Corona Virus Protocols for State Quals

2020 GGSA IE State Qualification Tournament at James Logan High School

GGSA Member Schools,

On Sunday, March 8, 2020, the Golden Gate Speech Association will be hosting its Individual Events State Qualifying Tournament at James Logan High School, 1800 H Street, Union City, CA. The qualifying tournament for debate will be held March 7-8, 2020 with registration on tabroom.com.

This tournament is only open to GGSA member schools that have paid their 2018-19 GGSA and CHSSA dues. Please note that your school's CHSSA dues must be paid no later than Saturday, February 15, 2020 in order to be eligible to compete at this tournament. Please reach out to our Area Chair, Chris Harris, for assistance. Coaches are responsible for ensuring their competitors are familiar with and follow the CHSSA Rules for Speech, which may be different from NSDA or invitationals. Please review the GGSA By-Laws for Individual Events. Coaches should email Justin Kurup with questions.

Event & Registration Information

The tournament will offer students the opportunity to qualify to the CHSSA State Championship Tournament in Individual Events:

• Original Events include: Original Oratory, Expository, Original Advocacy, Original Prose and Poetry
• Interpretive Events include: Humorous, Dramatic, Program Oral, (formerly Thematic Interpretation), Duo, and Oratorical Interp
• Limited Preparation Events include: National Extemp, International Extemp, and Impromptu
• The tournament will offer 9 bids in HI and Duo; 8 bids in NX, IX. Imp, OO, OA, Expos, DI, and POI; 7 bids in OPP; and 6 bids in OI.
• Students may double-enter at their own risk, but must submit the signed single entry letter of intent (see download link on right) at tournament registration. Per our bylaws, students who qualify in Duo Interp must compete at State in Duo unless both partners qualify in another event and indicate that preference on their letter of intent.
• Any student who misses a round due to double-entry will be given a 5 in that round. Students may not triple-enter.
• Impromptu exception to double entry rule: Students at the IE qualifier who enter in impromptu as a second event, must have competed in varsity impromptu at least once during the current school year at a GGSA preliminary tournament. Students for whom impromptu is their only event may enter without having competed in that event during the year.
• Extemporaneous exception to double entry rule: Students may choose one extemp event to enter. Do not double enter in both IX and NX. Students are permitted to double enter in extemp and another event.
• There will be three preliminary rounds and a semi-final round. For 2020, given the number of available bids in each event, we will advance 14 students to semi-finals in every event. The top 6-9 students, depending on event, will receive bids for State. For more details, see our league bylaws.
• Entry fees are $22 per event, $32 per Duo team.
• Please email Kimberly Fradelis before the tournament if any participants (including judges) have special needs, as we want to create an inclusive environment with access for all.
• In addition to the judging requirement, each team must bring one adult, usually and preferably the coach, to assist with the running of the tournament. Tournament directors will communicate many assignments in advance, but all coaches are asked to pitch-in on the day. Head coaches should not be in the judge pool and need to be in attendance for this important tournament.
• This tournament has unique registration requirements. All cover sheets and scripts are due by Friday, February 14, 2020. Drops made by Friday, February 28, 2020 will be credited 50% of the entry fee for those drops. No credits will be issued for drops made after 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 4, 2020. Students who qualify in a debate event on Saturday, March 7, 2020, will have their drop fees waived. Coaches must notify Kimberly Fradelis in the tab room before you leave so we can panel Round 1 before we leave for the night. Drops in the morning will incur the drop fee. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE MORNING TO PROVIDE DROPS. Have all students registered for the events they want to compete in by February 14, 2020. Do not change names after this deadline. This is not a tournament where you are “claiming a spot” for your entry. This is entirely based on the individual student. Again, students must be entered in the tournament by the deadline.

SCRIPT SUBMISSION AND REVIEW

• For all scripted events (everything other than impromptu and extemp), scripts with COMPLETED CHSSA cover sheets must be submitted electronically using the form on this website by the entry deadline, Friday, February 14, 2020. The link is located at the top of the registration page.
• Warning: Incomplete or illegal scripts may lead to disqualification, so please make every effort to submit only complete and legal scripts. After reviewing the information on this website (see tab above), contact IE co-Director Justin Kurup with any questions.

TOURNAMENT LOGISTICS

• Coaches, check in with the tab room by 8:00 a.m.
• Extemp will draw at 8:30 a.m. and the first round will start at 9:00 a.m.
• Judges need to be present for instructions and ballots by 8:15 a.m. All judges are required to be available to judge the semi-final round.
• A schedule is posted in the SCHEDULE tab; however, rounds will go off as soon as they are ready.
• Results need to be audited before we can begin the semi-final round. If everything goes as planned, the semi-final round usually starts by 5:00 p.m., with the awards ceremony occurring as soon as possible thereafter. Remind your students to not leave campus for lunch. We will always try to begin rounds as soon as we are ready and not what the schedule says.
• Food will be provided for the students for a fee. Coaches and judges will have food provided for them at no cost. The complimentary food and beverages is for judges and coaches only.
  
  

STUDENT EXPECTATIONS

• Students must show respect for the facility and each other.
• Do not enter a room without a judge present.
• No videos or use of phone allowed during the rounds.
• If students have issues during their round, they must contact their coach who can then bring those concerns to the tournament directors.
• Students are encouraged to dress for the professional occasion. Ties, dress shoes, skirts/pant suits, etc...

JUDGES

• Every team must fulfill their judging requirement of one judge for every two entries. If you have three entries, you need two judges. Normally, our league is pretty lax on schools that fail to bring enough judges. However, at this tournament, if a school does not bring their required allotment of judges, we will reduce a school's entries to equal the number of judges present. This will be done in a manner that is easiest for tabbing and will save the most judges.
• Head coaches should not be in the judge pool.
• Please share the judging instructions and campus map (above) with your judges before the tournament. The CHSSA IE judging video is a great resource to share. View on YouTube.

ENTRY DEADLINE

• The entry deadline is Friday, February 15, 2020, at which time fees will be assessed. Drops made by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 28 will receive a credit equal to 50% of the entry fee. Drops made after that time will be charged the full entry fee. NO LATE ADDS, OR NAME CHANGES, WILL BE ALLOWED.

Thank you for empowering students through speech!

Sincerely,
Kimberly Fradelis and Justin Kurup
GGSA Directors of Individual Events