The West Virginia Speech and Debate Association is pleased to host its annual novice tournament for West Virginia high school students. The online tournament will have three components:

* A Congressional Debate tournament on Friday, 2 October 2020, beginning at 4:00 PM (Session 1) and on Saturday, 3 October 2020 beginning at 2:00 PM (Session 2);

* An asynchronous speech tournament for the following prepared speech events: Declamation, Dramatic/Humorous Interpretation, Duo Interpretation, Informative Speaking, Original Oratory, Poetry Interpretation, Program Oral Interpretation, and Prose Interpretation. Competitors must upload videos by Wednesday, 7 October 2020, at 7:00 PM, and those videos will be judged Thursday, Friday, and Saturday until 12:00 PM.

*A synchronous speech and debate tournament on Saturday, 10 October 2020, that includes the following events:  Broadcasting, Extemporaneous Speaking, Impromptu Speaking, Lincoln Douglas Debate, and Public Forum Debate.

Novice. "Novice" means in one's first year of high school competition or never having finaled the event. Speech event entries (except Extemporaneous Speaking) are limited to novices; Extemporaneous Speaking and debate event entries are not.

Synchronous platforms. We will use Zoom for Congressional Debate and NSDA Campus for other synchronous events. See Synchronous Competition Guidance Information Page for additional instructions.

Asynchronous videos. See Asynchronous Competition Guidance Information Page for instructions.

Maximum Entries per School. Each school may enter no more than three (3) novice students or teams per event except: Each school may enter no more than six (6) students in Prose, Poetry, and DI/HI. Each school may enter no more than ten (10) students in Congressional Debate.

Maximum Entries per Student. Any student may enter Congressional Debate, and that entry does not count against the maximum entries per student. No student may enter more than two other events, and no student may enter more than one event in the following groupings: (1) Impromptu Speaking, Broadcasting, and Public Forum Debate (pick one only); or (2) Extemporaneous Speaking and Lincoln-Douglas Debate (pick one only).

Number of Rounds. The plan is to: (1) hold two (2) sessions of Congressional Debate - one on 2 October 2020 beginning at 4:00 PM and one on 3 October 2020 beginning at 2:00 PM; (2) have three (3) rounds of judging of asynchronous events; and (3) hold three (3) rounds of synchronous event competition on 10 October 2020.

Schedule. See Tentative Schedule Information Page.

Event Rules. Event rules appear in "Event Rules for WVSDA Tournaments."

Other Rules. The WVSDA Constitution and Bylaws contain additional rules concerning pairings, judge rankings and ratings, tabulation, determination of placement, sweepstakes points, and grievances, among other things. They will be made available upon request.

Judging Obligations. The tournament will employ four judging pools:

(1) A pool of judges to judge Congressional Debate on 3 October 2020. A school must provide one (1) judge for every four (4) entries in Congressional Debate.

(2) A pool of judges to judge asynchronous events. A school must make one (1) judge available for every six (6) entries in asynchronous speech events on 7-9 October 2020.

(3) A pool of judges to judge speech events on Saturday, 10 October 2020. A school must make one (1) judge for every six (6) entries in synchronous speech events for 10 October 2020.

(4) A pool of judges to judge debate events on Saturday 10 October 2020. A school must make one (1) judge for every two (2) entries in debate events for 10 October 2020.

Judging Qualifications. To be eligible to judge, a judge must be more than one full school year removed from high school. A judge who graduated in 2020, for example, may not judge a WVSDA-sponsored tournament during the 2020-2021 school year but may do so during the 2021-2022 school year.

Membership Fees. WVSDA charges an annual $35.00 Association membership fee and a $50.00 NCFL membership fee, for a total of $75.00. This fee is expected to be paid by 10 October 2020.

Entry Fees. WVSDA charges $7.00 per entry in speech events and Lincoln-Douglas Debate and $14.00 per team in Duo Interpretation and Public Forum Debate. Checks should be mailed to the address on your printed invoice.

Drop Fees. WVSDA charges: (1) $5 per student entry dropped and $20 per judge entry dropped between the entry deadline and the end of the day before the tournament starts; (2) $20 per student entry dropped and $40 per judge entry dropped on the day the tournament starts but before registration starts; (3) $50 per student entry dropped and $100 per judge entry dropped on the day the tournament starts but after registration starts; and (4) $50 per round that a judge does not show up to judge. Drop fees may be waived for good cause shown. Checks should be mailed to the address on your printed invoice.

Awards. Awards will be given to the top six (6) contestants in speech and debate events and to the top three (3) schools in sweepstakes. Additionally, a best presiding officer award will be given in Congressional Debate.

If you have any additional questions, please email wvsdahelp@gmail.com, and we will answer them, possibly on a FAQ Tournament Page, so that others can see the answers too.