Dear Forensics Family: 

Welcome to the first ever Paul Laurence Dunbar High School & KEDA Raise Every Voice Eastern KY Flood Relief Swing Tournament. This year tragic flooding occurred in the eastern most counties in our state devastating the region and its people. Among those affected were several schools within our speech and debate community including my alma mater, Knott County Central High School. Unique and unfortunate circumstances sometimes, however,  give rise to opportunities for communities and organizations to work together in order to make a positive impact. We look forward to having you join us ONLINE asynchronously on Sunday November 6- Thursday November 10 and synchronously Saturday, November 12th  to raise money to support speech and debate schools in the state affected by flooding. 

PLATFORM 

In order to maximize entries and provide flexibility to participating teams, our swing tournament will be held online through NSDA Campus. All competitors and judges will need to have registered Tabroom.com, NSDA accounts, and have technology available to effectively compete in or judge rounds. Competitors AND judges must have access to a camera and microphone in order to participate in the tournament. It is recommended that students are prepared to enter their competition/prep room half an hour before the round begins. 

EVENTS 

We will be offering all KESDA speech events. All events will follow the competition rules established in the KESDA 2022-2023 Handbook. The current KESDA Handbook is available on the KESDA portion’s Main Page on Tabroom, see Tournament Pages & Forms. 

Speech Events 

All speech events preliminary rounds will be judged asynchronously using pre recorded performances. Speech event finals for both parts of the swing tournament and debate will be held LIVE. Teams will submit one video link per entry that will be used for the entire tournament. Students' recordings should include the entire view of the student with good sound and lighting in the performance. The recording device should be stationary for the entire performance. Students in duo events can perform and record performances in separate or shared spaces. Please ensure that YouTube links are marked unlisted, and if using Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. permissions are set so that anyone with the link can view. All event recordings are due in Tabroom by Monday, November 7th at 8pm EST. 

Limited Prep

Limited Prep prompts released to coaches on Sunday, November 6th at noon EST. Registration and performances are due by Monday, November 7th at 8pm EST. Students and coaches should respect the integrity and prep time rules for this event. Performances should be recorded once and utilize only the amount of prep time reserved per event rules. Impromptu and Improv prep must be recorded. Broadcasting will be competing using a prepared script for all rounds. Students' recordings should include the entire view of the student with good sound and lighting in the performance. The recording device should be stationary for the entire performance. 

Debate 

Debate events will be held synchronously online November 13. Entries are due Monday November 8 @8:00pm EST. Schools may submit 1-3 bills utilizing the NSDA format/template for consideration. Bills must be sent to neomia.hagans@uky.edu by Friday November 5 @8:00pm EST. PLD will be allowing its students to participate in competition as judging and space allows. PLD students will not be eligible to earn sweepstakes points or earn team awards.

Entries 

Teams may have unlimited entries, but a speech student may enter up to three events in the 14 KHSSL categories per tournament. Debaters may enter 2 speech events per tournament as well as 1 debate event. Only 1 of the two speech events for debaters should be a limited prep event. All students are expected to be prompt and on-time for all rounds. Final rounds will not be held for late competitors. Students who are excessively late (not arriving to the round in enough time to perform before the round ending time) or that do not show up for competition prior to the close of the round will be marked as a “no show” and may be dropped from competition and fined as appropriate (see DROP FEES below). We will work together to keep the tournament running smoothly and on time.

JUDGES ENTRY 

All judges should be familiar with KHSSL rules and ballots, and are expected to be in the judge pool during rounds where they are not explicitly scheduled. ALL JUDGES MUST HAVE A TABROOM.COM ACCOUNT IN ORDER TO BE PLACED ON YOUR JUDGING ROSTER. All judges will be considered for all events and all rounds in the pool in which they are registered (speech, debate, or congress) and should be prepared for competition accordingly. All debate judges are asked to be present at the judge roll call Saturday morning. 

Teams are required to provide 1 judge for every 6 entries into the competition. 6 entries = one judge, 7 entries = 2 judges, etc. Debate events must provide 1 judge for every 2 entries or fraction thereof. Schools must provide at least one judge in speech if their students are competing in speech events and 1 judge in debate events if their students are competing in debate. In the event you cannot provide the required number of judges, you may hire up to 2 judges for $30 each. 

COST

Single entries = $6 

Double entries = $12 (PF, CX, Duo Interp, Duo Improv) 

Entry drops/adds after deadline = $10 single/$20 double 

Unfulfilled judge burden = $30 per judge 

Judge drops = $50 

Judge no-show = $30 per round 

AWARDS 

During a traditional in-person tournament, our schools would give students medals and/or trophies as awards for placing in the top six. Taking into consideration the purpose for this event and the  cost for shipping we will be awarding virtual certificates for the top six performers in each event. The top three Speech & Debate Schools in both Tournaments will be recognized in overall sweepstakes competition and receive virtual certificates. 

The awards ceremony will be held in the evening to accommodate students and parents so they may have time to eat dinner and share in the awards experience together. Get everyone around the computer to watch awards! Make some popcorn! Celebrate as a speech community and with your family in the comfort of your home! 

SCHEDULE 

We will be hosting a hybrid multi-day virtual event with both asynchronous pre recorded speech rounds and synchronous live debate rounds and speech finals. Please note that this schedule is tentative and may change based upon entries.

HOW TO ENTER 

All ALL TEAMS ARE TO REGISTER ONLINE AT Tabroom.com. Please note that this is a swing tournament and that you should register for both the KESDA and Dunbar portions of the tournament. The KESDA registration will only include JR and SR speech events. The Dunbar portion will include JR and SR speech and debate events. The tentative schedule for the day is listed above. The schedule is subject to change. 

If you have any questions regarding the process, the plans, or the please let me know. Hope to see you on November 14th!

Payment 

Invoices will be sent by email by the close of or shortly after the close of the invitational. You will have separate invoices in tabroom, will be billed separately for both tournaments, and should send checks as follows:

PLD Portion: 

Make Check payable to: PLD Speech and Debate 

Mail to: ATTN: Neomia Hagans Flores 

PLD Speech & Debate 

1600 Man O War BLVD 

Lexington, KY 40513 

KESDA Portion:

Make Check payable to: KESDA

Mail to:

Dr. Edward B. Smith

        Dept. of Theatre and Film

        Georgetown College

        400 East College Street

        Georgetown, KY 40324

We look forward to raising funds and voices with you and your students soon.

Thanks, 

Neomia Hagans Flores, Ed Smith, Connie Hagans, & Betsy Smith