Dear Texas Middle School Speech and Debate Coaches:

We would like to invite you to the Third Annual Texas Middle School Speech and Debate State Tournament. This year’s tournament will be held on April 28-29, 2023, at Alief Elsik High School, 12601 High Star Drive, Houston, Texas 77072.

Eligibility

This tournament is open to sixth, seventh, and eighth graders who reside in the state of Texas.

Club-Based Entries

This tournament is only open to accredited public and private schools. Club-based entries cannot compete at this tournament. Students must compete for the school at which they are enrolled for compulsory attendance purposes. Contestants found to be violating this rule will be disqualified.

Teams must be accompanied by an employee of the accredited public or private school that they represent.

To help us enforce this policy, schools are required to upload the TJSDA School Certification Form.

Events

Section A (Students may enter 2 events in this pattern, but they may not enter debate events.)

Duo Interpretation, Extemporaneous Speaking, Humorous Interpretation, Original Oratory, Original Spoken Word Poetry, Program Oral Interpretation, Prose Interpretation

Section B (Students may enter 2 events in this pattern, but they may not enter debate events.)

Declamation, Dramatic Interpretation, Duet Improvisation, Impromptu Speaking, Informative Speaking, Poetry Interpretation, Storytelling

Debate (Students may enter 1 event in this pattern, but they may not enter section A or B.)

Congressional Debate, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Policy Debate, Public Forum Debate, World Schools Debate,

Please note: We will not break brackets in debate.

Rules for each event can be found by clicking on Events & Divisions to the right of your screen. You can also find information about our schedule and tournament rules.

Minimum Participation

To be offered, events must meet these minimum thresholds:

Individual events must have 10 entries.

Congressional Debate must have 20 entries.

Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Policy Debate, Public Forum Debate, and World Schools Debate must have 8 entries.

Entry Fees

Since the tournament occurs near the end of the school year, payment must be received before the tournament or during registration on April 28. If this is not possible, please email George Tennison at gttennis@ga.aliefisd.net before April 14.

Individual Events: $20 per entry

Duet Improvisation and Duo Interpretation: $40 per entry

Congressional Debate and Lincoln-Douglas Debate: $20 per entry

Public Forum Debate and Policy Debate: $40 per entry

World Schools Debate: $60 per entry

School Fee: $50 per school

Payment Information

Checks should be made payable to Olle Middle School and mailed to:

Olle Middle School

Attn: George Tennison

9200 Boone Road

Houston, Texas 77099

Judging

To make sure we have enough judges, we are asking that each school provide judges for the categories they are competing in:

Individual Events: 1 judge for every 6 entries

LD/PF Debate: 1 judge for every 3 entries

World Schools Debate: 1 judge for every 2 entries

Policy Debate: 1 judge for every 2 entries

Congressional Debate: 1 judge if you have Congressional Debate entries (Congressional Debate judges may be pulled into the LD or PF pool if necessary.)

If you are using high school judges, they need to be in the 10th grade or higher. No 9th grade judges, please.

Entry Limits

Registration will open on Monday, March 6. When registration opens, each school will be initially limited to 6 entries per event. On Monday, March 20, we will begin to take entries off of the waiting list as space allows, up to a limit of 8 entries per school. You will have the ability to prioritize your waitlisted entries.

Deadlines

The deadline for entries is 6:00 pm on Friday, April 14, 2023.

We have extended the deadline for judges to Wednesday, April 26, 2023.

Questions

If you have any questions, you may contact George Tennison at gttennis@ga.aliefisd.net. We look forward to seeing you in April.

Sincerely,

Your State Tournament Coordinating Committee

George Tennison (E. A. Olle Middle School)

Christopher Arnold (Albright Middle School)

Lyn Esquivel (Tuloso-Midway Middle School)

Franz Hill (Lanier Middle School)

Heather Huffman (The Village School)

Tim Martindell (The Village School)