Debate and Congress.

All other events will register at the POLAND MIDDLE SCHOOL/MCKINLEY ELEMENTARY.

BUSES SHOULD PARK AT POLAND HIGH SCHOOL AS THERE IS MINIMAL PARKING AT POLAND MIDDLE SCHOOL. IF SCHOOLS DRIVE THEMSELVES ENCOURAGE YOUR STUDENTS AND JUDGES TO CARPOOL.

Time Schedule:

Registration: 7:30-8:00AM (MAIN LOBBY)

Extemp Draw: 8:30AM (TBD)

Judges Meeting: 8:10AM (LOCATION-TBD)

Awards: 2:00-2:15 (PMS Gymnasium)

The Tournament schedule that is currently posted is tentative, and will be finalized once we have an accurate number of entries for the tournament. I will keep you posted of any changes.

Covid Policy:

Masks must be worn by all attendants at the tournament, including students, judges, and coaches. Failure to abide by this policy will lead to team fees, disqualifications, and removal from the tournament. Students ARE permitted to remove their mask when they are speaking in their rounds if they choose to. Everyone is permitted to remove their mask when they are eating as well.

Registration Deadline: ALL teams are to register at www.speechwire.com

ALL contestants should be registered by December 6th, 2021 at NOON.

ALL judges must be registered by Friday, December 8th, 2021 at 3PM****

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me at any time, call or email. We Hope to see you all there!

Sincerely,

Spencer Humphreys

Director of Forensics

Spencer Humphreys
Email address: spencerh.coach@gmail.com
Phone number: 3307206884