NEWMAN SMITH SPONTANEITY 41
2020 — Carrollton, TX/US
Tournament Specifics
Newman Smith Speech and Debate
2335 Josey Lane
Carrollton, TX 75006
972 968-5200 or (fax) 972 968-5210
Tournament Specifics:
We will be offering 4 prelim rounds of debate and at least the top eight (more depending on entry numbers) in all divisions of debate will break to elimination rounds. Brackets will be broken if members of the same team have to debate in elimination rounds. We will panel Public Forum, VLD and VCX beginning in the quarterfinals.
Three speaker awards will be given out in each division of debate. Finalist awards will be given to the top three in each individual event. We will crown three sweepstakes winners.
You may cross-enter in both Section A and Section B events, including two events in the same section. Debaters you may also enter all individual events. Congressional Debaters can not cross enter in Debate. Students wishing to run for Presiding Officer in the preliminary session of Congressional Debate must indicate on the website that they wish to run. You cannot enter two divisions of extemporaneous speaking. You may enter both Duet and Duo as long as you are in compliance with TFA rules.
Section A= NX, FX, DX, PO, HI, Duet Prelims, POI
Section B= OO, PR, DI, INFO, Duo Prelims
Section C= VCX, NCX, VLD, NLD, PF, NPF, WSD, DUET/DUO Semis and Finals
Section D= Congressional Debate
Important Deadlines:
Friday, Sept 18 Deadlines for entries in all events
Monday, Sept 21 Last day to drop without incurring drop fees
(Name changes accepted with no penalty)
Tuesday- Thursday, Sept 2-24 Drop Fee is Double the Entry Fee
Friday & Saturday, Sept 25-26 All Drops are Triple the Entry Free
Entry Fees:
School Fee/Room usage $25.00
IE’s $15.00
Duet Acting/Duo $15.00
Lincoln Douglas/PF $25.00
Team Debate $40.00
Student Congress $15.00
World School Debate $25.00
MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO "NSHS DEBATE"
Judging Requirements:
You MUST bring your first judge in each debate division.
A missing judge costs $75 for a duet/IE judge and $200 for a debate judge.
IE, Duet and Duo: 1 Judge per 6 entries or portion thereof.
Team Debate: 1 judge per 2 teams or portion thereof.
Lincoln Douglas and PF: 1 Judge per 3 debaters or portion thereof.
Student Congress: 1 judge per 6 entries (Counts with the I.E. and Duet judges)
World Schools Debate: 1 judge per 6 entries or portion thereof.
Our ability to hire judges for you is limited, so you are strongly encouraged to bring your own. If we cannot hire a judge for you, you must provide one in order to cover your entries or you will be asked to limit your entry numbers.
Event Rules:
The TFA Constitution will serve as guidelines for all events. Any schools not familiar with these rules should access www.txfa.org . We will debate the 2020 CX topic, the September/October Public Forum topic, and the September/October NSDA LD topic in both VLD and NLD. WSD resolutions are noted on the WSD page.
Impromptu Rules. The speaker will draw three topics, choose one, and take one minute to prepare. Topics shall be chosen from proverbs, quotations, current concerns, pop culture and famous people. The maximum time for the speech is five minutes with a thirty second grace period. There is no minimum time.
School sweepstakes will be presented to the top 3 schools based on the following criteria:
a. 3 points for Individual Event Semi-Finalists and finals participants in the Congress House not making the final ballot.
b. 5 points for advancing to octofinals in debate, non-placing i.e. Finalists, and non-placing finalists on the ballot in the Congress final House.
c. 10 points for each participant reaching quarterfinals in debate.
d. 10 points for 3rd place, 15 points for 2nd place, 20 points for 1st place awarded in non-debate events including duo, duet acting and student congress.
d. 15 points for 3rd place , 20 points for 2nd place, and 25 points for 1st place awarded in debate.
*Ballots will be ONLINE through Tabroom.com. All coaches, competitors, and judges will need to create a Tabroom.com (free) account to participate in the tournament.
*Postings for all rounds will be blasted.
*An adult sponsor (authorized by the school) must be in attendance at all times either by judging at the tournament or waiting in the virtual designated judging pool.
*Oratories, as well as interpretation and Duet selections, must be available upon request.
*Any team or competitor that is more than 15 minutes late to their round (their fault not our fault) will forfeit that round with zero speaker points.
*We will accelerate the schedule when possible – please remain available during the tournament to avoid forfeiture.
*All judges will complete training prior to judging their first round at the tournament.
*No show judges, like no show students- will be charged.
*If you are not listed on a debate round – please stand by in the designated virtual judging pool.
*All school judges- both IE and debate are obligated to judge 1 round past their student’s elimination; please remain available.
Classrooms.cloud Expectations and Guidelines
*Everyone must have a Tabroom account to participate.
*Every judge and competitor will need a device with a microphone and camera, as well as a separate device (phone, tablet, etc) for communicating with partner/ team in round- if applicable.
*Use of Google Chrome as your browser is highly recommended.
* Logging into Tabroom when competition begins will show upcoming rounds show a room number. You will then proceed to virtual.txfa.org. Find the Newman Smith tournament. Go to the appropriate wing. Find your room and open it. You should then find yourself in a virtual space with the other competitor(s) and the judge.
* Only the judge(s) and competitors may access their competition rooms- except for Tab/Tournament staff. This means a few things:
- No observers will be allowed to view rounds.
- Any students not competing at the tournament will not have access to any rooms (competitive or otherwise)
-Coaches will not be able to view their students’ rounds.
*The reason for all of this is security.
*Every team will have a virtual squad room available throughout the tournament. Coaches, judges, and students registered for that school for the tournament will have access.
*All IEs, except for Extemp, will be ASYNCHRONOUS. Deadlines for submission of videos coming soon.
*Video links for IEs (except for Extemp) will be accessible on the ballot.
*There is a limit of 15 users per room- this will obviously result in decreased size of congressional chambers.