SpeechWire Tournament Services - Forensics Tournament Software

Sponsored by the Apple Valley High School Forensics Team, Parent Boosters, American Legion Post 1776

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: Wednesday, January 29th, 2019 at 5:00pm. After this date and time, drops will be allowed but NOT refunded.

LOCATIONS: All NOVICE events will be held at Falcon Ridge Middle School with the exception of novice extemporaneous speaking, which will be held at Apple Valley High School. All VARSITY events will be held at Apple Valley High School with the exception of varsity discussion, which will be held at Falcon Ridge Middle School. This allows the tournament to accommodate only double or triple entries in events held at the same site. Since extemporaneous speakers often share files, both divisions are in one building. Discussants are not eligible for double entering.

JUDGES: You must provide one judge per six entries in the BUILDING your competitors are entered. For example, if you have 6 entries at Falcon Ridge and 4 entries at AVHS, you will need one judge dedicated to each building. WHEN REGISTERING, CAREFULLY REGISTER YOUR JUDGES FOR THE CORRECT BUILDING'S ENTRIES. THE WEBSITE IS SET-UP TO FACILITATE THIS. IN ADVANCE OF THE TOURNAMENT, PLEASE BE SURE TO TELL YOUR JUDGES TO REPORT TO THE BUILDING YOU SELECTED ACCORDING TO YOUR ENTRY. We will be using online ballots again this year, so please make sure your judges have devices and accounts setup prior to the tournament.

We have a limited number of judges available for hire for a fee of $100.00. Please email luke.ostrander@district196.org if you are in need of a hired judge, and we will try to accommodate your request.

VARSITY means the competitors are in their second, third, fourth year of the activity. NOVICE means first year competitors in the activity.

FEES: All entries except Duo are $7. Duo entries will cost $14. There is a flat school registration fee of $25.00 used to facilitate being in two buildings and the shuttle buses provided. Please make checks payable to Apple Valley AVHS Speech and Debate Alumni Association. Fees are final as of 5:00pm Wednesday, January 29th. After that time, new adds will not be allowed and drops will not lower your total registration fee.

If you have any questions regarding payment, please contact luke.ostrander@district196.org

A fee of $100.00 per uncovered judge on the day of the tournament will be assessed and must be paid the day of the tournament.

CHANGES: If you need to make changes to your registration, please make them directly on Speech Wire until the website is closed down. Please update your changes before making your way to school on the morning of the tournament. As we are doing the schedule on-site, it would help to know of changes sooner versus later.

TOURNAMENT HOTELS: Visit the Hotel Information page to get access to direct links for our two arranged tournament hotels, both of which are under 10 minutes away from AVHS.

CATEGORY RULES AND TIME LIMITS: We will honor both MSHSL and NSDA rules. All thirteen MSHSL speech events will be offered, as well as Program Oral Interpretation (POI) in the Varsity division only! For a copy of MSHSL rules, go to the MSHSL website at www.mshsl.org. As an FYI to out-state schools, at MN invitationals competitors do not need to provide copies of material for verification--while it is stated in the rules, this is only done at the section and state tournament level.

All NSDA events will follow NSDA rules. Please visit the NSDA website at www.speechanddebate.org for rules. Because we are a NIETOC bid tournament, students in both Prose and Drama will receive bids, per the updated qualification rules. Varsity Extemporaneous Speaking finals will include cross-examination. If you have questions about events, please contact us.

NIETOC: As mentioned above, we are a NIETOC bid tournament site. Students competing in Drama, Prose, Duo, Extemporaneous, Humorous, Informative, Original Oratory, and POI have the ability to earn a bid that will get them one step closer to competing at the NIETOC Tournament in Houston, Texas, from May 8th-10th, 2020. For more information visit their official website.

ENTRIES: We have no limits on entries per team, but will go to a waitlist once individual events are capped. We will allow double entering for both varsity and novice, except for discussion competitors - competitors in discussion may only single enter. Novice Extemp Speakers may double enter, but their second event must be the varsity level, due to being at AVHS. Students entered in a draw event may only double enter in a non-draw event; You may not double enter in two draw events and draw event students cannot triple enter.

Only experienced varsity competitors may triple enter and in non-draw events only. Please use caution when triple entering any varsity student. It is important that we stay on schedule.

Extemporaneous Speaking: IX and USX will be mixed, and students will choose which set of questions to draw from in each round. Varsity Extemporaneous Speaking finals will include cross-examination.

Extemporaneous Reading Prose: Students will draw from all chapters in One 1934, and Three June 1940; and the first half of Five January 1941, to Letter to Marie-Laure pg. 258.

Some of the Extemporaneous Reading cuttings MAY include multiple chapters/poems in order to reach a full 7-minute performance.

Storytelling will draw from the MSHSL list of stories 1-10. Students in varsity and novice will draw for all three preliminary rounds and finals. Students cannot repeat a story/draw from their preliminary rounds in finals.

Discussion: The Discussion tasks will be taken from Section I of the MSHSL outline of this year's topic (Top-Down Issues). Tasks will not be posted in advance of the tournament. The discussion outline is available at the MSHSL website.

TOURNAMENT FORMAT: There will be three preliminary rounds and a final round for Novice competitors. We will also be offering semi-finals in the Varsity division! This means we will hold three preliminary rounds, a semi-final round, and a final round for Varsity competitors. We will also hold merit/consolation finals concurrent with the semi-final rounds in Varisty NIETOC events.

FINALS: Students in the Varsity division will have the opportunity to advance to semi-finals finals after the first three preliminary rounds. The top speakers in each semi-final section will advance to a championship final round. The Novice division will not have semi-finals. Novice final rounds will take place during the Varsity semi-final rounds.

AWARDS: Our signature marble apples and ribbons will be awarded to selected finalists and semi-finalists in all events. Team sweepstakes will be based on combined final round rankings in novice and varsity divisions. Five large-entry and one small-entry team sweepstakes will be awarded.

CONCESSIONS: Our concession stands will be available throughout the tournament at both tournament locations. Breakfast items, lunch, and other snacks will be available. Coaches and judges should plan to visit the coaches' lounge for great hospitality.

SATURDAY CHECK-IN: Saturday check-in will occur at the respective schools. Check-in for Varsity (along with Novice Extemp. Speaking) will be at Apple Valley High School from 7:00-7:45 am on Saturday morning, while check-in for Novice (along with Varsity discussion) will be from 7:00-7:45 am on Saturday morning at Falcon Ridge Middle School. Please check the schedule page for more information on each location.

SHUTTLE BUSES: We will only provide shuttle buses from Falcon Ridge Middle School to AVHS for awards at the end of the day. SINCE WE WILL BE HAVING TWO DIFFERENT CHECK-IN SITES, YOU SHOULD HAVE YOUR TRANSPORTATION DROP STUDENTS OFF AT THEIR RESPECTIVE BUILDINGS.

GOLDEN APPLE AWARD: The Golden Apple Award recognizes the outstanding achievement and dedication of an individual in the speech community. This may include a head coach, assistant coach, judge, tab room worker, friend of the speech community, etc. Introduced in 2009, the Speech Golden Apple Award is designed to parallel the Debate Golden Award, which is given out at the Minneapple Debate Tournament in November. The Golden Apple will be awarded at the Minneapple Speech Tournament Awards Ceremony.

Please note which events are at Apple Valley High School and which events are at Falcon Ridge Middle School. All awards will be held at Apple Valley High School.

Luke Ostrander
Email address: luke.ostrander@district196.org
Phone number: 952 290 0790

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