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

 

You are cordially invited to the Northeast Florida Civics & Debate Initiative Scrimmage #1, to be held Saturday, November 18, 2023 at River City Science Academy at Mandarin, 10911 Old St Augustine Rd, Jacksonville, FL 32257. This tournament will be live and in person.

 

There will be two rounds of competition in all events except Congressional Debate, where there will be one 2 hour session. The tournament will begin at 9:00AM Eastern time. We hope to finish awards by 12:30PM, but please be flexible regarding the end time of the event.

 

Due to the late notice/last minute nature of this event, we will be using the 2023 NCDC Legislation Packet. You can find it in files for download. 

 

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

 

REGISTRATION WILL CLOSE Wednesday, November 16, 2023 at 6:00pm.

 

Please plan to arrive at River City Science Academy at Mandarin, 10911 Old St Augustine Rd, Jacksonville, FL 32257 no later than 8:30AM the morning of the tournament to check in. If your students are competing in Extemp arrive at 8:00AM.

 

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:

• Lincoln Douglas Debate

• Congressional Debate

• Public Forum Debate

• Extemporaneous Debate

• Impromptu Speaking

• Declamation - middle school and novice only

• Dramatic Performance

• Duo Interpretation

• Informative Speaking

• Just Talk - middle school and novice only

• Original Oratory

 

 

Observers are allowed.

 

TOPICS:

 

NOTE: Students will debate BOTH sides of the resolution. 

 

Lincoln Douglas Debate: We are using the November/December 2023 NSDA Topic - Resolved: The United States ought to prohibit the extraction of fossil fuels from federal public lands and waters.

Public Forum Debate: We are using the November/December 2023 NSDA Topic - Resolved: The United States federal government should forgive all federal student loan debt.

Impromptu Speaking Topic Areas: Fall fun, celebrities.

Extemporaneous Speaking Topic Areas: Middle East, US Economy. 

  

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.

 

 

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 CONTACT:

David Fechtel, FCDI Program Manager. 

Email: David.Fechtel1@fldoe.org

Phone Number: (813)295-4079