SpeechWire Tournament Services - Forensics Tournament Software

WELCOME TO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SPEECH AND DEBATE CHAMPS TOURNAMENT!

This tournament is for all elementary students we have competed in Broward County Schools’ Speech and Debate Tournaments.

TOURNAMENT DATE - Saturday May 2, 2026

Time: 7:30 AM to 5 PM

LOCATION:

Driftwood Middle School

2751 North 70th Terrace

Hollywood, FL 33024

IMPORTANT PROCEDURES FOR COACHES:

You must have hard copies of your field trip forms with you in case of an emergency. You should not be leaving campus with students without permission forms. Having access to their information online will not work when wifi is slow or there is no service.
If you have a student who may need medicine at a tournament, you must let district staff know. We need to be aware of who needs medicine and who has it in case there is an emergency.

REGISTRATION

Registration for NEW ENTRIES opens Monday April 13, 2026, and closes on Monday April 20, 2026, at 12 noon. Speechwire will remain open for drops, edits, name changes and adding judges. Please have students wear their school iDs at all times.

Broward Debate will not be providing transportation for this tournament. Students must have their own transportation to and from this tournament.

There will be 5 rounds for PF and Speech events, and 3 rounds for Congress. The top 6 entries in each event will receive trophies. Please do not bring students who are not registered. Parents will be asked to return to pickup their child. Rounds will start at 8:00 AM. Awards will start at 4:30 PM. Parents who drop off their students will not be allowed to re-enter the school until 4:30 PM. You may send out a blast to the parents to remind them that the final rounds are expected to end and that they can return to the campus at 4:30 PM.

DEADLINES

Registration for new entries will close on Monday April 20, 2026 at noon. At that time as many students will be released from the waitlist as judge numbers and available space allows. Changes (drops or name changes) can be made until 7 AM on Saturday May 2. Any changes after that, please email Janell McLeod (janell.mcleod@browardschools.com) the school name, student who is dropping, and her/his event. ***NO LATE ADDS*** Please do not bring competitors who are not registered in the tournament.

Preorder Pizza:

You must purchase Preorder Pizza to ensure your students have lunch. Preorder Pizza will close on Tuesday April 21st at 3pm. Preorder pizza is $16 per pie and it comes with 4 bottles of water. Concessions will be available for CASH ONLY purchases. Students may bring a bag lunch. For security reasons, no food deliveries will be allowed.

ENTRY CAPS

• Remember, each school may only initially enter TEN students in all events. Any entries over that number will go on the waitlist, which will be cleared pending available space at Driftwood Middle School and having enough judges.

• No double or cross entries are allowed.

JUDGES / VARSITY JUDGE REQUEST

Judges are needed for any tournament to run, and schools are required to cover their entries. (1 judge covers 2 debate entries, or 1 judge covers any combination of 5 speech/congress entries.) Do not bring more students than you have judges to cover. Reach out to competitors' family members, teachers, and mentors for judge help. Coaches can judge too.

Please speak with parents who work during the week and may have Saturdays off. Judges will check in with the school’s Single Point entry and will need identification. They will then check in with District staff. Arrival time for judges is between 7:30 am and 8:00 am (same time as the teams). Ask teachers and school staff. As a reminder, no subs are needed to cover classes. Ask parents who are dropping off competitors to stay and judge and avoid making two trips. Ask parents who work during the week and may be off on Saturdays.

Here is the website for finding a local Toastmasters Club. You can contact them with tournament dates, the BCPS volunteer link below, and see if you can get any volunteers from there too. https://www.toastmasters.org/find-a-club.

All adult judges should have at a least level one clearance with the district. Have parents/adults use the link to register as a volunteer - https://apps.raptortech.com/Apply/NDgyMDplbi1VUw== or go to the Get Involved with BCPS / Volunteer Services website.

PIZZA PREORDERS

We strongly encourage you to pre-order pizza for your team. Whole pies with 8 slices are $16 each and include 4 bottles of water with each pie order. PIZZA PREORDER SALES CLOSE ON TUESDAY April 21, 2026. The host school will have some pizza and additional concession items for sales throughout the tournament (CASH ONLY).

-Add pre-ordered pizza pies in Speechwire after registering your team, by clicking “Tournament home” on the left column, then click “Update your meal order” in the middle of the screen.

-Print your final invoice to request a check from your school under “Current Invoice” on the left column of Speechwire. Make checks payable to “DRIFTWOOD MIDDLE SCHOOL," and in the subject line - "DEBATE TEAM”.

PLEASE KEEP YOUR AREA IN THE CAFETERIA CLEAN AT ALL TIMES. GARBAGE CANS AND BAGS ARE PLACED AROUND THE ROOM. HAVE YOUR STUDENTS CLEAN UP AFTER THEMSELVES.

TOURNAMENT DAY PROCEDURES

Arrival for the tournament is between 7:30 AM and 8:00 AM, for competitors and judges. Security will direct you to a holding area. Check in with Debate Broward Staff upon your arrival. Please let us know if you have any last drops and changes at that time. Judges will also check in with District staff. If you are a coach and are judging, please check your team in, get them settled, and then sign in as a judge.

IMPORTANT - Everyone will stay in the cafeteria until Driftwood security allows us to move. Please keep all students in the holding area until rounds start about 8:00 AM.

JUDGES

First-time judges: You should have received an email from Speechwire.com to follow and create an account.

Judged before: It is important to make sure you have logged into live.speechwire.com and are able to sign in with the same email address you used previously. Once signed in, please make sure your cell number is correct/added to your account. In order to have a smoother start to the tournament, it is a huge help for all judges to arrive on time, have checked in, and have logged into live.speechwire.com prior to coming to the tournament. If for whatever reason you cannot intially log in, click "Forgot Password" but use the same email you originally entered.

Electronic Devices: Judges should have a working, charged laptop or iPad to complete the eballots. A phone will work however it is more cumbersome.

Coaches will be responsible for identifying the room each student will compete in, and for directing their students to assigned room by reviewing the Schematic tab in Speechwire. A list will pop up when each round is ready to go. High school student volunteers will be around the campus to help with directing you to competition rooms. Please remember to get a map.

There will be 5 rounds of Speech competition, 3 rounds of Congress competition, and an award ceremony.

CHAPERONES AND JUDGES

-Standard field trip procedures of 1 adult chaperone to every 10 students.

-Teachers/Coaches please chaperone your students. At least one chaperone must always be with the students in the auditorium and/or cafeteria. Chaperones may double as judges.

Please complete a field trip form for each student. The original copies should be left with the field trip coordinator or administrator at you school, and keep a copy with you while at the tournament. Please let us know if you have a student attending with special needs such as food allergies or medical condition so the host school can prepare for emergencies.

PLEASE KEEP YOUR AREA CLEAN AT ALL TIMES. GARBAGE CANS AND BAGS ARE PLACED AROUND THE ROOM. HAVE YOUR STUDENTS CLEAN UP AFTER THEMSELVES.

EVENTS / TOPICS

The Canvas Courses have also been updated with Congress Legislation for Elementary Champs. I am attaching them here for your convenience as well.

Public Forum (PF): “Resolved: The United Kingdom should rejoin the European Union.”

No live internet is allowed in elementary PF rounds.

Congressional Debate (CD):

Congress legislation for the entire second semester was sent in email updates and is posted in the BCPS Coach Corner Canvas course. It is also accessible electronically here in Speechwire under the "Files for Download" section. Per usual, chambers might not debate all 4 bills if time does not allow.

Interpretation (HI, DI, DUO), Declamation (DEC) and Original Oratory (OO):

Once you have updated your entries, go to the left column on Speechwire called “Piece Registration”. For HI, DI, DUO and/or DEC entry, you are required to include the title, the author and the ISBN number. If the ISBN number is not available (movies, plays, etc.) use the URL from the website of the selection. For OO, please enter the title of the piece.

Impromptu (IMP): Topic areas are released in round.

Security and Safety

Students should be wearing their school IDs at all time, except when competing. Coaches, or anyone should not be propping doors open. Everyone should be going through the Security check point.

Congress legislation has been emailed to coaches, posted on the Coach Corner CANVAS, and posted here under the "Files for Download."

More information may be sent out as the tournament approaches. Please let me or your mentor know if you have any questions.

Thank you!

Janell Mcleod
Email address: janell.mcleod@browardschools.com
Phone number: 754-321-1844