Coach and Speakers:

 

Welcome to the Vincennes University Trailblazer Speech Tournament!  The tournament will be held on February 10, 2024 at Vincennes University in beautiful SW Indiana! We are very much looking forward to providing all coaches, students, and judges with an incredible and unique competition experience at Indiana's very first university!

 

NEW 01/27/19 - VINCENNES UNIVERSITY requires all students to sign-in via VU's portal before competition.  The sign-in includes a Photography and Social Media Release because VU intends to take pictures and video of the event for social media purposes. 

 

LOCATION AND TIME ZONE.

The VU Trailblazer Speech Tournament will be held on VU's Vincennes Campus.  We will use up to 9 different buildings on VU's Vincennes Campus. The tournament will run on Eastern Daylight Time.

 

PARKING. 

All busses and other vehicles may park in the large parking lot adjacent to the Red Skelton Performing Arts Center (20 W Red Skelton Blvd., Vincennes, Indiana 47591).  

 

REGISTRATION/ENTRY DEADLINE. 

Registration will be done on www.speechwire.com. We cannot accept emails, faxes or paper entries. This is a new tournament, and there will be a learning curve.  We would be eternally grateful if teams would make their entries as early as possible so that we can gauge building and room usage.  The Entry Add deadline is February 5, 2024 at 5:00.  Judge/Entry drops are due February 7, 2024 at 5:00.  

 

ENTRY LIMITS.

The Tournament will be capped at 400 total entries.  Each team may enter as many in a category as a team wishes but may enter no more than 40 total entries without the Tournament Director's written approval.  Entries will be accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis. 

 

FEES AND FOOD.

There are no entry fees for this Tournament.  Box lunches will be provided to students (at no charge!) in the VU Student Activities Complex.  Judges will also be well fed in the Red Skelton Performing Arts Center.  Snacks and other food will be available for purchase throughout the day.

 

TOURNAMENT STRUCTURE 

This tournament will include all 15 ISSDA Speech Categories (Bro, Disco, Dec, Info, OO, Duo, DI, HI, OP, POI, Prose, POE, Imp, IX, and USX) in Varsity divisions only.  We will have 3 Prelims then break to Finals.  Finals will consist of two rooms for each category - (1) a consolation bracket consisting of students ranked 7-12 after Prelims and who will compete for finishes in that range; and (2) a room for students who exit Prelims ranked 1-6 and will compete for the top 6 finishes in category.

 

Timing - Coaches must register their teams and pick up their competitors' and judges' competition lanyards at the Red Skelton Performing Art Center starting at 8:15am. Registration closes at 8:45am.  Students will be sent to the Student Activities Complex upon registration.  Judges' Meeting will be at the Red Skelton Performing Art Center Tournament and will start at 9:00 a.m.  First round Extemp Prep will start @ 9:00 a.m., and Round 1 will commence at 9:30. 

 

Event Cap Limitation: None. You can enter as many contestants in any event, but no team may exceed 40 entries with Tournament Director's written consent. 

 

Double entries.  Contestants may not enter in more than 2 categories.  This Tournament will span multiple buildings, and we will run Rounds in 90 minute intervals to give contestants time to walk between buildings.  That said, any contestant who enters in more than one event bears sole risk of making it to the 2nd category in a round before competition for that round ends.  We can not hold rooms simply because a contestant failed to make it to a 2nd category on time as part of a double entry.  No double entering for Discussion.  Rounds 1-2: double entries in Extemp should go to Extemp prep first, and Impromptu double-entries should go to Impromptu last. Rounds 3-4: double entries in Extemp should go to Extemp prep LAST and ask to go first in the other category.  Double-entries in Radio (Rd 4) should report to Radio last.  The reason for the switch from Rounds 1-2 and 3-4 is because we gave the contestants 30 minutes for lunch.  So, to make sure extempers get the full 30 minutes lunch, we are going to have them begin prep at the same time Round 3 for everyone else.

 

Discussion - Artifacts will be posted on Speechwire for download on February 5, 2024.  No electronic devices may be used during a round.

 

Extemp - Prep room is TBD.  We will follow ISSDA rules including, but not limited to, internet usage for prep.  Charging laptops will not be permitted in the prep room. Contestants found to have prior speeches in possession will be disqualified for that round. Draw all rounds. Internet Usage is permitted in your prep-time.  Absolutely no note cards.  Extemp will draw every round.  

 

Impromptu - Contestants may hold their prompt while speaking.  Contestants may not hold nothing else (including notes) while speaking.

 

Broadcasting will have the following schedule:

Round 1: News Program (5 minutes)

Round 2: News Program (5 Minutes)

Round 3: Breaking News (2 Minute Prep, 2 Minute Performance)

Final: Editorial (30 Minute Prep, 2 Minute Performance)

Materials for news program, including music selection and commercial will be listed no later than Monday prior to the tournament. News Program selection will be listed no later than Wednesday prior to the tournament.  We are trying out Breaking News in place of an OTS impromptu performance for Round 3. Materials will be released the day of the tournament. Competitors will be sight reading a script that they will be read verbatim; judges will be assessing pacing, clarity, and pronunciation of the performance. Competitors should have a prepared intro/outro that is no more than 30 seconds prepared ahead of time to add to the script, and should bring it on a notecard. The editorial final will be released the day of the tournament and will be performed in Vincennes University's production studio.

 

JUDGE REQUIREMENTS - 1 Judge for every 5 entries or fractions thereof.  Please indicate if a judge is "Clean".  Please block-off any parents from judging categories in which they have children competing at the Tournament.  We will do our very best to reserve our more experienced judges/coaches for Finals.

 

THIS IS AN E-BALLOT TOURNAMENT. Judges must return their signed and properly scored ballots and completed critique sheets at the end of each round electronically.  Please note and communicate to your judges: All judges must submit critiques and/or reason for decision in order for ballots to be accepted. All judges MUST bring a device, i.e., laptop or tablet for judging.  

 

STUDENT'S HANGOUT AREA. VU Student Activities Complex. This is also where boxed lunches will be provided between Rounds 2-3.  We are still trying to determine if some of the students activities in the Hangout Area (bowling, billiards) will be available (for a fee) for those who do not break from Prelims to Finals.

 

MORE STUDENT FUN! We are working with VU to develop some additional activities to make this a memorable experience for everyone.  So, be prepared for student scavenger hunts, etc.!

 

JUDGES LOUNGE:  Red Skelton Performing Arts Center. 

 

AWARDS:  Ribbons to individual students 1st through 6th in each event. Team "trophies" (TBD) for 1st through 5th.

 

TOURNAMENT DIRECTORS 

Tournament Directors: Marissa Mitchell (Castle High School), Lauren McDaniel (Evansville North) and Tony Fehrenbacher (Evansville Memorial)

Questions: If you have any questions please contact Marissa (mmitchell@warrick.k12.in.us), Lauren (lauren.mcdaniel@evsck12.com) and Tony (tfehrenbacher@manionstigger.com).  Tony's cell is 812.604.8127.

 

THIS IS GOING TO BE A BLAST!  We can't wait to see everyone! 

Marissa, Lauren, and their trusty side-kick, Tony