SpeechWire Tournament Services - Forensics Tournament Software

October 3, 2025

Dear Friends,

You are invited! We hope you will join us for the 33rd annual Jack Lynch Debate and Speech Tournament!

We are delighted to host our tournament in honor of Professor Lynch, who started the debate team at our college in 1948 and coached for 46 years.

We hope you will join us on Saturday, November 1, 2025, for the day of IPDA debate and 11 Individual Events.

The tournament will be held online using the Speech Wire and Yaatly platforms.

The schedule is friendly. The check-in starts at 8:30 am (EST) and rounds will begin at 9:00 am. We plan for a one hour break for lunch in the middle of the day. We plan to hold awards at 5:00 pm.

Tournament highlights:

• IPDA Debate - 3 prelim rounds and semifinals. There will be Novice and Open Divisions in IPDA if entries permit.

• IE - 2 prelim rounds in all 11 IE events. Final rounds in events with 12 or more speakers. If there is no final round in an event, we will have two judges in one of the prelim rounds. We will follow NFA guidelines.

We want you to attend the tournament and do not want finances to prevent any teams from attending. Please let us know and we can waive fees.

We look forward to seeing you online on November 1st!

David Trumble

Debate Coach

St. Anselm College

Manchester, NH

dtrumble@anselm.edu

Registration

Deadline. The deadline for registration is Tuesday, October 28th at 9 pm.

Online registration. Please submit your entries at SpeechWire.com. Also, please register your school, your competitors, and each judge at both SpeechWire.com and at Yaatly.com.

Judges. Please provide enough judges to cover your entries.

Saturday morning check in. We ask everyone (coaches, judges, and competitors) to check-in on Yaatly at 8:30 am and do a connection check. This helps the tournament go smoothly. Thank you!

Changes? If you need to update your entry or judges’ availability, please let us know before Saturday if possible. If not, please let us know first thing on Saturday morning. This will help us get the tournament started on time.

An inclusive and welcoming environment for all

We are committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all competitors, judges, and visitors. If you witness or experience any form of discrimination, please notify the tournament director, David Trumble, so that we can assist you. If any of your competitors and/or judges require accommodations, please inform us so that we may make the necessary arrangements.

Tab Room

The tab room will be run by David Trumble, with assistance from Prof. Randy Perez of Queens College and potentially other coaches as available.

Awards

Debate: We will provide certificates for all debaters who advance to the elimination rounds in all divisions, and for the top five speakers in all debate divisions.

IE: We will provide certificates for the top three speakers in each Individual Event, as well as the top three students in Triathlon (for Triathlon, a student must compete in at least three IE events).

Sweepstakes: We will offer Team Sweepstakes Certificates to the top five schools in IE, the top five schools in IPDA debate, and the top three community colleges overall.

Judges

Judges

IPDA. One full-time judge who is available for the full day will cover two IPDA debaters. IDPA encourages a broad range of judges, including coaches, alumni, students, educators, and members of the community. Students with significant debate experience may judge IPDA.

IE. Each full-time IE judge covers 6 slots.

Part-Time Judges. If you have judges who are available for part of the day, please let us know their exact schedule for the day. You can combine two part-time judges to equal one full-time judge.

Hired Judges. We are looking to hire judges. We would like to have several standby judges available each round, so we can substitute a judge as needed without any delay to the tournament. If you have alumni judges or friends of forensics who would like to judge, would you please let me know? We will pay $150 for a full day, or $30 for each round they are available to judge. Hired judges will receive $30 for each round they are available whether they are assigned a round to judge or not.

e-Ballots. We will use the e-balloting system on Speech Wire.

Entry Notes

• Debaters may not enter IE.

• IE competitors may enter up to 3 events in each category.

• Extemporaneous competitors may not enter any other events in Group A.

IE Events

• Group A: ADS, Prose, CA, Duo, and Poetry

• Group B: POI, Impromptu, Informative, Persuasion, and DI

Fees

You may pay your entry fees either electronically or by mailing us a check, whichever is more convenient for you. Speech Wire will generate a fees statement. I will confirm your fees statement by email. Please wait for the email from me before paying your fees. If there are any changes to your fees based on late entries, we will update your invoice at the tournament.

Electronic payment

https://payit.nelnet.net/form/CW2Nje3X

You can make payments through this link using any major credit or debit card or by e-check from a checking or savings account. This portal is currently open and will remain open after the tournament for a few weeks.

Payment by check

Checks are welcome. Please make your check payable to St. Anselm College. If you pay by check, please note Jack Lynch Tournament in the memo line of the check. Otherwise, the Business Office will not know the purpose of your check. Thank you!

Please mail the check to:

St. Anselm College

Office of the Controller

Box 1733

100 St. Anselm Drive

Manchester NH 03102-1310

IPDA

• Topic announcements and topic strikes will take place in the virtual room where the debate is taking place. If the judge is not present, the debaters may go ahead and select their topic without the judge. If the debaters pick their topic before the judge appears, please post the topic and the starting time for the debate on the room chat.

• There will be five topics offered for each round. Topics may include policy topics, value topics, fact topics, and metaphors.

• The Negative will strike one topic first. The debaters will take turns striking topics until one topic remains. The debate will start 30 minutes after the debaters choose their topic for the round.

• Debaters may collaborate with their coaches and fellow students during prep time.

• Debaters may use their laptop/phone to flow and keep time during the round but may not use the internet during the debate.

• Aff/Neg sides are set in prelims. For semifinals and finals, students will flip for sides in the prep room before striking resolutions.

• Judges, please submit your decision by e-ballot when you have made your decision. Please fill in your comments and suggestions after you have submitted your decision. Thank you!

• Judges will not disclose decisions. Judges may offer brief oral comments after the round, but only after they have submitted their decision via e-ballot. If requested, judges may state their judging paradigm at the top of the round.

Time limits for IPDA

Affirmative Constructive 5 minutes

Cross Examination 2 minutes

Negative Constructive 6 minutes

Cross Examination 2 minutes

First Affirmative Rebuttal 3 minutes

First Negative Rebuttal 5 minutes

Second Affirmative Rebuttal 3 minutes

Schedule

Saturday, November 1, 2025 (on Eastern Time Zone)

8:30 Check-in

8:45 Opening Assembly,

8:45 Rd. 1 — Extemp Draw

9:00 Rd. 1 — IPDA Topic Draw, and Rd. 1 Category A IE events

10:30 Rd. 2 — IPDA Topic Draw, and Rd 2 - Extemp Draw

11:00 Rd. 2 — Category A IE events

Lunch

12:30 Rd. 3 — IPDA Topic Draw, and Rd. 1 Category B IE events

2:00 Semi Finals — IPDA Topic Draw and Rd 2 Category B IE events

3:30 Finals — IPDA Topic Draw, and Finals for Categories A and B IE events

5:00 Awards

Fees Worksheet

Contact Person __________________________________

Name of School __________________________________

Phone Number __________________________________

Email Address __________________________________

Competitors:

IPDA Debaters # ______x $25 per debater $ ______

Individual Events # ______x $10 per event $ ______

Drops at Check-in: # ______x $10 each $ ______

Total Due $ ______

Please pay either electronically or by check within three weeks after the tournament.

Thank you!

St. Anselm College - Office of the Controller - Box 1733
100 Saint Anselm Drive
Manchester, NH 03102