Thanksgiving Turkey Talk Tournament
2024 — Fort Walton Beach, FL/US
This is a High School and Middle School tournament taking place in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.
The Thanksgiving Turkey Talk Tournament, will be held Saturday, November 16, 2024 at Max Bruner Jr. Middle School, 322 Holmes Blvd. NW, Fort Walton Beach, Florida 32548 .This tournament will be live and in person.
The tournament offers middle school, high school novice, and high school varsity divisions for most events. Impromptu will be middle and novice only. This is an open tournament and all schools are welcome to compete.
FEES: $15.00 per entry which covers tournament awards and lunches for students, judges and coaches. NCFL-Pensacola members will receive 5 free entries.
To celebrate the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday the following special events and treats will be available:
-Thanksgiving Themed Storytelling event as well as Fall/Thanksgiving themed Impromptu topics for students.
-Lots of Thanksgiving Desserts to show how "Thankful" we are for you coaches and judges
... so come ready to enjoy the fun along with some delicious Thanksgiving pies.
There will be three rounds of competition in all events. Please plan to arrive at Bruner Middle School, 30 minutes prior to your event start time. This means no later than 8:00 for extempers and no later than 8:30 for all other speakers/debaters for all other events to check-in.
Tournament check-in begins at 8:00 a.m. CST, for competitors and judges.
8:15: Judge Training Begins
8:30: Check-in time ends/ Prep for Extemp Events begins
9:00: Round 1 of Competition Begins
3:00: Tentative Ending/Awards but please be flexible regarding the end time of the event.
EVENTS and DIVISIONS: We offer middle school, novice, and varsity divisions. If numbers allow, we will keep divisions separate. We reserve the right to combine divisions or events into the same competition room as needed. If we combine divisions this is for judging and scheduling purposes only. Awards will still be given to each event and division.
"Varsity" is Year 2 of high school speech & debate.
Double entries ARE allowed for students in IE events ONLY: DEC, DP, DUO, OI, OO, POI, PP, IMP, EXT, STO
EVENTS INCLUDE:
Debate Events-(1 judge per every 2 entries)
- Extemporaneous Debate
- Public Forum Debate
- Lincoln Douglas Debate
Speech/Congress Events-(1 judge per every 5 entries)
- Student Congress
- Extemporaneous Speaking
- Declamation
- Dramatic Performance (HI/DI)
- Duo Interpretation
- Oral Interpretation of Literature
- Original Oratory
- Program Oral Interpretation (Non-CFL event)
- Impromptu (Thanksgiving Themed, special tournament event)
- Storytelling (Thanksgiving themed,(special tournament event)
Observers are allowed but must be registered.
TOPICS:
NOTE: Students will debate BOTH sides of the resolution.
IMPROMPTU TOPIC AREAS: Holiday Traditions, Colonial America, Quotes about Gratitude
EXTEMP TOPIC AREAS For both DEBATE and SPEECH are :
Round 1: Elections Round 2: The Supreme Court Round 3: Technology
STORYTELLING EVENT: Choose a story that is about or related to the Thanksgiving Holiday for this event.
We are using NSDA rules for Storytelling and speeches should not exceed 5:30 long.
LINCOLN DOUGLAS TOPIC:
Resolved: The United States ought to adopt a wealth tax.
PUBLIC FORUM TOPIC:
Resolved: The United States should substantially reduce its military support of Taiwan.
CONGRESSIONAL LEGISLATION: Legislation Packet:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/tabroom-files/tourns/33739/postings/57383/TurkeyTalkLegislationPacket.docx
JUDGES: We will need your judges in order to run the tournament.
The judge ratio for this tournament is 1 judge for every two debate entries; 1 judge for every 5 speech/interp/congress entries.
Please bring parents, teachers, former students, community members, etc.! Judges should be available for the duration of the tournament. Leaving early must be communicated with the tabroom and approved in order to avoid a no-show fee.
Judge training videos and additional judging resources can be found at https://www.speechanddebate.org/learn/judge-accreditation/
It is the affirmative duty of the coach to ensure that all judges (except students) must be approved as volunteers through their district’s volunteer system.
LUNCH: Lunch will be provided for all registered students, and coaches as of their tournament entry. Judges will be provided both breakfast and lunch in the judges lounge.
CONCESSIONS: Concessions (snacks, drinks, etc.) will be available for purchase with cash only. Those in attendance may purchase concessions throughout the day. There will also be pizza available for purchase to observers at lunchtime.
NO OUTSIDE FOOD OR BEVERAGES PERMITTED.
COACHES: Coaches must be available for the duration of the tournament.
Please make checks payable to NCFL-Pensacola and bring to the tournament or mail to:
C/o Ashley Carter, President
5500 Education Drive
Pace, FL 32571
Tournament Directors and League Contact:
Ashley Carter,850-516-8586
Katrina Brownsberger, 816-520-0742