SpeechWire Tournament Services - Forensics Tournament Software

Happy New Year! As you return to school from a (hopefully) restful holiday break, it’s time to plan your entry for the 2019 Florida Forensic League Art Deco Region Qualifying Tournament! This event will be held at Ransom Everglades Middle School (2045 South Bayshore Drive - entrance on Tigertail) on Saturday, February 2, 2019. This tournament is the gateway into participation in FFL activities for the remainder of the year. The top 7 entries in each event will qualify to compete at the State Championship tournament, which will be held on March 2nd and 3rd at West Broward, FL. Whether or not your students qualify to the State Championship, participation at the Regional Tournament will allow your school to enter the Novice State Tournament in April.

1. If your school fails to enter the Regional Tournament, it forfeits the opportunity to attend Novice State and participate in Coach of the Year voting.

2. The number of qualifiers in each event is based on the number of schools that participate in the previous year’s Regional Tournament. Thus, it is imperative that every member school in the region send at least one student to compete at the qualifying tournament. If only a few schools in our region fail to participate, we could lose qualifying spots in 2020!

3. Every student you enter into the Regional Qualifying Tournament must be available to compete at the State Championship Tournament if he/she qualifies. There are substantial financial penalties for dropping from the State Tournament. Thus, you should make sure that every student from your school who wants to enter this tournament is available to compete on March 2nd and 3rd.

4. First-year students are welcome to attend the Regional Tournament and are eligible to qualify for the State Championship. They WILL NOT lose their eligibility to compete at Novice State. In theory, a novice could win the State Championship and still compete at Novice State the following month! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We look forward to seeing you on the 2nd of February at Ransom Everglades Middle School campus!

--Entries, Fees, Drops, Rules, Legislation: Tournament Director – Kate Hamm, khamm@ransomeverglades.org

***If you are entering Student Congress, you must submit at least one bill/resolution for the agenda. You may send as many items of legislation as students who are entering. Please send bills as a Word attachment and make sure they are in FFL format (see Student Congress manual) to Kate Hamm –

Only schools that are members of the league for 2018-2019 school year may participate at this tournament. Also, please remember that a school-approved adult must accompany students to the tournament and remain on site for the entire competition. If the school-approved adult is NOT the Head Coach or Assistant Coach on record with the league, then a letter signed by the school principal and printed on school stationery MUST be submitted with the school’s entry. The letter needs to specifically name the adult in charge. The penalty for failing to submit this document is disqualification of all contestants from the school involved.

Double entry and double qualification is permitted, except in Policy Debate, Lincoln Douglas Debate, Public Forum Debate, and Student Congress. Also, cross-entry between U.S. Extemp and International Extemp is prohibited as well .

Electronic Devices are permitted in debate, but students MAY use the Internet. The use of Internet in extemp prep is at the discretion of the Regional Director. If Internet in extemp prep is prohibited, any student found accessing the Internet during rounds or in the extemp prep room may be disqualified.

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.

Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially reduce its restrictions on legal immigration to the United States.

Resolved: The United States ought not provide military aid to authoritarian regimes.

--Student Congress will follow the FFL Congress Manual. Entries will determine the number of chambers; if there are two or more chambers, there will be a Super Congress. All schools must submit legislation (see ENTRY PROCESS above). Legislation will be available on the Speechwire website January 22, 5:00 PM.

--Extemporaneous Speaking Events will use topics that will be posted on SpeechWire

1. There is a 30-second grace period in these events. A contestant who goes beyond the grace period may not be ranked first in that round.

2. All contestants must have a copy of their piece/oration available for review by tournament officials. Failure to present a copy of the applicable document and evidence of publication will result in disqualification.

3. The name of each contestant’s piece/oration must be entered on Speechwire.com

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 from the tournament.

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.

Reviewing the following documents in advance of the tournament will help to ensure that your students comply with all FFL rules and regulations. Questions regarding these rules should be addressed to the Tournament Director.

You should review the general tournament rules with your students; it is strongly recommended that you ALSO print a copy of the event-specific rules and give them to your students so that they can make sure they are in compliance.

This document prescribes rules of behavior that are generally observed by all contestants and adults at forensic contests. If you have inexperienced contestants and/or judges, you should give them a copy of this document.

You should give a copy of this document to each of your contestants in Student Congress.

4. Ballots for debate events, speech master ballots, speech contestant critique sheets, and protest forms are also available for download from the above web page.

--Speech/IE, Including Congress: One judge for every five entries or fraction thereof. Each

The Tournament Director reserves the right to disqualify students from any school that is unable to meet its judging quota.

Each Contestant: $20.00 ($7 for FFL; $3 for regional expenses; $10 for lunch and hospitality costs)

This is a “per student” entry fee; thus events with 2 people per entry pay 2 fees; THERE IS NO ADDITIONAL FEE FOR DOUBLE ENTRY

Coach, Judge, Adult Lunches: $7.00 each (purchase for all coaches, judges, observers, etc.)

Make your check payable to Ransom Everglades School. Fees are due at registration; no exceptions!

Final Registration: 7:30 am – 8:00 am. Any school not registered at 8:00 am will be eliminated from competition. Round One will begin shortly after 8:00 am. The format for each event will depend on the number of entries received. The Tournament Director will publish the number of preliminary and elimination rounds (if any) along with any power-matching schemes at final registration.

Parking is VERY limited at the middle school. There is some parking in the front, some at Kennedy Park, and some at the Montgomery Lot just north of the school (guard at gate will give instructions).

Contestant meals are included in the cost of entry. Additional meals for coaches, judges, parents, observers, etc. are $7.00 each and must be ordered on speechwire.com as well

The tournament will be “closed campus.” Any contestant found leaving campus is subject to disqualification.

Kate Hamm
Email address: khamm@ransomeverglades.org
Phone number: 9549011276

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