The Louisiana High School Speech League's State Tournament of Champions will be held March 30-April 2, 2022 in Lafayette/Youngsville

This year, registration for the LHSSL Tournament of Champions is open to any high school student from a LHSSL-member school. Unlike previous years, qualification for State is not required.

We are planning an in-person event with Congress being held at our host hotel in Lafayette on Thursday and Friday morning. All other events (Thursday afternoon, Friday afternoon, and all day Saturday) will be held at Southside High School in Youngsville.

Registration procedures:

1. Select competing students, events, and partners (where applicable).

2. Contestant Entry deadlines. Friday, March 25. Nuisance fees begin on Tuesday, March 30, after 3 pm

3. Observe entry limits.
a. Students may enter only ONE Debate Event (but may not enter if also entered in Duo or DA)

b. Students may enter up to TWO Main Individual Speech Events.

c. Students may enter up to TWO Main Team Speech Events (but may not enter if also entered in a Debate Event).

d. Students may enter Congress regardless of how many other events they have entered.

e. Students may pre-register for up to 1 supplemental event regardless of how many other events they have entered.

4. Enter selection information. This is a two step process:
Step 1: In tabroom, you need to complete the required information for:
OO and POI - Title
Dec, DI, HI, OI, Duo - Title and Author/Speaker

Special note about OI: For "Title", enter the Prose title first, followed by a slash (/), followed by a title of the Poetry program. If multiple poems are used, enter the name of the poem that serves as the central theme of the program. For "Author", you should also use a slash to separate the authors of the Prose and Poetry programs (list prose author first).

Note: At the State Tournament, acompetitor MAY NOT perform the same selection in any two or more events.

Step 2: On the tournament’s tabroom site, there are directions on how to share a PDF of the manuscript. This is required.

5. Enter Judge Names (Deadline: Thursday, March 31, at 12 pm)

a. Each judge MUST have a tabroom account. We will use texts/emails to alert judges that they have ballots to be picked up. Judges should be expected to have a device with them at the tournament, as we anticipate using electronic balloting. Coaches are obligated to train their judges how to navigate the tabroom.com platform in order to access and submit their electronic ballots.

b. Use the Judge Notes to indicate information the tab staff needs to properly place judges. For example, are there schools besides yours for which the judge is conflicted (e.g., used to teach there, graduated within the last 4 years)? You can also use the notes to tell us if there are certain events within the judge category for which the judge is better suited (e.g., Policy preferred, no interp). Do NOT use this for time restrictions (see step c). Update the Judge Notes as necessary.

c. Indicate which rounds judges are available. After step b is complete, click "Save Details". On the next screen, you will see the judges' names listed. Tabroom initially assumes that any judge listed is available for ALL rounds in the category. If that is false, please click on the words "all rounds" next to the judge name (located under the column marked "Availability" – see screen shot below). This will take you to a new screen that shows the tournament schedule for that category. If a judge is unavailable at a specific period of time, please click on the word "available" at the right (see screen shot below). This will label the judge as unavailable in that time slot. Select all slots for when the judge is unavailable. Update your judges' availability as more information is known.

Important note: the number of judges you owe for a judge category is the number of judges per time slot. If you owe 2 judges for debate, then that is 2 judges for EVERY preliminary round, and at least the first elimination round. You can have as many people as needed throughout the weekend to fulfill your per round obligation.

d. School's judge obligation is one round past your school's elimination in that category. If no one from your school reaches the first elimination round in individual events, then your school still must provide the required number of judges for the first elim. If at least one student breaks to first elim, then your school still must provide the required number of judges for the next elim.

e. Each school must post a judge bond of $30 per required judge per category. This will appear as a line item in the school’s invoice in tabroom.

6. Wednesday registration procedures. At registration on Wednesday evening, each school must be represented. A coach (or an individual approved by the coach) must confirm the following:

a. Entry as shown in tabroom is correct. If not, tell us the changes (penalty fees may apply to drops)

b. School Consent Form has been downloaded, printed, signed by principal, and reuploaded to tabroom

c. Links to required PDFs of scripts and manuscripts in relevant events have been properly shared

d. Payment (may be presented in-person on Wednesday evening) has been given to Executive Secretary. Must have two different checks - one for entry fees and one for the judge bond

Please click on the pages on the right for more information. We will add pages as we get closer to the tournament (e.g., information about t-shirts, nominating a Coach of the Year, Extemp Topic Areas, Impromptu Topic Areas).

If you have any questions, please contact me at gregmalis@newmanschool.org

Thank you,

Greg Malis
LHSSL State Tournament Director