This is a Middle/High School tournament in Sarasota, Florida.

 

You are cordially invited to the Gulf Coast Florida Civics & Debate Initiative Tournament #1, to be held Saturday, October 28, 2023 at Sarasota School of Arts and Sciences, 717 Central Ave, Sarasota, FL 34236.  This tournament will be live and in person.

 

This FCDI Tournament offers middle school, high school novice, and high school varsity competition. All schools are welcome to compete in this tournament.

 

There will be three rounds of competition in all events except Congressional Debate, where there will be two 90-minute sessions. The tournament will begin at 9:00am Eastern time. Please plan to arrive by 8:30am. If you have students competing in Extemp Speaking please arrive by 8:15am so they can begin prep at 8:30am and we can have the first round of competition started at 9:00am. We hope to finish awards by 3:00pm, but please be flexible regarding the end time of the event.

 

The full schedule can be found in the Schedule tab on the Speechwire registration page for the tournament.

 

REGISTRATION WILL CLOSE Tuesday, October 24, 2023 at 3pm.

 

EVENTS and DIVISIONS: We offer middle school, novice, and varsity divisions. If numbers allow, we will offer separate middle school and novice divisions. We reserve the right to combine divisions. If we combine divisions, we will offer a Middle School Champion Award in addition to the usual awards. "Varsity" is Year 2 of high school debate.

 

No Double Entry.  If a coach submits the same student for two events, that student will be automatically disqualified for both events.

 

EVENTS INCLUDE:

 

Congressional Debate

Lincoln Douglas Debate

Public Forum Debate

Extemporaneous Speaking

Impromptu Speaking

Declamation

Dramatic Performance

Duo Interpretation

Informative Speaking

Just Talk - middle school and novice only

Oral Interpretation

Original Oratory

Program Oral Interpretation

Observers are allowed, but must be registered.

TOPICS:

NOTE: Students will debate BOTH sides of the resolution. 

Lincoln Douglas Debate: We are using the September/October 2023 NSDA topic - Resolved: The United States ought to guarantee the right to housing.

Public Forum Debate: We are using the September/October 2023 NSDA topic - Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its military presence in the Arctic.

Extemporaneous Speaking Topic Areas: 2024 Election, Middle-East, US Economy

Impromptu Topic Areas: Halloween, Song Lyrics, Superheroes

CONGRESS LEGISLATION: Submit proposed legislation in either NSDA or NCFL format (either is fine) to ­­­­­­Apryl Taylor, taylorfcdi@gmail.com, no later than Noon Monday, October 16.

 

Templates are under Files for Download.

 

JUDGES:  We will need your judges in order to run the tournament.

 

The judge ratio for this tournament is 1 judge for every two debate entries; 1 judge for every 5 speech/interp/congress entries.

 

Please bring parents, teachers, former students, etc.!

 

A judge training video and additional judging resources can be found HERE

 

Adults and coaches may judge any division. Qualified varsity with at least 75 NSDA points on record may judge the middle school and novice divisions. Judges need to be trained. They may take the NSDA judge training course if they did not attend any judge training. It is the affirmative duty of the coach to ensure that all judges (except students) must be approved as volunteers through their district’s volunteer system.

 

NO OUTSIDE FOOD OR BEVERAGES PERMITTED.

 

COACHES: Coaches must be available for the duration of the tournament.

 

FEES: FCDI member schools pay no fees. Non-FCDI schools pay $4.00/student.

 

Please make checks payable to and mail to:

 

The Florida Debate Initiative

 

c/o Tara Tedrow

 

215 N Eola Dr

 

Orlando, FL 32801

 

DAY OF TOURNAMENT CONTACTS:

 

David Fechtel, david.fechtel1@fldoe.org, 813-295-4079

(vr)