PBCFL #2

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General information

This is a High School tournament in Florida.

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Palm Beach Catholic Forensic League Tournament Invitation

PBCFL #2

DATE: Saturday, October 10 @ Olympic Heights Community High School, 20101 Lyons Road, Boca Raton FL 33434

TOURNAMENT GUIDELINES:

• This is a varsity-novice tournament.
• Any student, varsity or novice, will be allowed to compete in Dramatic Performance, Duo Interpretation, Extemporaneous, Informative Speaking, Impromptu Speaking, Oral Interpretation (Novices Only), Original Oratory, Program Oral Interpretation, Prose Reading, Poetry Reading, Lincoln Douglas, Public Forum, Congressional Debate, and World Schools Debate (pending enough entries).
• There are separate divisions for novices in Novice Extemporaneous Speaking, Novice Oral Interpretation, Novice Congressional Debate, Novice Duo Interpretation, and Novice Oral Interpretation
• A "novice" is considered any student who is in their first year of high school debate competition.
• Students may double-enter in two speech/interp events. Students in Congress, Extemp, LD, PFD, and WSD are not allowed to double enter
• LD will be able to compete using the September-October topic.
• PFD will be able to compete using the September-October topic.
• The WSD prepared motion is listed below.
• Legislation will be posted as full-text on the PBCFL website (www.pbcfl.net) and on Speechwire. Remember, we are using the legislation designated for October. Do not use bills from any other month
• NEW COACHES (first- and second-year in particular) should plan on judging (choose an event group!).

ENTRY PROCEDURES and REGISTRATION INFORMATION:

• You may register 8 entries/teams in each varsity event, except for Congressional Debate (20 entries), and World Schools Debate (2 entries).
• You may enter 12 entries/teams in each novice event, except for Congressional Debate (20 entries).
• All entries will be waitlisted. Entries will be cleared based on room availability.
• No changes will be made after the Monday 3 p.m. drop deadline ... please plan accordingly.
• Double-check your registration. No student will be added to the tournament on the morning of the tournament.

PREPARATIONS BEFORE THE TOURNAMENT:

• Assign the sponsorship speech to one person from your school in each chamber.
• Because full-text legislation will be on-line, it is each school's responsibility to access legislation in advance.
• DOUBLE-CHECK your entries. If a student is not listed on your registration, or is listed in the wrong event or experience status, they will NOT be added or changed on the morning of the tournament.
• Make sure you tell us who your student judges are (juniors or seniors with 150+ NSDA points) when registering them - include info in the notes section.
• Make sure all your students have signed a behavior/attire contract.

REGISTRATION ON SATURDAY:

• Extemp Draw for Round 1 is at 7:45 a.m.
• Students/programs that are late may be dropped from the tournament by league officers.
• Check your registration carefully; there will be a "hidden drop fee" for any drop that is not reported at registration.
• Refer to the chamber breakdown list in order to make sure all competitors know where to report.
• Make sure all judges check their email and text messages for ballot assignments.

RULE REMINDERS:

• No student member shall use an original oration, a non-original oration, or a selection of poetry, prose, or drama during a given league season which has been used by such student in any tournament of a previous season(s).
• No school shall substitute a non-registered competitor in the place of a registered competitor on the day of competition. This includes “event-shifting.”
• No varsity member(s) may compete in a novice event unless specified by tournament rules (collapsing of a novice and varsity division). Violation of this shall be punishable by disqualification from the tournament.
• POI and OI must have different pieces - you cannot do the same prose or poetry in both events (you will be subject to disqualification).
• SPEECH COMPETITORS: Students who are in Speech events CANNOT wear airpods, headphones, etc. when performing
• ORAL INTERPRETATION and POI: While there’s no rule governing binders, they should be the smaller 5x8.5” black binders. Students should also use plastic sheet covers for their pages to reduce distracting page turn sounds during performances.

JUDGE QUOTAS:

• CONGRESS: 1 judge per every 5 entries or fraction thereof
• SPEECH/INTERP: 1 judge for every combination of 5 entries or fraction thereof
• DEBATE (PF and LD): 1 judge for every 2 entries or fraction thereof
• WORLD SCHOOLS DEBATE: 1 judge for every 2 entries or fraction thereof
• Register ALL judges on Speechwire.
• Make sure you distinguish any student judge when registering on Speechwire by informing us in the "notes" section. Students may only judge novice-specific events.
• PLEASE ENTER YOUR JUDGE EMAIL ADDRESSES INTO SPEECHWIRE (they all need to have an individual Speechwire account to access and submit electronic ballots). Teams are liable for missing judge fees if the email addresses are improperly entered into Speechwire and judges miss rounds.

JUDGE TRAINING WORKSHOP (if offered):

Judge Trainee Workshop participants do NOT need to be regisatered in advance. However, you do need to order lunches for them.

JUDGES ENTERED FOR THE JUDGE TRAINING WORKSHOP DO NOT COUNT TOWARD A SCHOOL'S REQUIRE JUDGE COUNT. YOU MUST ENTER TRAINED JUDGES TO MEET YOUR QUOTA!

ENTRY FEES:

Each school's PBCFL membership fees ($75) and league registration form must have been received by the PBCFL Treasurer by the Tuesday before the tournament, in order to compete at the tournament. Schools that do not achieve both of these will be ineligible to compete, and any registered students and judges will be dropped from the tournament.

$20 per student (includes meals)

MEALS:

$10 for adult meals. Coaches must order meals for all entries, adult judges, judge trainees, and coaches.

STUDENT LUNCHES: Pizza (Cheese or Pepperoni)

ADULT LUNCHES: Adult Buffet

DROP FEES:

Friday, October 2, at 3 p.m. is the deadline for registering students.

Monday, October 5, at 3 p.m. is the last opportunity to drop students before the website shuts down. At this time, schools are responsible for the $10 registration fee, the $10 lunch fee, and a $10 drop fee ($30 total per student).

Any drops after Wednesday, October 7th at 3 p.m. will incur a $40 drop fee (the forfeited $20 entry fee + $20) will incur a $10 Nuisance Fee

Any event changes (moving one already registered student from one event to another) after Wednesday, October 7th at 3 p.m. 

$100 - judge drop fee for any no-show judge on Saturday morning. In addition, you will be required to drop students until the team meets the judge quota.

$50 - missed judge rounds (hidden judges).

TOPICS:

Extemporaneous Speaking Topic Areas: US Politics, US Economics, Asia, and Europe.

Impromptu Speaking Topic Areas: Song Lyrics, American Author Quotes, Superheroes, Social Issues

Lincoln Douglas Debate: We are using the September/October 2025 NSDA topic - Resolved: Outer space colonization is a moral imperative.

Public Forum Debate: We are using the September/October 2025 NSDA topic - Resolved: The United States federal government should enact a moratorium on hyperscale data center construction.

CONGRESS-SPECIFIC INFORMATION:

NEW: Chambers will be randomized; schools may no longer designate specific students from their program to be in chambers together.

ACTIVE LEGISLATION:

Legislation should be up and running through the PBCFL web site (www.pbcfl.net) and on Speechwire. 

All chambers will set an agenda on the day of the tournament.

CHAMBER REMINDERS:

Direct Questioning is required as part of chamber proceedings.

Extending the questioning period is not allowed, nor are two-part questions.

All authorship/sponsorship and first-negative speeches have a mandatory two-minute questioning period. All other speeches have a mandatory one-minute questioning period.

Each legislative item must go through at least one complete cycle (three speeches).

Recency resets for Session 2.

Recesses are allowed under PBCFL rules, with a maximum of 10 minutes of recess per session.

At least 2 hours of debate must take place each session. Recess time is included in this total. The 2 hours begins once the first speech of a session begins.

There is 30 minutes prior to the morning session that should be used for electing presiding officers, setting dockets, etc.

"MODIFIED" WORLD SCHOOLS DEBATE (WSD):

World Schools Debate is a three-on-three format. While a given team may consist of five members, only three students from a team participate in a given debate. Teams are assigned one of two sides in each round - either the “government team” proposing the motion, or the opposition team advocating the rejection of the motion. Resolutions come in two types: prepared motions and impromptu motions. All topics needed to be debated from a global perspective, meaning teams needed to stay away from United States-specific argumentation.

The PBCFL will be running a modified WSD format. The first two rounds will be a prepared motion, where each team will debate both the proposition and opposition sides. The third round will be an impromptu motion, with 60 minutes of "prep" time before the round. No internet access is allowed during World Schools Debate rounds or during prep on impromptu motions; the only tools that can be used during impromptu prep are a hard-copy dictionary and a hard-copy almanac.

The PBCFL will allow three-person non-hybrid teams. Normally, between 3-5 students from multiple schools can comprise a team, but for purposes of the PBCFL, this will not be the case.

THE OCTOBER WORLD SCHOOLS DEBATE PREPARED MOTION: TBA

Times for each speech are as follows:

• Proposition Team Speaker #1 – 8 minutes
• Opposition Team Speaker #1 – 8 minutes
• Proposition Team Speaker #2 – 8 minutes
• Opposition Team Speaker #2 – 8 minutes
• Proposition Team Speaker #3 – 8 minutes
• Opposition Team Speaker #3 – 8 minutes
• Opposition Rebuttal – 4 minutes
• Proposition Rebuttal – 4 minutes

The first full minute of a substantive speech and the last full minute of a substantive speech are considered "protected time;" no Points of Information (POIs) may be given during this time. In addition, no POIs may be given during the rebuttal speeches.

DEMO VIDEO - THE USA DEBATE TEAM SHOWCASE (Motion: This House Believes That the School Choice Movement Jeopardizes Civil Rights): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUF5BI1-1Ek

Manager contact information

TRACI LOWE
Email address: traci.lowe@palmbeachschools.org
Phone number: 561-889-3649

Mailing address

c/o Paul Gaba
21636 Juego Circle #22 E
Boca Raton, FL 33433