Information Packet

Myers Park High School ∙ Speech and Debate

2400 Colony Road ∙ Charlotte, NC 28209

mpspeechanddebate.weebly.com

Registration

Online Registrationwill open December 1, 2020 on Tabroom.com. All competitor and judge entries should be made through your team’s Tabroom account – no faxed or emailed entries will be accepted. Online registration will close for adds on January 4, 2021, and will close for all drops, name changes, and judge registration on February 6, 2021.

Final registration will take place on Tabroom.com on Friday, January 8, 2021. This registration is for final confirmation of entries. We request that any late entry changes after the close of online registration (drops/adds/name switches) be emailed to lairdlewis.help@gmail.com.

Entry fees will be $25.00 per entry in all events.

Payment

Ø  To pay via check, please mail your entry check no later than January 6, 2021.

§  Include your school name and invoice number on the check

§  Make checks payable to: Myers Park Speech and Debate and mail to: 2400 Colony Rd. Charlotte, NC 28209, Attn: Kathryn Dunn.

§  Please send a picture of the check to (704) 214 0899

Ø  To pay online via PayPal, please make your payment no later than January 8, 2021.

§  If you would like to pay using an existing PayPal account, input @MPSpeechanddebate as the recipient for payment. This is the PayPal account for the MPSD parent booster club.

§  If you would like to pay using a debit or credit card, independent of an existing PayPal account, follow this link: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/MPSpeechanddebate?locale.x=en_US

§  Payments on PayPal MUST include your school name and invoice number in the “Add a note” section.

Independent Entries Independent entries must email a letter of permission on school letterhead, signed by an administrator, to lairdlewis.help@gmail.com acknowledging the student(s) and authorized adult contact who may participate no later than January 6, 2021. Non-approved entries will be rejected.

We request all independent entries email a letter of permission on school letterhead, signed by an administrator, to lairdlewis.help@gmail.com acknowledging the student(s) and authorized adult contact who may participate no later than January 6, 2021. Non-approved entries will be rejected.

Judging

We value high-quality competition and take the educational value of Speech & Debate very seriously. Please do not supply judges who are unqualified or unwilling. We understand that inexperienced judges are often a necessity and can even be a valuable asset, but we do ask that you thoroughly train any first-time judges on their role prior to the tournament.

We will only accept high-school graduates as judges. No current high school student may judge any event at the Invitational.

Quotas

§  Individual Events: 1 judge per 5 entries

§  Public Forum Debate: 1 judge per 2 entries

§  Lincoln Douglas Debate: 1 judge per 2 entries

§  Congressional Debate: 1 judge per 6 entries

Hired Judges

NEW for 2021: Due to online competition amid the COVID-19 pandemic, we will not offer judges for hire this year. Schools must cover all entries with adequate judging in order to compete.

Electronic Access: The Invitational will be using electronic balloting through Tabroom.com in all events.

All judges MUST:

§  Have access to an electronic device with internet connectivity (we suggest the use of a laptop computer or tablet. Smartphones will also work but may be harder to enter comments on)

§  Have an account on Tabroom.com that is linked to their school prior to the beginning of the tournament.

Event Guidelines

Electronics Policy in Debate Events and Extemporaneous Speaking

Students may access the internet in Congressional Debate, Lincoln Douglas Debate, Public Forum Debate, and during Extemporaneous Speaking Prep. Students may use the internet to access files and evidence, but may NOT use the internet to communicate with any other person. Any student found to be communicating electronically during competition will be disqualified.

CONGRESSIONAL DEBATE

The Invitational will provide a legislation packet for competitors to be made available on Tabroom no later than 1 month prior to the tournament. Open competition in Congressional Debate will be held in three preliminary sessions followed by a final session. Congressional Debate will follow all NSDA event rules found in the High School Event Rules Manual unless otherwise noted here. Additionally, the Invitational will utilize the “direct questioning” format in competition.

LINCOLN DOUGLAS DEBATE

We are pleased to announce we will once again be awarding TOC bids in Lincoln Douglas Debate Finals. Varsity/Open competition in Lincoln Douglas Debate will feature six preliminary rounds, followed by 5-6 elimination rounds depending on the volume of entries.

Procedures

Lincoln Douglas competitors will have four minutes of preparation per side. Sides will be pre-assigned in preliminary rounds and will “flip” in elimination rounds unless the competitors have previously met. All round assignments will be high-low power matched after round 3. Speaker points will be assigned in 0.25 increments on a scale of 20-30. Points may tie between speakers but low-point wins are not permitted in Lincoln Douglas. The tournament will use the January/February topic for Lincoln Douglas as published by the NSDA. Lincoln Douglas Debate will follow all NSDA time limits and evidence rules.

Event Guidelines

PUBLIC FORUM DEBATE

We are pleased to announce we will once again be awarding TOC bids in Octa-Finals for Silver Public Forum Debate and Quarter-Finals for Gold Public Forum Debate. Varsity/Open competition in Public Forum Debate will feature six preliminary rounds, followed by 5-6 elimination rounds depending on the volume of entries.

Procedures

Public Forum teams will have three minutes of preparation per side. Sides will be “flip” in all preliminary and elimination rounds regardless if the competitors have previously met. All round assignments will be high-low power matched after round 3. Speaker points will be assigned to individual speakers in 0.25 increments on a scale of 20-30. Points may be tied between individual speakers and between teams. Low-point wins are not permitted in Public Forum. The tournament will use the January topic for Public Forum as published by the NSDA. Public Forum Debate will follow all NSDA time limits and evidence rules.

SPEECH EVENTS

We are pleased to announce we will once again be awarding TOC bids in all individual events. All speech events will follow NSDA rules published in the High School Event Rules Manual with the exception of Declamation which will follow published NCFL rules. All individual events will feature five preliminary rounds followed by a Semi-Final and Final round.

§  All speech events will allow a 30 second grace period beyond the maximum time limit for the event.

§  All events except Duo Interpretation will be held with live performances and synchronously.  All Duo Interpretation rounds will be held via prerecorded video submission with the option of live attendance each round for viewing.

§  Individual events will feature Open competition with the exception of Declamation which is limited to 9th and 10th grade students.

§  Dramatic Interpretation will follow NSDA rules on script eligibility, cutting, performance, and speech time limits. Rules are available in the HS Unified Manual which can be accessed on speechanddebate.org.

Competitors in individual events may enter up to two (2) events but should be aware that in order to stay on schedule no rounds will be held past their scheduled end time to allow double-entered students to compete. It is the responsibility of double-entered students to swiftly move between rounds of competition. Coaches are encouraged not to over-enter students who cannot handle this responsibility.