Caesar and Cicero Memorial Tournament 2021 

Northridge High School 

Dates: Friday, December 3 & Saturday, December 4 

Contact Info: Shannon Chamberlain schamberlain@dsdmail.net 

For problems or drops on the day of the tournament, call/text 801-814-5678 

Registration Deadlines: November 30 @5:00 PM 

Tournament Level: Open competition (no novice divisions) 

Caesar Events: Lincoln-Douglas, Public Forum, Oratory, National Extemp, Foreign Extemp, Impromptu, Dramatic Interp, and Congress 

Cicero Events: Policy, Big Questions, Informative Speaking, Oratorical Declamation, Duo Interp, Humorous Interp, Odd Impromptu, Princeton Extemp, and POI                           **See information below for explanations of Cicero events** 

Entries: Students can enter up to two speech events in the Caesar block and two events in the Cicero block. No triple entry within the same block. No double entry in debates within the same block. For example, students cannot double enter in PF and LD or Policy and BQ. No double entry in NX and FX.  

Students are encouraged to enter events in both the Caesar and Cicero blocks. The rounds will alternate Caesar then Cicero, so they will have more fun if they have events in each round.   

The tournament will be held in-person only, and all events will be held live. We are not offering a hybrid option or asynchronous events. 

Internet: We will be following the new rules for internet.  

Congress: Congress sessions will be 2 hours. There will be 2 sessions on Friday, and a final session on Saturday morning. The top 6-8 competitors from each house will compete in finals. There will not be a second final round for Congress in the afternoon.  

The docket will be selected from the UDCA website and NSDA legislation and will be posted in Tabroom. 

Topics:  

LD: Resolved: A just government ought to recognize an unconditional right of workers to strike. 

Public Forum: Resolved: Increased United States federal regulation of cryptocurrency transactions and/or assets will produce more benefits than harms. 

CX: Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its protection of water resources in the United States. 

BQ: Resolved: On balance, societies benefit from religious belief and practice. 

Judges: All judges must be high school graduates! No varsity judges. Ballots will be online, so please remind your judges to bring a device and charger. Judges will meet in the library conference room, and food will be provided for them there.  

Judges can be double entered in a Caesar category and a Cicero category. For example, your policy judge can be a PF/LD judge, as well. Your Congress judge can judge Cicero speech events. Your Caesar speech judge can also be your Cicero speech judge. If you have questions, please email me and ask!  

Please bring 1 judge for every 4 debate entries, 1 judge for every 5 speech entries, 1 judge for every 5 in Congress, and 1 judge for every 2 policy teams.  

Remember: this is a 2-day tournament, so you need a judge for each day! For example, if you have a judge who can only do Friday, please make sure you have another who can do Saturday! 

If you have a Congress judge who can be parliamentarian, please let me know.  

Awards: There will be awards for the finalists in every event. Any event which approaches 90 entries will have double finals with trophies for all finalists. Speech and debate gladiators will be awarded. 

Fees: $4 per entry, per event. $15 school fee. Make checks payable to Northridge High School. 

Tabroom: If you are willing to help with extemp prep or with running the tournament, please let me know. Tab will be in the library, and coaches are welcome to hang out there. No students or judges should be in the library, though.   

Extemp Prep: C-229 

Student Hang-out area: Students can congregate in the commons and cafeteria area. There will be a play happening Friday and Saturday, so please have students stay clear of the steps to the auditorium and surrounding area.  

Food: Concessions will be sold Friday and Saturday. There will be Chick-fil-A, Little Caesar’s, and assorted treats, snacks, and drinks. Hot chocolate Saturday morning. Food and drink are allowed only in the commons and cafeteria areas. Coaches and judges will be fed upstairs in the library and library conference room.  

Explanation of Cicero events: 

Odd Impromptu: Same rules as standard impromptu; however, they will choose 2 topics instead of 1. They must combine both of the topics into a speech.  

Oratorical Declamation: A memorized presentation of a speech written by a person other than the contestant. The speech should be of good quality and must be published. The speech must not exceed 10 minutes, scripts cannot be read, no note cards. Students may give an introduction.  

Princeton Extemp: Same rules as standard extemp; however, instead of current event topics, the questions will be rhetorical or silly. Example questions: “Why do we drive on the parkway and park in the driveway?” or “Why are there no B batteries?” Speeches can be funny or serious; they may use real sources or fake ones.  

Schedule:  

Friday, December 4 

Check in: 3:00-3:30—Please send me drops from the road!  

Judges meeting: 3:15 

Round 1 Caesar: 3:30-5:30 

Round 2 Cicero: 5:30-7:30 

Round 3 Caesar: 7:30-9:30 

Saturday, December 5 

Check in: 7:15-7:30—Please send me drops from the road! 

Judges meeting: 7:30 

Round 4 Cicero: 8:00-10:00 

Round 5 Caesar: 10:00-12:00 

Round 6 Cicero: 12:00-2:00 

Finals Caesar 2:00-3:30 

Finals Cicero 3:30-5:00 

Awards Ceremony: 5:30 

Finals: The top 6-7 in each event will compete in a finals round. Any event which approaches 90 entries will have double finals, so the top 12-14 will compete.  

We will accelerate the schedule wherever possible to finish earlier!