Invitation/Information

South Carolina Forensic Coaches Association

State Tournament

February 21, 2026

In Person at Newberry College, Newberry, SC

Coaches and Teams,

You are cordially invited to participate in the 2026 SCFCA State Tournament to be held in person on Saturday, February 21. The tournament will be Saturday only and will include 4 rounds of preliminary competition in all events followed by finals (in events that have large enough numbers). At the end of the tournament, placing students and state champions will be recognized as well as the top schools in 1A-5A divisions. We hope that each of you will make plans to take part in this end-of-the-season event!

Registration is in Tabroom at http://scfcastates.tabroom.com

The following events will be offered:

Lincoln-Douglas Debate (novice and varsity divisions if numbers warrant)

Public Forum Debate (open division – will add Novice if numbers grow)

Congressional Debate (open)

Extemporaneous Speaking

Impromptu Speaking (7 minutes)

Novice Impromptu Speaking (5 minutes)

Original Oratory

Informative Speaking

Expository Speaking

Declamation (9^th and 10^th grade only)

Dramatic Interpretation

Humorous Interpretation

Duo Interpretation

Children’s Literature

Novice Reading (first year only)

Program Oral Interpretation

Prose

Poetry

Middle school divisions – impromptu (5 minutes), declamation, reading, expository

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE:

Final Registration – 8:00-8:45 am

Round 1 for all events – 9:00 am (Saturday)

Round 2 for all events – 11:00 am (Saturday)

Round 3 for all events – 1:00 pm (Saturday)

Round 4 for all events – 3:00 pm (Saturday)

Finals 5:00 pm – (Saturday) – no finals for Middle School event

Awards Program – Saturday 6:30 pm

Please read the information that follows for more details.

Looking forward to seeing you and your students at States!!

President: Emma Newell (enewell@greenville.k12.sc.us)

Vice President: Jonathan Dorn (jdorn@greenville.k12.sc.us)

Treasurer: Coralie Watkins, Greenville Technical Charter (cwatkinsld@yahoo.com)

Tournament Manager: Gail Nicholas, Bob Jones Academy (gnichols@bobjonesacademy.net)

Host: Newberry College

Newberry College, Newberry, SC

Registration -

Student hang out -

Judges lounge -

Awards location –

Parking –

2026 SCFCA State Tournament

Student Eligibility:

1. Each competitor must have competed in at least one (1) South Carolina tournaments prior to the State tournament and during the 2023-2024 school year. This includes YIG and Mock Trial and does include a tournament in which the student worked. (This requirement was dropped by a vote at the 2023 Coaches Meeting.)

Registration:

1. Schools may have unlimited entries as long as required judges are provided.

2. Registration is in Tabroom at http://scfcastates.tabroom.com

a. Registration Due in Tabroom.com by February 18 at 5 pm

b. Drop/Adds allowed until Thursday, February 19 at 5 pm

c. Final Registration confirmation/check-in (to be completed on Tabroom and at the tournament site) - Saturday, February 21, from 8 am – 8:30 am

Payment Information:

SCFCA Membership Dues

All SCFCA Dues paid BEFORE February 21 will be $75. Make check to SCFCA and mail to

Coralie Watkins

106 Seminole Drive

Simpsonville, SC 29680-2420

Once a competing school has paid, the Tabroom invoice will be adjusted to reflect the deduction of $75. Dues paid on February 21 will be charged $100.

Proof of Payment

The SCFCA State Tournament is requiring one of the following proofs of payment prior to the tournament date:

1. Payment in advance, OR

2. A photo of the actual check that will go in the mail (emailed to watkinsd@compuserve.com), OR

3. Proof of a purchase order or proof that your check is being processed from your school bookkeeper (emailed to watkinsd@compuserve.com).

Schools that do not provide one of the above will be dropped on Saturday morning, and your students will not be allowed to compete. Schools using option 2 or 3 above will be allowed to compete, but awards will not be mailed until payment has actually been received.

Student Fees will freeze on Wednesday at 5 pm. Any fines will be imposed after that deadline.

Double/Triple Entries:

1. There is no limit on the number of double entries per school. Any school that does not meet its judge’s quota will be required to drop the appropriate number of entries at registration to meet its quota.

2. There is no limit on the number of triple entries. Any school that does not meet its judge’s quota will be required to drop the appropriate number of entries at registration to meet its quota.

3. No Debate (LD, PFD, Congress) participant may double enter.

4. Interp participants who double/triple enter must use a different selection for each event.

5. Extempers may double enter but not in DUO or any of the debate events.

6. Students entered in Novice Reading MAY double/triple enter but must use different pieces.

7. Students who are double/triple entered must first go to the event in which they are posted highest.

8. Middle school students may only double.

Judging Requirements:

1. Each school must provide ONE judge regardless of numbers.

2. One judge for every FIVE Speech entries

3. One judge for every SIX Congress entries.

4. One judge for every TWO LD entries

5. One judge for every TWO PFD teams.

6. Hired judges are very limited and must be requested in advance at a cost of $100 each.

7. Large schools are encouraged to find and designate unaffiliated judges for the tournament.

8. Small-School Bonus – to encourage small schools (under 10 entries) to bring an extra judge, the SCFCA will pay $50 for each additional judge brought beyond the school’s required quota. In order to receive this bonus, the extra judges must judge the entire tournament for that day – through the final round on Saturday. Small schools must pay the state dues. The extra judge money will be paid at the end of the tournament once the rounds have been judged.

9. All judges are obligated for all rounds.

10. All coaches should be aware that the following penalties will be imposed for no-show judges:

a. $50 per round per no-show judge.

b. A member school must pay all fines within 30 days after the tournament to be eligible for the 2027 tournament.

11. Judges will be entered into one of four judging pools – speech, LD, PFD, Congress – based on the individual’s ability to judge certain events. If an individual can judge in more than one pool, this should be noted in Tabroom.com. If Congress judges are not used, they will be moved to the debate or speech pool for the tournament. Please note that a judge may count as a required judge in only one category.

12. A panel of three judges will be used in each break round if judge pool numbers allow. Panels of three judges MUST be used in Finals of each event.

13. When registering judges, use the comment section to mark the following judges:

(Please “clean out” any comments from previous tournaments.)

a. Parents – give the events that their children compete in.

b. College freshmen

c. Graduates of competing high schools who are judging for a different school.

d. Parliamentarians should be noted.

14. Please remind college judges that in order to maintain an appearance of fairness and maturity, they should spend their free time in the judges lounge rather than fraternizing with competitors.

15. Please encourage all of your judges to complete the judges certification provided by the NSDA. Level 1 is enough for each event that a judge is registered for. This is found on the homepage after login is done – to the far right – “judge certifications”

Instructions for Judges:

1. Please make sure that all judges have an account linked with Tabroom prior to the day of the tournament. All judges must bring a device on which to judge. Cell phones are not preferred.

2. Students must perform in the order they are posted unless double/triple entered. When a double/triple enter contestant arrives and you have already passed their speaking assignment, fit them in as the next speaker. DO NOT let them wait until last.

3. Students must compete in the room to which they are assigned. Please read postings out loud before beginning the round. Please be sure to begin each round on time. The round may begin without the double/triple entrants in the room who are posted lower (later) as they might be competing in their other event/s.

4. Make sure that you push the “start” button as the round begins. The tabroom staff will be watching for rounds to begin, so this is your signal to them that you are present and judging. Make sure at the end of the round you push “complete.”

5. A competitor whose piece runs more than 30 seconds over the time allotted cannot receive first place for that round (NSDA Rule). A greater penalty is given at the judge’s discretion.

6. Other than over time, time should NOT be a factor in judging. There is NOT a minimum time limit.

7. Please be sure that sound is turned off on all beepers, phones, and other electronic devices during rounds.

8. Judges may not substitute for other judges from the same school without getting permission from the tab room. All judge changes must be made by the TAB room.

9. Judges should NOT observe during free rounds due to conflicts with later assigned rounds.

10. Decisions/results should not be revealed after rounds. Only the TAB room can announce results.

Fees and Fines:

The following fee schedule has been approved for the 2026 Tournament. Please make sure that all debts with the SCFCA are paid from year to year.

1. SCFCA Dues paid BEFORE February 21, 2026 $75

(Make check to SCFCA and mail to Coralie Watkins

106 Seminole Drive Simpsonville, SC 29680-2420

2. SCFCA Dues paid ON or AFTER February 21, 2026 $100

3. Entry fee per Single Event $15

4. Middle School per entries $10

5. Second/Third entry for a student $15 (per entry)

6. Team Entry Fee (Duo and PFD) $30

7. Hired Judges $100

8. Any “No Show” Judge PER ROUND $50

9. Fine for each DROP after 5:00 pm Wednesday, Feb. 18 $20

(instead of the $15 entry fee)

10. In lieu of a $200 Judge Bond, any team with a no-show judge will be fined $50 per round in which the judge is a no-show.

Pairings:

1. Speech Events – four (4) random rounds, break to finals round based on the number of entries. Speech elims are cumulative from round 1 through finals.

2. Debate (PD, PF, CX) – two (2) random rounds. Rounds 3 and 4 will be powered based on the computer program’s set up (usually hi/lo within brackets). Break to final rounds based on the number of entries.

3. Congress – Two sessions (Saturday). The chambers will be determined by a random draw of the computer. School entries will be numerically separated into chambers as evenly as possible. Chamber lists will be available at the final registration.

4. Judges – one judge in preliminary rounds; three judges in break rounds. Two judges will be provided for each Congress session. One of these judges may also serve as a parliamentarian if numbers do not allow for a separate parliamentarian.

5. Middle School – 4 random rounds

Event Number Requirements:

1. Events with fewer than six (6) entries by the February 18 deadline will not be offered. Schools that have entered dropped events will be notified immediately.

2. Events with two divisions will collapse into one division if:

a. There are fewer than 6 entries in either division (VLD and NLD; Prose and Poetry; Impromptu)

b. There are fewer than 4 entries in either division (NCX and VCX – but not offered this year)

Topics:

1. Congress will use the February NSDA Legislation.

2. Public Forum Debate will use the March NSDA topic.

3. Lincoln-Douglas Debate will use the March NSDA topic.

Trophies:

1. We will award trophies to 1^st-6^th place in each speech event with over 12 entries.

2. We will award the Top Novice recognition to the highest ranking first-year student in all events not specifically intended for novice students.

3. The best Presiding Officer in each congressional chamber will receive a gavel but no sweepstakes points.

4. Sweepstakes trophies will be given to those schools that place 1^st-6^th overall.

5. One classification championship trophy per class will be given (A, AA, AAA, AAAA, AAAAA)

Schedule of Events:

1. Please see the schedule posted above.

2. This schedule is TENTATIVE. Unexpected situations may later the scheduled times. Therefore, all coaches and competitors are responsible for being aware of any delayed or early postings. The forfeit rule will apply in all cases with no exceptions.

3. Awards are scheduled for 6:30 pm on Saturday.

Observers:

1. Any contestant may observe his own round – there will be no closed sessions.

2. A contestant will not be allowed to ask his/her fellow competitors to leave the room during a performance.

3. No observers will be allowed in LD, PF, or CX (not offered this year) until the final round.

4. All speech rounds will be open to observers who are not in the judge pool.

5. Coaches are asked to encourage their team members to observe the final rounds of all speech events. However, room sizes may limit the number of observers.

6. Appropriate behavior is expected of all observers. Distracting or disruptive behavior will not be tolerated.

7. Judges should NOT observe unless permanently released from the Judging Pool.