Louisiana District Qualifier

for the 2018 National Tournament

General Information

The Speech and Debate Tournament will take place at Southside High School in Younsgville on March 9-10.

Tournament Schedule Outline

ALL events will begin competition on Friday.

For those that are new or need a refresher, the District Tournament is a "double down" tournament. Every entry is guaranteed two rounds of competition. In each round, an entry is given an "up" or a "down". In debate events, an "up" is a win (and a "down" is a loss). In speech events, an "up" is a rank in the top half of the section (and a "down" is a rank in the bottom half). Once an entry has received a second "down", it is eliminated from the competition.

Debate events continue until we have identified our two qualifiers. Speech events continue until there are 7 or fewer contestants. Once we have 7 or fewer, it will be the final round in that event. In some years, some events have a final round in Round 3. In other events, it could be Round 5 or 6 or even more.


Entry Restrictions and Deadlines

The total number of entries each school gets depends on the number of members and degrees your chapter has earned as of seven days prior to the tournament. Please submit all of the competition and service points for everyone in your chapter, regardless of whether they are competing at Districts. Each school can enter up to four entries in each event, but the total number of entries cannot exceed your overall quota. To access the total number of entries you get, you can log in to tabroom and access the site for the tournament. From the "Entries" tab, select an event at the right. Once you pick an event, the total number of entries is shown on the right side of the screen.


Entry Deadlines

We will accept entries through Wednesday, March 7 at 3 pm. Drops after that point will be assessed loss of entry fee. Tournament fees are $10 per person per event.


Judge Assignments

Schools need to provide 1 judge per every 2 debate entries and 1 judge per every 5 speech entries.

By rule, all speech events from Round 3 through the end of the tournament must have three judges. Debate events must have three judges per round once there are 8 or fewer contestants.


Source Material for All Events

Please read the Unified Manual carefully, especially when it comes to approved materials for the interp events. The rules for what is an approved source and what you must have available during the tournament are different than LHSSL and NCFL procedures. Please also read the rules of evidence to be applied in debate events, which also may differ from LHSSL and NCFL.


Debate Pairing Procedures

Starting in Round 3, debate rounds are "powered", where undefeated entries debate undefeated entries, and entries with one loss debate other entries with one loss. The "bracket" is more important than school conflicts. Thus, it is possible that an entry from a school could be paired against another entry from the same school. For example, if the last two undefeateds are from the same school, they will be paired against each other. Debaters who compete in the wrong room, in the wrong flight, against the wrong opponent will be given a loss.

In Public Forum debate, there is a coin toss prior to each round to determine which side of resolution a team will defend and which team will speak first.


Speech Sectioning Procedures

Starting in Round 3, we "distribute the powers" among the sections. Those who are "all up" are spread as uniformly as possible throughout the sections. "Down one's" are spread as uniformly as possible, too. Speaker order in speech events is monitored as well. Speech students MUST speak in the assigned order. Once a schematic is posted, only the tournament director may authorize a change in speaker position. Judges are not allowed to exercise discretion in this manner. Students who speak out of order may be ranked last in the room. Students who speak in the wrong room will be ranked last.

Speech ranks are cumulative. Every rank (one judge) or panel rank (three judges) is added throughout the tournament. The only paneled round where individual ranks count is the final round.

In the FINALS of US Extemp and International Extemp, we will introduce a cross-examination period after every speech. Once a finalist is done speaking, he/she will remain in the room to watch the following speech. After that speech, he/she will have three minutes to cross-examine the individual speaker. Every speaker cross examines the subsequent speaker (the last speaker will cross examine the first speaker and then return to the prep room).


Rules, Rules, Rules

Please read the rules, know the rules, and get any questions asked BEFORE the tournament begins. All are available in the District Tournament portion of the Unified Manual.