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FCDI South Regional Qualifier #4
General information This is a High School tournament in Florida. View manager contact information FCDI South Regional Qualifier #4 This is a Middle/High School tournament in LOCATION TBA. You are cordially invited to the Florida Civics & Debate Initiative South Regional Qualifier #4, to be held March 7th, 2026 at Miami-Dade College North Campus, 11380 N.W. 27th Avenue, Miami, FL 33167. This tournament will be live, in person. This Northeast FCDI Tournament offers Middle School (5th – 8th grade), high school novice (first year competing ever), and high school varsity (has competed for more than one year) competition. All schools are welcome to compete. All competitors will compete in 4 rounds of a prearranged schedule, except Legislative Debate where there are 3 rounds. Coach check-in begins at 7:30am Eastern Time. The tournament will begin at 8:00am Eastern time. We hope to finish awards by 5:00pm, but please be flexible regarding the end time of the event. We value your time, please be assured that we are always striving to stick to the schedule. The full schedule can be found in the Schedule tab on the Speechwire registration page for the tournament. REGISTRATION WILL CLOSE FRIDAY, DATE, 11:59PM EST. EVENTS and DIVISIONS: We offer middle school (M), novice (N), and varsity (V) divisions. If numbers allow, we will offer separate middle school and novice divisions. We reserve the right to combine divisions. If we combine divisions, there will be a Middle and Novice winner also chosen. No Double Entry. If a coach submits the same student for two events, that student will be automatically disqualified for both events. EVENTS INCLUDE:
Observers are allowed. TOPICS: Topics for some events may be pre-announced (see below). Participants should familiarize themselves with potential topics/resolutions and prepare accordingly. Public Forum Topic: RESOLUTION TBA Lincoln-Douglas Topic: RESOLUTION TBA NOTE: Students who compete in debate events must be ready to argue both sides of an issue. Academic debate is an intellectual activity and is not about personal advocacy.
Impromptu Topics: Topic Areas: TOPIC AREAS TBA Extemporaneous Debate Topic Areas: TOPIC AREAS TBA Legislative Debate Topics: Legislation will be found in the "Files for Download" tab when released. Extemporaneous Speaking Topic Areas: TOPIC AREAS TBA We the People: A Citizen Showdown Topic Areas: TOPIC AREAS TBA
JUDGES: FCDI JUDGING REQUIREMENTS Because tournaments rely on volunteer judges, recruiting and training judges is vital. Judges must be trained via the Canvas courses provided by FDI to fulfill your judge obligations. If you bring judges that are not trained, the missing judge fee will apply. The FCDI requires teams provide judges proportional to the number of students they have registered for a given tournament. The FCDI divides judges into four types:
Experienced varsity competitors may be entered as "student" judges and may judge middle school events if they are not themselves competing in this tournament. If divisions are collapsed and include high school students, student judges cannot judge the event. Should the tournament need judges of a specific type, judges may have to take a ballot in an event type for which they were not registered. For every two debate entries (individuals or teams), one debate judge must be registered. For every five speech entries or five legislative debate entries, one speech judge must be registered. Teams who do not have the required number of judges will incur a fee of $10.00 per judge short and/or may have their competitors dropped from the tournament. New teams will not incur this fee during their first year (but still must bring judges, if no other judges exist, the coach will be expected to judge at a minimum) Additional speech, debate, and judging resources can be found here: HANDBOOK LINK Adults and coaches may judge any division. FCDI alumni and qualified varsity students may judge the middle school and novice divisions. Judges must be trained. It is the affirmative duty of the coach to ensure that all judges (except students) must be approved as vetted volunteers through their district’s volunteer system. At every FCDI tournament, a team member will present a judge orientation, event overview, and answer any final questions judges may have. On-site judge training will always be available to any judge that needs assistance one hour before the tournament begins. Please encourage new judges to arrive early to take advantage of this training. If a judge misses a round, other than in the case of an emergency, the team they are representing will be charged a $100.00 missed round fee.
CONCESSIONS: Concessions (pizza, snacks, drinks, etc.) will be available for purchase. NO OUTSIDE FOOD OR BEVERAGES PERMITTED. Host schools use concessions as a fundraiser. Support your tournament host by purchasing food on site.
COACHES: All teams must have either a coach or assistant coach present at every event the team participates in for the duration of the tournament. If an FCDI registered coach cannot attend the tournament, coaches may designate a proxy coach on a per tournament basis. This change must be asked for in writing and approved by the FCDI. Proxy coach requests must be submitted with a letter from the principal stating that the proxy coach is approved to supervise the students. Any team found in violation of this rule will be disqualified from the tournament and asked to leave. A letter will also be sent to the school principal notifying them of this rule violation
FEES: FCDI member schools pay no general registration fees. Non-FCDI schools pay $5.00/student. All schools may incur a late drop fee after the registration deadline. Online fee payment link: TBA Or, please make checks payable to and mail to: Florida Debate Initiative, Inc. 87 Geneva Drive Oviedo, FL 32765
TOURNAMENT CONTACTS:
Claude Smith
Regional Ambassador Name
FLORIDA CIVICS AND DEBATE INITIATIVE CONTACT INFORMATION:
John Duebel
Email address: John.Duebel1@fldoe.org The Florida Civics and Debate Initiative is proud to partner with the Florida Debate Initiative, which oversees our tournament operations and manages the Regional Ambassadors who help bring our mission to life.
FLORIDA DEBATE INITIATIVE CONTACT INFORMATION:
Abraham López
Email address: alopez@floridadebate.org
Florida Civics and Debate Initiative Handbook Click here to view the FCDI handbook Claude Smith Mailing address 325 W.Gaines St., Suite 1524 SpeechWire Tournament Services - Copyright 2004-2025 Ben Stewart. All Rights Reserved. Terms of use - Privacy and Security Policy
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