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Schnoor Swing Part 1
General information This is a College tournament in Minnesota. View manager contact information
September 2025
Hello friends!
Minnesota State University, Mankato is pleased to invite you to the 2025 Schnoor swing, which includes the Larry Schnoor Invitational on Friday October 17th and Saturday October 18th hosted by the Minnesota State, Mankato forensic team and the MavFAN Tournament on Sunday, October 19th hosted by our alumni network. All rounds will take place in-person on the MNSU campus. We’re happy to offer IPDA as part of the Schnoor, which will run Friday to Saturday. Please see below for tournament policies and details! Our theme this year is Avatar the Last Airbender! LP and Debate topics will be themed around this! Open Door Policy MNSU is committed to providing safe performance spaces for all competitors and judges. We acknowledge the art of performance may be a healing process and/or an opportunity to speak on important, personal topics. As a performer, it is impossible to know all the ways in which content or a performance may unintentionally harm or trigger members of your audience. To better serve the wellness of the forensic community, we will be using an open door practice this weekend.
An “open door practice” means competitors and other audience members may choose to leave a round when a performance threatens their mental wellbeing, or due to physical (e.g., uncontrollable coughing, vomiting) or spiritual (e.g., Salah prayer times) needs. Competitors may discreetly leave the room (before, during, or after someone’s performance) even when not double-entered, without question or penalty. Anyone in the room may also disengage from a performance (e.g., actively dissociate, put their head down on a desk, cover their ears). Judges will be asked to read the open door policy aloud at the beginning of every round to reinforce the norm-change emphasizing mental and physical well-being over community norms.
Judges may also take steps to protect their well-being by requesting reassignment prior to rounds where they worry about the content warnings listed or taking a time between speeches to re-center before proceeding with the round.
Electronic Ballots All judging will be completed via Speechwire. Judge contact info should be included in the registration and all judges should bring an electronic device for writing critiques and submitting ranks. Everyone may pre-register and learn more at https://live.speechwire.com/
Judge Strikes and Judge Accommodations If a student has conflicts with judges for non-competitive reasons, please inform the tournament staff as to prevent conflicts within the tournament. Some non-competitive conflicts may include:
We respect the privacy of these decisions, so no explanation for the conflict is required. If tournament staff is informed a judge has participated in improper behavior, the judge will be removed from the judging pool before interacting with students. Coaches or students may contact tournament staff directly at manuel.reyes.2@mnsu.edu or 816-462-3704
Gender Equity MNSU is committed to providing a place where all competitors’, judges’, and observers’ gender identities are observed and respected. Pronoun indicators will be available at registration and in the student and judge lounges.
Tournament staff also commit to providing maps and signage to gender-neutral and single-stall restrooms to provide safe bathroom spaces. Maps will be available online at Speechwire.com, provided at registration, and in the student and judge lounges.
Name Pronunciation MNSU recognizes the power being called by your correctly pronounced name has in creating an inclusive, welcoming, respectful space. To aid judges and award readers, please provide student name pronunciation through Speechwire. Depending upon Speechwire service availability, tournament staff will attempt to make name pronunciations available on cover ballots for judges.
Content Warnings MNSU requests performers consider the nature of their topic; when possible, please list a content warning in the “Event Title” content box on Speechwire when registering for the tournament and list a content warning on the board when signing in to the round. At registration, each team will be asked if they entered content warnings for their students’ pieces. Content warnings will appear on schemats online and posted at the tournament.
Accessibility MNSU recognizes not all bodies comfortably move through tournament spaces. Tournament staff worked hard to select rooms with desks where all body types may comfortably compete, observe, and judge. Rooms were prioritized so freestanding chairs were used for rounds before desk-chair combinations or similar options. When rooms do not include large seating options, the tournament staff pledges to provide chairs where everyone can feel included during the competition round.
Tournament staff also pledges to arrange rooms to create ample space for competitors and judges who use wheelchairs to move throughout competition rounds without needless obstacles. Additionally, tournament schematics will also be posted on every floor for visual accessibility. Extra schematics will also be available at the info table. Quiet rooms will also be available.
Information Available Upon Request Upon request, the tournament staff will have the following information:
Information about competitive event offerings and fees are listed below. We hope you find it possible to attend! If you have questions, feel free to email Manuel (Manny) Reyes at manuel.reyes.2@mnsu.edu . See you then!
Competitive Event Offerings Both tournaments will offer two preliminary rounds in one open division of all 11 NFA-AFA individual events with the addition of IPDA Debate at The Schnoor Friday to Saturday. Please note: students may enter a maximum of THREE events per pattern. Students in IPDA can be entered in 2 flight A events plus IPDA. If the student advances to Semi-Finals in IPDA, the student should debate first, then go to their IE event(s). Students who triple enter in a pattern are responsible for getting to all events during the scheduled time period.
Events will be offered in 2 conflict patterns:
Flight A Impromptu After-Dinner Speaking Informative Drama Poetry IPDA
Flight B Extemp Speaking Prose Communication Analysis Persuasion Duo
POI Extemp Speaking
Each speaker will receive three different questions. The speaker will choose one to prepare a 7 minute speech with 30 minutes of preptime. The Internet is allowed. IPDA Resolutions will be given to each pair of debaters in a communal draw room. Competitors will be given 5 resolutions then take turns striking resolutions away until one resolution stands, starting with the negative debater. Competitors will have 30 minutes of prep time. Internet access and coach/team prep allowed. There are no divisions but will have a novice final if possible. There are 5 prelims of Debate, all winning records will advance to outrounds unless winning records exceed octafinals. If Octafinals are not necessary, we will publish a list of advancing competitors to quarter finals and we will end early on Friday after round 5!
Competitive Standards We will follow NFA rules and codes of conduct, and request attending teams to familiarize themselves with those guidelines.
Schedule Schnoor - Friday IPDA 11:30 Registration Begins 12:30 RD 1 IPDA Draw 1:00 RD 1 IPDA Begins 1:45 RD 2 IPDA Draw 2:15 RD 2 IPDA Begins 3:00 RD 3 IPDA Draw 3:30 RD 3 IPDA Begins 4:15 RD 4 IPDA Draw 4:45 RD 4 IPDA Begins 5:30 RD 5 IPDA Draw 6:00 RD 5 IPDA Begins 6:30 Dinner 7:15 (If needed) Partial OCTAs Draw 7:45 Partial OCTAs Begins
Schnoor - Saturday 7:30-9 Registration 8:00 IPDA Quarters Draw 8:30 IPDA Quarters Begins 9:15 Flight A RD 1(IMP, ADS, INFO DRAMA, POE) 10:30 Ext Draw 11:00 Flight B Rd 1 (EXT, PRO, CA, PERS, DUO, POI) 12:15 Lunch 12:30 IPDA Sems Draw 1:00 IPDA Sems and Flight A Rd 2 (Debate first, then IE’s if DE/TE entered) 2:30 Ext Draw 2:45 Flight B RD 2 4:15IPDA Finals Draw 4:45 IPDA Finals, A Finals (Debate first, then IE’s if DE/TE entered) 6:00 EXT Draw 6:15 B Finals 7:45ish Awards
MavFAN - Sunday 7:45-8:15 Registration 8:30 Ext Draw 9:00 B1 (EXT, PRO, CA, PERS, DUO, POI) 10:15 A1 (IMP, ADS, INFO DRAMA, POE) 11:15 Lunch 11:45 Ext Draw 12:15 B2 1:30 A2 3:00 Ext Draw 3:30 B Finals 4:45 A Finals 6:15 Awards *If possible, we will attempt to collapse finals into one flight, dependent on judges
MNSU Student Competitors As hosts, the Minnesota State, Mankato forensic program will enter students at the Schnoor who are in their first semester of college competition. We engage in this practice because we have plenty of experienced competitors to assist with tournament management, and have found that competing on our own campus in early fall has been an effective and nonthreatening way to introduce novices to college forensics.
Hired Judges Our hired judge pool consists primarily of alums from our own program, other regional programs, and the Minnesota State, Mankato Communication Studies Graduate Teaching Assistants. The graduate assistants receive a judge training session where they are informed of event descriptions and rules, as well as methods for writing effective ballots.
Wireless Internet Minnesota State, Mankato provides free guest access to university Wi-Fi, at your own risk. We do not guarantee the reliability of wireless internet service.
Food Options The Centennial Student Union is possibly open, but we suggest utilizing other food options (including Weggy’s, Noodles & Company, Jimmy John’s, Caribou Coffee, Chipotle, & Jonny B’s) within walking distance of campus.
Tab Room The tab room will be run by the MNSU coaching staff and Alumni volunteers. We will use SpeechWire to schedule and tab the tournament.
Awards The award ceremony will be held in Armstrong Hall 101. Trophies will be awarded to finalists in each individual event. Additionally, 1st, 2nd and 3rd place trophies will be awarded in both Team Sweeps and Individual Sweeps. Individual Sweeps includes all students entered in 4 events with at least one interpretation event and one Public Address or Limited Preparation event. Sweepstakes awards will be given using the following point system: In prelims 3pts for every 1st, 2pts for every 2nd, and 1 pt for every 3rd. In finals, 1st place = 10 points, 2nd place = 8 points, 3rd place = 6 points, 4th place = 4 points, 5th place = 3 points, and 6th place = 2 points. Any non-advancing semi-finalists in IEs will receive 2 points.
The Larry Schnoor Invitational also includes a Team Quality Award (team sweep pts. divided by number of entries). Each year, Minnesota State, Mankato names the quality award after a distinguished individual(s) in forensics who has shaped the activity on either a regional or national scale. The designees are nominated and chosen by current students involved with the Minnesota State, Mankato forensic program. Previous designees include: Brian Halleen George Armstrong Grace Walsh Guy Yates Joel Hefling Susan and Stephen Collie Mike Wartman Mark Fokken Kelly Jo Wright Dan Cronn-Mills Michael Dreher Penni Pier Craig Brown Brian Klosa Kittie Grace Rebecca Buel Megan Orcholski Karen Morris Sade Barfield Ben Walker David Brennan Andrea Carlisle Leah White Julie Walker Chris Outzen
Fees Entry fees are $8.00 per IE slot. One full-time judge covers 6 IE entries. The cost per uncovered IE slot is an additional $20.00. IPDA Entries are $20.00. 1 Judge covers 3 IPDA Entries. (Schools may use non-competing students for IPDA, or eliminated debaters in outrounds due to the IPDA constitution, it does not take away eligibility and can be a great learning experience for students! This can be utilized for prelims at the very least!) Cost per uncovered IPDA entry is $60.00. Fees are assessed as the entry stands at noon on Wednesday, October 15th. A fee of $10.00 is assessed for each drop or add after this time. All judges are expected to be available for final rounds. All judges are considered “clean” for final rounds. Teams will be charged a fee of $50.00 for every judge dropped from the tournament.
Tournament Entry Entries are due via Speechwire
Entry Deadline: 5 p.m., Tuesday, October 14th Fees Assessed: Noon, Wednesday, October 15h
If you have questions, feel free to contact Manuel Reyes at manuel.reyes.2@mnsu.edu or 816-462-3704 with any questions!
Hotel Information Below is a list of hotels in the Mankato area. There are also nearby towns (St. Peter, Eagle Lake, North Mankato) with accommodation with a little bit of a drive. Please contact the hotels directly for reservations.
American Inn by Wyndham Mankato Event center (507)345-8011 Motel 6 (507) 315-4669 Courtyard Mankato Marriott (507) 388-1234 Country Inn & Suites by Radisson (507) 388-8555 Hilton Garden Inn (507) 344-1111 Holiday Inn Express Hotel and Suites (507) 388-1880 Comfort Inn & Suites North Mankato (507) 388-3800
We hope you find it possible to attend a weekend full of excellent competition and bright fall foliage at the 2025 Avatar the last ShnoorBender!
Sincerely,
Manuel Reyes Tournament Director
Manuel Reyes Mailing address None provided SpeechWire Tournament Services - Copyright 2004-2025 Ben Stewart. All Rights Reserved. Terms of use - Privacy and Security Policy
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