SpeechWire Tournament Services - Forensics Tournament Software

LINK TO THE LIVE DOC: (Available no later than January 9th, 2026)

FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP HIGH SCHOOL

FREEHOLD REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT

281 ELTON-ADELPHIA ROAD

FREEHOLD, NEW JERSEY 07728-8021

732-431-8460

Alicia Scelso, Ed.D., Principal

December 6, 2025

Dear Coach,

The Freehold Township Speech and Debate Club is pleased to invite your team to attend the 34th Annual Freehold Township High School Forensics Tournament on Saturday, January 17, 2026. This will be a LIVE, in-person event.

Check-in/Registration for all teams will take place from 7:30 AM to 8:30 AM.

There will be a mandatory judges' meeting at 8:30 AM.

We plan on beginning round 1 promptly at 9:00 AM and have awards tentatively scheduled to begin at 4:30 PM (pointed emphasis on "tentatively"!).

THE EVENTS

We are offering competition in the following events:

SPEECH (Novice, Varsity)

[Our school is rather small and lacks the requisite number of rooms to support a JV division. I will keep all coaches apprised of any changes in this arrangement.]

Original Oratory

Declamation (Novice Only)

Dramatic Interpretation

Humorous Interpretation

Oral Interpretation

Program Oral Interpretation

Impromptu Speaking

Improvisational Acting

Informative

Duo Interpretation

Extemporaneous Speaking

*All speech events will have three initial rounds, a semi-final round, and a final round for all individual events. Top non-advancing novice awards will be given out in all speech events (except Declamation).

DEBATE

Public Forum Debate (Novice, JV and Varsity)

Lincoln-Douglas Debate (JV & Varsity)

Congress (Novice & Varsity - ***please note that we are always in need of Parliamentarians, as Freehold Township does not compete in this category***)

*All PF & LD events will have four rounds.

*For Congress there will be two sessions and a final round of Congressional Debate, with the possibility of a novice division depending on the number of entries.

Awards will be given to the top six students/duos in each event. Sweepstakes awards will be given out to the top three schools overall.

REGISTRATION

All registration may be completed via https://www.speechwire.com/. If you have never used this site before or would like assistance in the registration process, please contact us via email. (See our email addresses below.) You can print a copy of the registration and invoice directly from http://www.speechwire.com.

Only 6 entries per school per category will be registered. The rest will be placed on a waitlist until January 12, 2026, when entries will be reviewed and cleared to ensure rooms are balanced.

Each school may enter up to six contestants per category. Double entries are allowed to participate except in debate events and congress.

We ask that you make sure to mark all your novice speech competitors (ie, those in their first year of competition) in registration so that we can recognize the highest-placing novice at awards. Mavericks in Public Forum are not permitted.

DEADLINES

Registration Opens 15 December 2025 at 8:30 AM

New Entries Due 13 January 2026 at 6:00 PM

Congress Legislation Due 9 January 2026 at 5:00 PM emailed to Anthony Verdoni (averdoni@frhsd.com)

Fees & Obligations Frozen 16 January 2026 at 11:59 PM

Judge Information Due 15 January 2026 at 11:59 PM

Online Drop & Name Change 12 January 2026 at 3:00 PM

Nuisance Fines Apply After 12 January 2026 at 3:00 PM

FEES

Please send payment in the form of cash, check, or purchase order.

Make checks payable to: FTHS Forensics

Payments sent to:

Freehold Township High School

attn. Anthony Verdoni

281 Elton-Adelphia Road, Freehold, NJ, 07728

Registration Fees

School Registration Fee $30.00 per school

Individual Speech Events $15.00 per slot

Duo Interpretation $25.00 per slot

Public Forum Debate $25.00 per slot

Lincoln-Douglas Debate $20.00 per slot

Congressional Debaters $15.00 per slot

Administrative Fees

Late Add/Drop Fee $15.00 per change after 3:00 PM on January 28, 2025

Missing Judge $100.00 per missing judge

Dropped Judge $175.00 per judge dropped & not replaced after 6:00 AM on January 17, 2026

No-show judge fine $25.00 per round

Tournament Platform and Schedule

It is imperative that all participants understand how to access the resources available through SpeechWire and that judges be trained in the protocols and procedures for each event as well as in the use of electronic ballots prior to the tournament.

There are a number of excellent training materials available from the NSDA and New Jersey Speech & Debate League. Links to pertinent resources will be placed in our tournament Live Doc. E-ballots will be used for all events.

A tentative schedule for the tournament can be found on the SpeechWire site as well as in the Live Doc. Adjustments will be made as needed during the course of the tournament. All participating schools will receive access to the Live Doc approximately one week before the tournament.

JUDGING REQUIREMENTS

E-BALLOTS

All coaches must have a team roster with accurate email addresses uploaded onto SpeechWire. Likewise, coaches must ensure that judges are trained to complete electronic ballots and have a linked SpeechWire account.

Coaches should also ensure that their judges bring the appropriate chargers for their devices. Unfortunately, extra chargers and devices will NOT be available at Freehold Township High School.

Individual Speech Events and Congress

One judge per five speech contestants or fraction thereof is required. No student judges allowed.

LD & PF Debate

One judge per two Lincoln-Douglas debaters or fraction thereof is required

One judge per two Public Forum teams or fraction thereof is required

Student debaters with at least 2 full years of experience may judge Novice LD or Novice PF ONLY, as long as they are clearly marked in registration notes. Failure to do so may result in a judge fee being assessed.

Student judges cannot be used to fulfill judging obligations for JV & Varsity entries.

Student judges may not be used to fulfill a school’s entire judging obligation.

***Please stress to your judges that they are obligated for the entire tournament and must be available to judge the final round of any event.***

When registering your judges, if you have a judge who is able to judge your own team without conflict, please mark him, her, or they as “Clean” on the drop-down menu.

We may be forced to assign judges based on need, regardless of category. This is something we will try never to do, but if circumstances demand it, it would be helpful for coaches to let us know of any judges who would feel comfortable doing other events. ***However, speech judges will be used to judge Congress rounds. Please let your judges know this.***

Additional Information

The cafeteria will be open for the purchase of food from local businesses. Packaged and homemade snacks will also be on sale.

***Please note that we will offer limited quantities of bottled water.*** We fully support the New Jersey Speech & Debate League's initiative to reduce waste at our events. Instead of a single-use plastic bottle, encourage your kids to bring a reusable beverage receptacle. Filtered water stations are placed throughout our school's hallways.

Judges & Head Coaches will receive free breakfast and lunch. Judges & Head Coaches must sign-in to receive their ticket for free lunch.

***The tournament is being hosted by Freehold Township High School, NOT Freehold High School. Please note the address above.***

Novices are 9th or 10th grade students who are in their first year of forensics (regardless of event).

Debate divisions will follow the NSDA guidelines.

Thank you for your time and attention. Any updates to the terms communicated in this invitation will be forthcoming via SpeechWire's email blast technology.

Sincerely,

Anthony Verdoni & Jesse Schild

Freehold Township Speech & Debate Advisors

Email: averdoni@frhsd.com; jschild@frhsd.com

Phone: 201-600-7383‬

We hope to see you in Freehold on January 17th!

Anthony M Verdoni
Email address: anthony.verdoni@gmail.com
Phone number: 201-600-7383