HOWDY FROM HEREFORD! We look forward to you joining us for the 2024 BE HERD TFA qualifying tournament and UIL practice meet January 13, 2024! BE HERD 2024 will be IN PERSON at Hereford HS, 200 Avenue F, Hereford, TX 79045.

Tournament Director: Melissa Witt - melissawitt@herefordisd.net

All performers are responsible for securing performance copyright permissions.

All participants, including coaches, judges, and competitors are responsible for adhering to professional code of conduct standards as outlined by TFA, UIL, and NSDA. Harassment of any kind, abusive or profane language, bullying will not be tolerated. Damage caused by inappropriate behavior, vandalism, or violence will be prosecuted.

NOTE: We will be participating in the TFA pilot program allowing Hereford HS students to compete in our tournament.

DEADLINES

​​Registration Opens on Tabroom.com - Monday, November 27, 2023 @ 8:00am

Entry Deadline - Monday, January 8, 2024 @ 5:00pm

Drop Deadline - Wednesday, January 10, 2024 @ 5:00pm

Judge Registration Deadline - Wednesday, January 10, 2024 @ 5:00pm

Drop Fees begin - Wednesday, January 18, 2023 @ 5:00pm

FEES

$10.00 - IE’s (including Congress)

$15.00 - LD, Duo, Duet

$25.00 - CX Debate

Drop fees: loss of entry fee until the day of the tournament

$25.00 Day-of Drop fee in addition to loss of entry fee

JUDGING OBLIGATIONS

IE’s (including Duo & Duet) - 1 judge for every 6 entries or portions thereof

LD - 1 judge for every 4 entries or portions thereof

CX - 1 judge for every 2 entries or portions thereof

School entries will be limited to the amount of entries for which the school can provide judges.

If you are having difficulty providing enough judges for your entry please contact Mack or Witt and we will assist in helping you secure judges.

Every effort will be made to panel all semis and finals rounds, TFA final rounds will be given priority. All ballots will be online and can be retrieved by coaches in Tabroom.com.

NOTE: The same judge may cover 1 debate slot and 1 IE slot. If you are having trouble registering as a judge in Tabroom.com, please notify Witt or Mack and we will fix it.

WE ARE PLEASED TO OFFER THE FOLLOWING EVENTS

Interpretation

Dramatic

Duet Acting

Duo

Duo Improv

Humorous

Poetry

Program of Oral Interpretation

Prose

Public Speaking

Impromptu Speaking

Informative Speaking (TFA)

Informative Extemp (UIL)

International Extemp

Original Oratory

Persuasive Extemp

US Extemp

Debate

Congressional Debate

Lincoln-Douglas Debate

Policy Debate

**No novice divisions will be offered.

DEBATE RESOLUTIONS:

Congressional Debate - TFA Spring 2024 Docket: Items 11-15 for Prelims, pre-set order is 11, 14, 13, 12, 15; Items 16-20 for Finals, pre-set order is 19, 16, 18, 20, 17.

UIL LD Debate - UIL Spring 2024 Resolution - Resolved:

TFA LD Debate - NSDA January/February Resolution - Resolved:

Policy Debate - 2023-24 Resolution - Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase fiscal redistribution in the United States by adopting a federal jobs guarantee, expanding Social Security, and/or providing a basic income.

NOTE: We will not break brackets.

INTERPRETATION SCRIPTS AND SPEECH MANUSCRIPTS:

There will be no formal documentation for registration, however, scripts/manuscripts must be available to the tournament director in the event of a protest.

EXTEMP DRAW

Extemp Draw will be held in the auditorium.

Extempers who are cross entered need to check in with Extemp Draw personnel BEFORE going to another event regardless of their speaker order.

EVENT RULES

TFA qualifying events (including CX & TFA LD Debate) will adhere to the rules in the most current edition of the TFA Constitution & Contest Rules which can be found here: https://www.txfa.org/_files/ugd/a3a5e9_8f2be0aed2d94a3db1b5b51bb9f10f16.pdf

UIL events will adhere to the rules in the most recent edition of the UIL Constitution & Contest Rules which can be found here: https://www.uiltexas.org/policy/constitution. Prose & Poetry entries are encouraged to bring both categories, but it is NOT a requirement of the tournament. There will be no grace period in Informative & Persuasive extemp, Prose, and Poetry

EVENT PATTERNS

Pattern A - International Extemp, US Extemp, Prose, DI, Oratory, POI, Duo,

Pattern B - Informative Extemp, Persuasive Extemp, TFA Informative, Duet, Poetry, HI

Pattern C - CX, LD, Congress

CROSS ENTRIES - in the event that the website allows you register students in a way that would violate a cross entry rule below, please notify the tournament directors ASAP so that we can correct the problem. Students will not be permitted to compete in events in violation of the cross entry rules below.

1. Students in CX Debate may not cross-enter

2. Students in LD Debate may enter 1 or both divisions of LD, but no IE’s

3. Students may enter 2 events in Pattern A and 2 events in Pattern B

4. Students may not enter 2 Extemp events in the same pattern.

5. Extempers who are cross-entered MUST check-in to extemp before going to another event, regardless of speaker order.

6. Students cross-enter at their own risk, and are strongly encouraged to sign-in to their other event in a pattern so that the judge knows to wait for them.

7. Signing in Protocol for all students in IE’s

1. Go to your assigned competition room

2. Sign in on the board in your speaker number order

3. Put XC to the left of your name if you are Cross Entered.

TOURNAMENT ETIQUETTE & EXPECTATIONS

1. Tournament directors will send out a Tabroom blast when postings go live. Our goal is to have postings up and blasts sent out 30 minutes prior to the start time.

2. Posting will also be up in the Cafeteria and the main (100) hallway.

3. Judges should head to the ballot table when postings go live on Tabroom. ALL ballots will be on paper

4. Students should head to their rooms when postings go live

1. If a round is finishing up in the room you are about to compete in, please wait patiently outside.

2. Please notify the tournament directors if a room is locked (and empty), a judge or debate opponent is missing (more than 10 minutes late to the round) or there is another obstacle to starting the round within 10 minutes of start time.

3. Students/observers/competitors who are NOT performing should be conscious of their audience etiquette - do not be distracting during the performance and do be a supportive audience member. Misbehavior of audience members may be grounds for disqualification of a competitor or team.

4. Please consider the use of trigger warnings for any performances/arguments of a graphic or violent nature.

5. Any illegal behavior, including but not limited to littering, theft, and vandalism, use or possession of illegal subtances or weapons, will be taken seriously and may result in disqualification and/or criminal prosecution.
6. Students and all chaperoning adults are expected to adhere to the NSDA honor code and the UIL fair play rules.

SWEEPSTAKES

IE’s & Congress (Including Duo/Duet)

1st - 20

2nd - 15

3rd - 10

Non-placing Finalist - 7

Non-advancing Semi-finalist - 5

Debate

Finalist - 20

Non-advancing Semi-finalist - 15

Non-advancing Quarter-finalist - 7

Each Prelim Win - 1

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

Individual Events Schedule

• Pattern A - International Extemp, US Extemp, Prose, DI, Oratory, POI, Duo

• Pattern B - Informative Extemp, Persuasive Extemp, INF (TFA), Duet, Poetry, HI

7:00 AM - Registration Opens - schools may confirm online if they have NO CHANGES to their entry; schools with drops/adds/substitutions must confirm in person.

Individual Event Schedule

8:00 AM - Round 1, Pattern A

9:30 AM - Round 1, Pattern B

11:00 AM - Round 2, Pattern A

1:00 PM - Round 2, Pattern B

3:00 PM - Semis/Finals of Pattern A (semis for events with 25+ entries)

5:00 PM - Semis/Finals of Pattern B (semis for events with 25+ entries)

7:00 PM - Finals of Patterns A&B (events with 25+ entries)

Debate Schedule***

8:00 AM - Round 1 - CX, TFA LD

9:00 AM - Session 1 - Congress (until Noon); Round 1 - UIL LD

10:00 AM - Round 2 - CX, TFA LD

11:00 AM - Round 2 - UIL LD

12:00 PM - Round 3 - CX, TFA LD

1:00 PM - Round - 3 UIL LD

2:00 PM - Round 4 - CX, TFA LD (if fewer than 16 entries);

Quarters - CX, TFA LD (if 16+ entries)

3:00 PM - Round 4 - UIL LD (if fewer than 16 entries)/Quarters (if 16+ entries)

4:00 PM - Semis - CX, TFA LD

5:00 PM - Semis - UIL LD

6:00 PM - Finals - CX, TFA LD

7:00 PM - Finals - UIL LD

***Absent any conflicts between UIL LD and TFA LD, we will run Semifinal and Final rounds simultaneously.