Welcome to St. Thomas More High School's Cougar Classic

Dear Coaches and Competitors,

On behalf of the faculty, staff, parents, and Speech and Debate members at St. Thomas More, I would like to formally invite you to the 38th Annual Cougar Classic. We look forward to hosting an amazing tournament for all of you. 

We ask that an official representative of your school attend registration. 

 All events will be governed by the Louisiana High School Speech League guidelines with the addition of a thirty-second grace period in Individual Events, Duet Acting, and Duo.  Consult your manual for further instructions. 

JUDGES

Please submit your list of qualified judges prior to the start of the tournament.  Each school is required to have judges to meet the following quota: 

Individual Events - one judge for every seven entries

Duet & Duo - one judge for every five teams

Debate - one judge for every three entries

 ENTRY FEES

Fees will be $12.00 for each duet or duo entry or policy or public forum debate team and $6.00 for each individual event entry and LD debate entry.  Registration deadline can be found on the website.

ENTRIES 

A student may only enter up to 3 I.E.'s.  A student may enter Duo and/or Duet, or Cross Examination Debate or Lincoln Douglas Debate or Public Form and/ or IE’s.  A student may not enter both debate and duet or duo. Tournament will be cumulative.

EVENTS

All events will be conducted in compliance with the Louisiana High School Speech League.  Jr Duo will be performed with binders. Senior Duo will be Interp.

Speech Events labled as Junior are reserved for students who are in the 10th grade or lower.

Speech Events labled as Senior are open to any student.

Declamation is for students in the 10th grade or lower.

THE DEBATE TOURNAMENT

DIVISIONS

            Advanced Policy Debate (open to all levels of experience)

            Novice Policy Debate (open to first-year debaters)

            Advanced Lincoln-Douglas (open to all levels of experience)

            Novice Lincoln-Douglas (open to first-year debaters)

            Public Forum Debate (open to all levels of experience)

            PUBLIC FORUM WILL NOT FLIP FOR SIDES

SPEECH TIMES:

Policy debates will follow the 8-3-5 format with eight minutes of prep time.

Lincoln-Douglas debates will follow the 6-3-7-3-4-6-3 format with four minutes of prep time. 

RULES

1. Smoking is prohibited by anyone in the buildings or on the surrounding campus.  If anyone is caught smoking, drinking alcohol, or possessing illegal drugs, he or she will be disqualified from the tournament and his/her principal will be notified.

2. If anyone damages property in any way, that student will be disqualified from the tournament and required to pay for the

3. No student is allowed in a room without a judge present.  

4. No one is permitted in areas of the school that are rendered off limits.

5. Food is not allowed in the classrooms.  This includes judges.

HOTEL INFORMATION

§  Candlewood Suites  - 2105 Kaliste Saloom 3379846900

§  Tru by Hilton  - 1310 Camellia Blvd 3375340844

§  Springhill Suites by Marriott - 321 Settlers Trace Blvd 3379815512

§  Home2 Suites by Hilton - 1909 Kaliste Saloom Rd 3377068610

§  Courtyard by Marriott - 200 Frem Boustany Dr 3373454450

SPECIAL AWARDS

§  Forensics - must be in two forensic Individual Events (oratory, declamation, extemp, impromptu, congress) and debate

§  Performing Arts -must be in two performance Individual Events (dramatic, humorous, oral interp) and duo or duet

§  Renaissance - must be in a combination of the previous two awards, minimum of two individual events and duet/duo or debate

TABULATION

This will be a cumulative tournament for Individual Events, Duet, and Duo.  Seven ballot ranks will be combined to determine the final rankings in each event. 

We are planning to offer two preliminary rounds of all individual events.  However, we reserve the right to hold a quarter-final round in place of round two on Friday evening if more than twenty-eight participants are entered in an event.

We look forward to seeing everyone!

Megan Broussard, Head Coach

megan.broussard@stmcougars.net

337-316-1281