The Wildcat Fall Fair Plano Clark Swing
2024 — Plano, TX/US
Dear Participants of the Wildcat Fall Fair TFA Swing at Clark High School in Plano, TX,
We are thrilled to extend an invitation to you and your students to join us at the Fall Fair, hosted by the Clark High School and Plano Senior High School Speech and Debate teams. This school year, we are getting back to Clark and Senior's tradition of hosting an early-season tournament. Expect fall-themed decorations to welcome in the season of sport events, festivals, and hopefully, cooler temperatures! As with last year, the event will take place at Clark High School, from September 27-28, 2024, and will be held exclusively in-person.
At the Fall Fair, we are dedicated to providing a variety of opportunities for students and programs. Specifically, the tournament will be a swing tournament in every TFA qualifying individual event, duo and duet acting, poetry, and prose. We will be a single tournament in Congressional debate, but will offer a semifinal round in this event. We are offering a single tournament for Lincoln-Douglas, World Schools Debate, Cross-Examination Debate, and Public Forum Debate.
In light of the fact that tournament is now happening early in the year, we are also creating novice divisions of debate events, including congressional debate, and novice extemporaneous speaking. A novice is a competitor who entered or who is entering their first NSDA format competition (CX, PF, LD, WSD, CD, Extemp) in Fall 2024. Please understand that the trade-off here is that we needed to tighten our per-school entry caps from last year. Our entry caps are determined based on the availability of rooms. Any additional entries beyond the established caps will be placed on a waitlist, and we will accommodate as many as our logistics permit.
Students will be able to cross enter in Congressional Debate and one side of the swing in individual events, and may cross enter in both sides of the swing if they are only doing IEs. As a tournament staff, we have decided that a single-entry policy in Lincoln-Douglas, World Schools, Cross-Examination, Public Forum debate, and the novice versions of those events will result in the best tournament experience for coaches, judges, and competitors at our meet.
The Fall Fair is a NIETOC qualifier (National Individual Events Tournament of Champions) in all relevant categories, on both sides of our Swing.
During the tournament, there will be four preliminary rounds in PF, LD, Policy, World Schools debate, and all novice divisions of those events. All entries with a winning record will clear to out-rounds. Individual events will consist of three rounds; the second round in events larger than 18 entries will be a semifinal round, in events of 18 entries or smaller, there will be a second prelim, followed by a break straight to finals. Congressional Debate will advance to a semifinal round on Friday night if there are greater than 60 competitors, or it will have a second prelim session on Friday night if there are fewer than 60. Please note that due to logistical constraints, crossover between individual events and all debate categories, except for Congressional Debate / Novice Congressional Debate, will not be allowed.
Registration for the Fall Fair is limited to school sponsors and school administration-approved student chaperones; independent entries will not be accepted.
We are eagerly anticipating your participation in what promises to be one of the largest and most competitive tournaments in our area. We look forward to welcoming you to Plano and providing an enriching and rewarding experience for all attendees.
Sincerely,
Neal White
Director of Forensics
Clark High School
Robert Shepard
Director of Forensics
Plano Senior High School