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FFL - Novice State

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This is a High School tournament in Florida.

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2018 Florida Forensic League Novice State  
April 14-15, 2018 | Host: Cypress Bay High School 
 
2018 NS DEBATE BALLOTS 
 
On behalf of the Board of Directors, I am pleased to provide the following information regarding the 
2018 NOVICE STATE TOURNAMENT, to be held on SAT., APRIL 14th   & SUN. APRIL 15th on the campus of CYPRESS BAY HIGH SCHOOL in Weston, Florida.  Our host, Aly Fiebrantz  is carefully planning a wonderful experience for your novice students.
 
Please remember that the Novice State Tournament is only open to those member schools that actually competed with at least one student in a Regional Qualifying tournament.  Schools that do not meet the above requirement will be unable to register for the tournament.  Registration will take place via www.speechwire.com 
 
Please read the information in this invitation carefully.  You must adhere to ALL deadlines-failure to do so will result in the penalties listed.  We are committed to running an efficient and on-time event, but we will only be successful if all member schools follow the published requirements.  
 
Good luck to your novices on their preparations for the tournament.  I look forward to seeing you in April!
 
 
Yours very truly,
 
Carol Lynne Cecil
President, Florida Forensic League, Inc.
2018 Novice State Championship Tournament Director
 
*** Email is the preferred method of contact for all questions and concerns ***
 
INFORMATION FROM FLORIDA FORENSIC LEAGUE, INC.
 
SCHOOL ELIGIBILITY
In order to register for this tournament, a school must:
1.  Hold membership in the Florida Forensic League for the 2017-2018 school year, AND
2.  Attend and compete at least one (1) student at the regional qualifying tournament in the region to which the school was assigned.  
 
Any school that registers for Novice State without meeting the above requirements will be notified that its students are ineligible to compete.
 
NOVICE ELIGIBILITY
From the Standing Rules of the Florida Forensic League: RULE 8:  ELIGIBILITY FOR NOVICE STATE COMPETITORS
 
In order to compete at the Novice State Tournament, students must meet all of the following requirements:
1. The student must not have competed at any previous Novice State Tournament.
2. The student must not have competed in more than three tournaments during any previous school year.
3. The student must not have begun the current school year with 25 or more NSDA points 
and, therefore, must not have obtained NSDA membership prior to the current school year.  If NSDA points are not recorded for the student, the Head Coach or Assistant Coach should contact the President to determine the student's eligibility.
 
Please note that a student's novice eligibility is not affected by his/her performance in the 2018 regional qualifying and State Championship tournaments.  In theory, a novice could compete at regionals, qualify to the State Championship Tournament, win a State Championship, and still compete at Novice State!
 
EVENTS & ENTRY LIMITS
This tournament offers competition in the following twelve events:  TD, LD, PF, SC, OO, DEC, MX, HI, DI, DUO, POI, and INF.  Due to a new rule change - an event must have 6 competitors/teams registered for the event to be considered viable.  If an event drops below 6 entries - that event will not be held.  The Executive Board will examine numbers for events on Wednesday, April 4, 2018.  If at that time an event does not have at least 6 entries, then the event will be closed and not held at the 2018 Novice State Tournament.  Double-entry is permitted but only under limited circumstances; see below in the section on double-entry for more information.  Each member school is entitled to a maximum of four (4) entries in each event.  Schools with a membership supplement may bring an additional four (4) entries in each event, but these entries must consist of students in the ninth grade (or grades 6 - 8 if the supplement is for a middle school).   Schools with supplements will have their additional students waitlisted and then cleared by the VP of Operations or the President of the League. 
 
EVENTS MAY FILL BEFORE REGSITRATION CLOSES! 
 
DOUBLE ENTRY
Free double-entry is a membership benefit provided to all member schools.  However, there is no double entry in TD, LD, PF, and Student Congress.  Double entry is permitted in all other combinations of events.  For Novice State, each school is limited to a maximum of five (5) double-entered students.  A supplement school gets an additional five (5) double-entered students, but these entries must consist of students in the ninth grade (or grades 6 - 8 if the supplement is for a middle school) 
 
 
EVENT REMINDERS
The By Laws and Standing Rules of Florida Forensic League, Inc. shall govern the operation of this event. All coaches and students are responsible for reviewing the rules in the Governing Documents. Questions about rules should be addressed to the President, who serves as the Tournament Director for the State Championship.
 
All Events: Laptop Computers 
The use of laptop computers shall be permitted in all debate events at all FFL sanctioned Events Computers equipped with removable wireless cards must have the cards removed/disabled (if possible) before the beginning of any round of competition. It is the responsibility of the contestant to disengage equipment. Computers with built-in wireless capability may be used only if the wireless capability is disabled. It is the responsibility of the contestant to disable the equipment. Wired connections (Ethernet or phone) during rounds of competition are not permitted. During debate rounds computers or other electronic devices may not be used to receive information from any source (coaches or assistants included) inside or outside the room in which the competition occurs. During debate rounds Internet access, use of e-mail, instant messaging, or other means of receiving information from sources inside or outside the competition room are prohibited. (This does not prohibit non-electronic communication between debate partners during prep time). Contestants found to have violated the provisions above may face the following actions: forfeit the round of competition and receive zero points or disqualification from the tournament and forfeiture of all rounds.
 
Availability of Evidence: The FFL will be following the NSDA Rules in regards to evidence in debate events. 
 
 
Extemporaneous Speaking:  
In Extemporaneous Speaking, students can access information on jump drives, which will be screened by a tournament official/extemp prep room proctor. Competitors will be permitted to use the internet at all FFL Sanctioned Tournaments when internet access is publicly available.  Publicly available being defined as - WiFi internet access is available to all students competing or all competitors will have access to desktop computers with internet availability.   In the event that internet access cannot be made available to all competitors, contestants shall be prohibited from the use of any electronic retrieval system (recording or information retrieval system) now known or to be invented during any round in any event at any FFL-sanctioned tournament including the Extemporaneous Speaking preparation room(s), except that electric or electronic devices that are incapable of sending or receiving information between persons may be used for the sole purpose of keeping time. The League will make accommodations for students with disabilities in regards to the use of technology. Documentation of the disability must be provided ten days prior to the Regional Tournament and State Tournaments. The documentation must be available for review by the Executive Board. 
 
Policy Debate:    Prep time is 8 minutes per team. The tournament will use the 2017-2018 National Topic: 
 
Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its funding and/or regulation of elementary and/or secondary education in the United States.
 
Lincoln Douglas: Prep time is 4 minutes per debater. 
 
Resolved: The United States ought to provide a universal basic income.
 
 
Public Forum: Prep time is 2 minutes per team. The Final Focus will be 2 minutes in length per team. 
 
Resolved: The United States federal government should increase its quota of H-1B visas.
 
Student Congress: Each school may submit up to two (2) pieces of legislation for the agenda. Legislation must follow FFL format (see FFL Congress Manual, Appendix B for details) and emailed as a Microsoft Word attachment to Aly Fiebrantz (alyssa.fiebrantz@browardschools.com) Legislation that is not properly formatted, not submitted as a Microsoft Word attachment, sent without a legislator's name attached or not received by the deadline will not be placed on the agenda. Bills are due by 5:00 p.m. Wednesday, March 21, 2018 and legislation will be released to schools via the website on or before Monday, March 26th.  If it is possible to release legislation earlier, we will.  
 
Speech Events:   Please remember that a copy of each student's script and proof of publication when applicable, should be brought to the tournament in case of protest.  You will be required to enter script titles and ISBN information on www.speechwire.com . For Oratories coaches will be required to submit a copy of their students' OO with quoted words highlighted and a works cited page in MLA format.
 
COACH ATTENDANCE RULE
The Head Coach or Assistant Coach of a member school (as designated by the principal on the membership authorization form) qualified for the State Championship must attend with his/her students. If neither designated individual can attend the tournament, then a letter from the principal (signed and printed on school stationery) must designate the adult in charge and be submitted to the Tournament Director no later than Wednesday, April 4th. See the Standing Rules of the League for more information. 
 
 
ENTRY PROCEDURE
1.  SpeechWire  will be used to submit entries, judges, and meals for Novice State.  By rule, only the Head Coach or Assistant Coach of a member school may register for that school.  Entries submitted from accounts opened or maintained by anyone other than a registered coach will be deleted.
 
2.  Entries will be accepted on www.speechwire.com  beginning FRIDAY, MARCH 9th.  From March 9th until Monday, April 16th  at 5:00 pm, schools can add or delete contestants, judges, and meals at will.  The website will automatically reconfigure fees as changes are submitted.  REMEMBER - EVENTS MAY CLOSE BEFORE REGISTRATION CLOSES - IF EVENTS BECOME FULL WE WILL INSTITUTE A WAITLIST - ENTRIES WILL BE CLEARED ONLY IF SPACE BECOMES AVAILABLE
 
3.  Schools with a membership supplement will enter both main and supplement entries as one school on the website.  Failure to follow this procedure will result in deletion of the second school.  Note that the 7th - 10th entries in an event will initially be placed on a waitlist.  
 
4.  Entries will be accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis.  Registration may close prior to the announced deadline if high entry volume causes the host school's facility to reach capacity.
 
5.  At 5:00 pm on Monday, April 9th, 2018 registration will close.  
--No adds will be accepted after this date.  
--Meal orders will also be finalized at this time.  Any school that has not ordered enough 
            meals for all contestants will automatically have additional regular Friday dinners and 
            additional Saturday lunches added to its order.  
--Fees will also be calculated.  Drops after this date will forfeit the entry fee.
 
6.  From 5:00 pm on Monday, April 9, 2018  to noon on Thursday, April 12th, all contestant drops, contestant name changes, and judge changes must be emailed to Carol Cecil (ccecil@dadeschools.net).  Receipt of emailed changes will be acknowledged and the SpeechWire website will be updated to reflect those changes.  Coaches will be able to log in to www.speechwire.com   to view their entry and invoice, but will not be able to make changes themselves.  Please note that changes made after April 9th at 5:00 pm will incur additional penalty fees beyond forfeiture of entry fees.  
 
 
IMPORTANT DATES & DEADLINES
 
Friday, March 09: Entry period begins on www.speechwire.com  
Wed, March 21 @ 5:00 pm: Student Congress legislation deadline; submit bills to Aly Fiebrantz (alyssa.fiebrantz@browardschools.com)
Mon, March 26: Student Congress legislation released on FFL website
Wed, April 04: Last day to submit supervising adult letter
Monday, April 9 @ 5:00 pm: Entry period ends-no adds allowed; drops forfeit entry fee                   
Last Day To Drop Without Penalty Beyond Forfeiture Of Entry Fees Before 5PM
Thursday, April 12 @ 5:00 pm: Forfeit entry fee + $15.00 drop fee
Friday, April 13 @ Noon: Final drop deadline- forfeit entry fee + $30.00 drop fee
 
ENTRY FEES
 
Make All Fees Payable To: FLORIDA FORENSIC LEAGUE
 
DO NOT MAIL FEES IN ADVANCE 
 
Student Fee = $25.00 per student; includes Saturday lunch & Sunday lunch (TD, PF, Duo count as 2)
Extra Sat. Lunch = $ 8.00 per meal; must order for all  
coaches/judges/parents/student observers
Extra Sun. Lunch = $ 7.00 per meal; must order for all 
coaches/judges/parents/student observers
 
While conducting meal audit, meals may be adjusted by tournament personnel to reflect meals for all coaches, judges, parents, observers in attendance - even if the aforementioned parties are not listed in the judge pool.
 
PENALTY FEES
Drops 5:00 pm Mon., April 9 to 5:00 pm Thurs., April 12: forfeit entry fee
Drops 5:00 pm Thurs., April 12 to Noon on Fri., April 13: forfeit entry fee + $15.00 drop fee
Drop after Noon on Fri., April 13 or at registration: forfeit entry fee + $30.00 drop fee
Unreported drop discovered at tournament: forfeit entry fee + $50.00 drop fee
Yes, these drop fees are punitive.  Drops, especially those just before the tournament, interfere with our ability to run an on-time event.    
Judge changes after 5:00 pm on Mon., April 9: $10.00 hassle fee per change
Failure to bring written documentation of a 
student judge's 250+ NSDA points to registration: $10.00 hassle fee per student judge
Missed judge calls: $10.00 per instance
 
NSDA Points Qualifications May Also Be Emailed To Carol Cecil - ccecil@dadeschools.net 
 
 
DEBATE JUDGE CHANGE FEES
 
Tournament Operations may offer strikes.  When offering strikes in debate events maintaining the integrity of the published strike sheet is of utmost importance. In the event that a school changes or drops a judge after the strike sheet for debate has been published, the school making the change shall be required to pay a "Hired Judge" Fee of $200.  
 
JUDGES
 
This is a tournament where Juniors and Seniors with a minimum of 250 NSDA points are permitted to judge.  You may provide proof of NSDA points in one of two ways:  1) Submit NSDA Points via email to Carol Cecil - ccecil@dadeschools.net by Friday, April 6, 2018    2) Bring a copy of the NSDA Points to registration.  Please only bring enough judges to cover your obligations.  
 
 
The following judge quotas and requirements are in effect:
 
Policy Debate: 1 judge for every 2 teams or fraction thereof 
 
Lincoln Douglas Debate: 1 judge for every 2 debaters or fraction thereof
 
Public Forum Debate: 1 judge for every 2 teams or fraction thereof 
 
Speech/IE/Congress 1 judge for every 5 entries or fraction thereof
 
Each school's judge quota will be determined on the www.speechwire.com  registration website. The Board of Directors asks that all coaches make themselves available to adjudicate the Final Rounds.
 
NOTE: As a result of the 2006 voting, the governing documents now contain this under Rule 4 (Judging Responsibilities) - Letter L: Any coach in or out of the judge pool that refuses or fails to pick up an elimination round ballot, his/her school shall be fined $50.00 and the school of the person who judges the round shall be credited $25.00.
 
 
CONDUCT OF PARTICIPANTS
Coaches, judges, other observing adults, contestants, and student observers shall comply with the rules set forth in the FFL Civility Code, which is available for download at www.floridaforensics.org  Please review this document with all participants from your school.
 
 
FFL PROPERTY PROTECTION POLICIES
In the fall of 2005, FFL member schools voted to establish anti-vandalism measures. All coaches should read Standing Rule 19 and share its contents with their students, which include:
1. No contestant or student observer shall enter or remain in a contest room without a judge present. The penalty for violation of this regulation shall be immediate disqualification.
2. Vandalism of property by any person at an FFL tournament shall result in immediate notification of school and/or local police authorities. The Board of Directors shall notify the principal of the school associated with the vandal(s) in writing and insist upon appropriate remuneration. In the case of vandalism by a contestant, the additional penalty of immediate disqualification from the tournament shall also apply.
 
THERE WILL BE NO E-REGISTRATION FOR NOVICE STATE - SCHOOLS MUST REGISTER IN PERSON ON SATURDAY AM - 4/14/18 - AT CYPRESS BAY HS
 
 
FINAL REGISTRATION
Final registration will be held at the Cypress Bay HS - on Saturday, April 14, 2018.   Registration will begin at 7:30 AM and close promptly at 8:30 AM. Please note:
 
1. The purpose of this registration is to make final payment (unless fees were mailed in advance) and pick-up school codes and meal tickets.   It is not a place to report drops and change judge names. 
2. Registration should be conducted by the Head Coach or Assistant Coach for the member school. If those individuals are not available, an adult proxy may complete registration. However, that person must be able to answer all questions about a school's entry. Students will not be permitted to register for a school or be present in the registration area.
3. Schools not registered by 8:30 AM will be dropped from the tournament
4. Make all fees payable to FLORIDA FORENSIC LEAGUE.
 
 
SPRING MEETING
The FFL will return to the format of hosting a Spring Meeting at the conclusion of registration for the Novice State Tournament.  We were very happy to see so many coaches participate at our Spring Meeting held during the Novice State Tournament last year.  The Board of Directors feels that by conducting the meeting at the conclusion of registration, we will be able allow more time for everyone's concerns to be voiced.  
 
 
***PLEASE SEE THE FFL MANUAL FOR INFORMATION ON HOW ROUNDS ARE PAIRED/POWERED/SECTIONED. THE TOURNAMENT WILL FOLLOW THE RULES IN THE MANUAL.
 
 
TOURNAMENT MEALS
The host school will serve a LUNCH ON SATURDAY and LUNCH ON SUNDAY. By rule, student dinner and lunch fees are included in the cost of entry. You must order extra meals for all coaches, judges, parents, observers, etc. While conducting meal audit, meals may be adjusted by tournament personnel to reflect meals for all coaches, judges, parents, observers in attendance - even if the aforementioned parties are not listed in the judge pool.
 
 

Manager contact information

Carol Cecil
Email address: ccecil@dadeschools.net
Phone number: (954) 790-8160

Mailing address

None provided

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