Welcome to our fourth Bethany Christian Middle School Speech Tournament! We are happy to welcome you in-person this year.  

Entries are due by Monday 17 November at 6:00 p.m.  Only name changes and drops will be accepted. All registration will be done on Speechwire.com.  On the day of the tournament, please text last minute drops to me at 5 574.333.1196

Please bring one judge for every five speech entries or fraction thereof (6 entries = 2 judges) for speech, and one judge per two debaters   Extra judges are always welcome.  Please do not enter a judge as "clean" unless he/she knows no one on the team.  Make sure that your judges are familiar with both online balloting through SpeechWire.  All judges will need to have a laptop or an iPad for judging.  Phones are suboptimal. 

A judges' lounge with light refreshments will be provided.  We will offer concessions for students. Please limit the amount of snacks you bring. Concessions sales help support the costs of hosting a tournament. Please do not use food delivery services for this same resason -- adults or students. 

Ribbons will be awarded for first through tenth places. No trophies will be awarded, but top teams will be noted. 

All speech events will have three rounds. 

One on one (LD) debaters will compete for four rounds on November resolution, Resolved: De-extinction is ethical.

World Schools Debate topic will be the November resolution, This house believes that schools should ban the use of electronic educational technology. WSD teams will have two rounds on the prepared topic, one on prop and another on opp, and then an impromptu topic. 

 Note: Debaters may not double-enter. 

All events will follow ISSDA Middle School Event Rules revised as of September 2026. The rules and event guide for this year will be under "Files for Download" on the tournament page. 

Discussion questions: Round one -- How can schools better help students find a work/home balance? Round two -- Is homework really necessary? Round three -- Could schools do away with age-grouping and group students instead by ability levels? 

8:30 a.m. -- Extemp and Broadcasting Prep/First Round debate 

Sweepstakes points will be awarded on the 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. 

Join us on the beautiful south side of Goshen on Saturday 21 November!  

Blessings,

Michael Yeakey

Bethany Christian Director of Speech and Debate

Carrie Lee Bland-Kendal

Bethany Christian Middle School Speech and Debate Coach