Competition Details

Competition Details: 

1. The tournament will consist of four live, preset, preliminary rounds held on Saturday, December 5th for all speech and debate events except Congress, which will consist of two preset, preliminary rounds. The purpose of this event is to provide an educational, low-pressure competition experience for high school and middle school students to receive feedback that springboards them into additional competition opportunities.

2. There must be 14 entries in an event for it to be held. No divisions will be collapsed, e.g. we will not combine a MS/Open division to meet minimum numbers. Coaches will be given an opportunity to re-register students in a different event if an event is unable to be held.

Recognition:

There will be no formal awards ceremony; all results will be made publicly available on Tabroom.com at the conclusion of the tournament. All coaches will be emailed a digital certificate template celebrating their students' participation. 

Event Details:

1. Public Forum will use the November/December topic which can be found at www.speechanddebate.org/topics on November 1.

2. Lincoln-Douglas will use the November/December topic which can be found at www.speechanddebate.org/topics  on October 1.

3. Policy will use the 2020-2021 topic, Resolved: The United States federal government should enact substantial criminal justice reform in the United States in one or more of the following: forensic science, policing, sentencing. There will be no Policy Debate case limits. 

4. There will be two prepared World Schools motions. Students will debate both sides of each motion.

a. This House regrets the rise of the social media “influencer.”

Info: An influencer is an individual who has the power to affect purchase decisions of others because of their authority, knowledge, position, or relationship with their audience—an individual who has a following in a particular niche, with which they actively engage. 

b. This House supports a system of presumed consent for organ procurement.

Info: A system of presumed consent, also known as an "opt-out" system, would presume someone's willingness to donate their organs after death unless they placed their name on a national opt-out register. This is in contrast with an "opt-in" system in which someone must place their name on a national opt-in register in order for their organs to be donated after their death. 

5. The Congressional Debate docket will be released by November 23.

6. Extemp topic areas: 

Round 1 - US Politics
Round 2 - Asia & Africa
Round 3 - US Business & Economics
Round 4 - World Conflicts

6. Visual aids in Informative Speaking are optional. No rule changes to accommodate electronic visual aids will be made.

Events Offered:

Middle School Public Forum Debate

Middle School Lincoln-Douglas Debate

Middle School Policy Debate

Middle School World Schools Debate 

Middle School Congressional Debate

Middle School Dramatic Interpretation

Middle School Humorous Interpretation

Middle School Program Oral Interpretation

Middle School Original Oratory

Middle School Informative Speaking

Middle School Mixed Extemporaneous Speaking

Open Public Forum Debate

Open Lincoln-Douglas Debate

Open Policy Debate

Open World Schools Debate 

Open Congressional Debate

Open Dramatic Interpretation

Open Humorous Interpretation

Open Program Oral Interpretation

Open Original Oratory

Open Informative Speaking

Open Mixed Extemporaneous Speaking

Additional NSDA Springboard Tournaments:

For speech competition opportunities or additional debate competition opportunities, check out the other two free tournaments offered as part of the NSDA Springboard Series, presented by the Julia Burke Foundation! A live debate tournament will be held October 24, and an asynchronous speech tournament will be held on November 14. More information about the NSDA Online Springboard Series, visit www.speechanddebate.org/springboard-series.