This page contains important information for all teams, students, coaches, judges, parents/guardians, observers and other attendees. Please review this information carefully before the tournament.
If there are not enough entries to create a separate novice grouping in a particular event, novice entires will automatically be combined with the High School Division.
For this tournament, a high school student is considered a novice only if the student has not previously competed in a speech and debate tournament, whether FCDI or otherwise, during the 2026-2027 school year.
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If tournament-specific information published on this SpeechWire page differs from information contained in the 2025-2026 FCDI Handbook, the tournament-specific information published on this page will control for the FCDI Online A Qualifier.
All particpants at an FCDI tournament are expected to read and follow the applicable FCDI Handbook and Code of Conduct. This includes students, coaches, judges, parents/guardians, observers, and other attendees.
Coaches are responsible for knowing and communicating FCDI rules, procedures, and expectations to their students, judges, and other members of their delegation. Coaches should ensure that students understand both the tournament rules and the rules governing their individual events before competition begins.
FCDI tournaments operate under FCDI rules. FCDI does not utilize the rules of another speech and debate league unless specifically stated by FCDI.
TOPICS
Topic areas for Extemporaneous Debate, Extemporaneous Speaking, and Impromptu Speaking will be posted on SpeechWire and the FCDI website no later than 10 days before the tournament.
Topic areas are:
-Extemporaneous Speaking: social media/internet, foreign policy, healthcare, and education.
-Impromptu Speaking: historical turning points, careers in public service, US presidents, and leadership characteristics
-Extemporaneous Debate: housing, common phrase, economy, social media.
REGISTRATION
Registration Deadline
Registration for this tournament closes Friday, September 11, 2026, at 11:59 PM ET.
All required registration steps must be completed by the deadline.
For regional and online qualifier tournaments, registration generally closes at 11:59 PM on the Friday one week before the tournament, eight days before the tournament date, unless otherwise specified.
Registration Requirements
Teams must complete registration through both the FCDI website and SpeechWire.
Registration through the FCDI website generally applies for the duration of the school year. Students and judges must also be entered into SpeechWire for each individual tournament.
1. Complete FCDI Registration
Step 1: Register your team.
Ensure that your team registration is complete on the FCDI website.
Step 2: Register your coach(es).
Only coaches of record, meaning individuals entered as the head coach or assistant coach through FCDI coach registration, may satisfy the coach attendance requirement.
A coach of record or an approved proxy coach must be present throughout the tournament to supervise the team.
Step 3: Register your students.
All participating students must be listed on the team's FCDI student roster by the tournament registration deadline.
This is also where teams submit required Code of Conduct acknowledgements, media releases, and any required prepared speech scripts.
Students should only be entered into the FCDI student roster once per school year.
2. Complete SpeechWire Registration
Teams must also:
• Register students in the appropriate events and divisions.
• Register enough judges to satisfy the team's judge obligation by the tournament registration deadline.
• Ensure judges have access to their SpeechWire accounts.
Judges may be changed after the registration deadline when necessary, provided the team's judge obligation continues to be met and all replacement judges satisfy FCDI training requirements.
PROXY COACHES
FCDI requires a coach of record to attend each tournament. If the head coach or assistant coach of record cannot attend, the head coach may request approval of a proxy coach for that tournament.
Schools requesting a proxy coach must submit a letter on official school letterhead from the principal confirming that the proxy coach is authorized to supervise students at the specified tournament.
The letter must include:
• Tournament name
• Tournament date
• Tournament location
• Name of the proposed proxy coach
Requests must be submitted to FCDI@fldoe.org by the tournament registration deadline.
Independent teams must notify FCDI of any proxy coach and provide parent/guardian permission for each participating student.
REGISTRATION CHECKLIST
Before the deadline, confirm that:
• All students are registered on the FCDI student roster.
• All students are registered for their tournament events in SpeechWire.
• All judges are registered in SpeechWire.
• The team and its coaches are properly registered with FCDI.
• A proxy coach has been approved, if applicable.
JUDGE OBLIGATION
Meeting the judge obligation is a requirement for participation.
A team's judge obligation is based on the number and type of student entries registered for the tournament.
Having the proper number of judges is essential to keeping the tournament on schedule and ensuring a fair competition experience for all students.
Judge Obligation Guidelines
• Extemporaneous Debate: 1 judge for every 2 debate entries, or portion thereof.
• Extemporaneous Speaking and Impromptu Speaking: 1 judge for every 5 speech entries, or portion thereof.
• Speech and debate judge obligations cannot be combined.
• Judges must be entered into SpeechWire by the registration deadline.
What Does "Portion Thereof" Mean?
Always round up to the next whole judge.
For example:
• 3 debate entries require 2 debate judges.
• 6 speech entries require 2 speech judges.
• A team with both of the above would therefore owe 4 judges total.
Coaches should also notify judges which judging pool they have been entered into, as the pool determines which events they may be assigned to judge.
Judges must be available for the full duration of the tournament, including at online tournaments. They must be prepared to judge before the tournament begins.
It is the affirmative responsibility of the coach to ensure that all non-student judges are approved as vetted volunteers through the applicable school district volunteer system and that all district and school requirements are followed.
STUDENT JUDGES
Students in grades 11 and 12 who have at least two years of active high school speech and debate competition experience may judge Middle School Division rounds at regional and online qualifiers.
Student judges:
• May only count toward the judge obligation for middle school entries.
• May be eligible to receive Bright Futures volunteer hours for competing in and judging FCDI tournaments.
BALLOTS
Judges will submit ballots through live.speechwire.com for each assigned round.
Judges' scores, rankings, and decisions determine tournament results and are final.
Scores, ranks, and decisions must be submitted within five minutes of the conclusion of the round.
Written comments and Reasons for Decision may be completed after the round and submitted until 11:59 PM ET on the day of the tournament.
ONLINE TOURNAMENT EXPECTATIONS
FCDI online tournaments are conducted through Zoom and should be treated with the same level of professionalism and preparation as an in-person tournament.
Online tournaments are not informal events. Students, coaches, and judges are expected to participate for the full duration of the tournament.
Anyone registered for an online tournament must:
• Understand how to participate in an FCDI online tournament.
• Have reliable access to the required technology.
• Have a functioning camera and microphone.
• Have a reliable internet connection.
• Be available for the full tournament.
Applicable withdrawal and drop fees will be strictly enforced.
BEFORE TOURNAMENT DAY
Students, judges, and coaches should:
• Review the online tournament rules and procedures contained in the 2025–2026 FCDI Handbook, which participants should use for this tournament while the 2026–2027 edition is pending.
• Test their camera, microphone, and internet connection.
• Download and test the latest version of Zoom.
• Identify a quiet, professional, and distraction-free space from which to participate.
• Keep SpeechWire and the tournament schematics page open throughout the tournament.
• Monitor tournament schematics and round notifications for Zoom breakout room assignments.
• Silence notifications from unrelated applications and services.
• Close other applications that may be using the camera or microphone.
• Disable filters and virtual backgrounds.
TOURNAMENT CONTACTS
Contact the FCDI
Kendall Lindsay
FCDI Program Manager
kendall.lindsay@fldoe.org
850-245-0504
Contact the Florida Debate Initiative
David Fechtel
Tournament Operations and Data Manager
dfechtel@floridadebate.org
813-295-4079
Abraham López
President, Florida Debate Initiative
info@floridadebate.org
321-800-9481
