General Rules & Guidelines

 Longhorn Classic  

Individual Events Patterns:

Contestants may enter two events from Pattern A: Dramatic Interp, Foreign Extemp, Informative Speaking
Contestants may enter two events from Pattern B: Humorous Interp, Oral Interp (Prose/Poetry), US Extemp
Contestants may enter two events from Pattern C: Duo Interpretation, Program Oral Interpretation, Original Oratory

Congress and PF/CX/LD/WS Debate contestants may not cross enter into other events.

We will use the December PF topic. 

 Entry Guidelines

TFA event rules will be followed in DI, HI, Oratory, International Extemp, US Extemp, Informative Speaking, POI, and Duo. NCFL event rules will be followed in Oral Interp (which means students will prepare one performance of prose and one performance of poetry and will alternate through rounds). This is a TFA State Qualifier for member schools and a Tournament of Champions Qualifier in LD (qrtrs), CX (qrtrs), PF (Gold: semi-finals; Silver: qrtrs), Congress (finals – top 16), and all relevant speech categories. 

The tournament is also a NIETOC qualifier in relevant events, a Kentucky Tournament of Champions qualifier, as well as an Extemp TOC qualifier in both Extemp divisions for all students advancing to the quarter-finals.

On-line balloting through tabroom.com will be used as much as practicable for all events.

Complete updated TFA rules for TFA sponsored events may be found in the TFA Constitution, available at: http://www.txfa.org/

A summary of Individual Events Rules may be found on the Individual Events Rules & Descriptions tab on the menu bar of this page.

Novice Eligibility: 

At the Longhorn Classic a policy team may enter the novice division if it meets one of the following criteria:

1.  It is the first full year of debate competition for both debaters. 

2.  Both debaters are still in middle school.  They have not entered 9th grade.

*Note: For a year of debate competition to count toward the novice quota the debater should have competed in at least 3 tournaments.

Novice eligibility clarification FAQ's

1.  If my 9th-grade debater competed in middle school debate and attended at least 3 debate tournaments do they have to compete in the varsity division?  Yes, we do not consider this team a novice. 

2.  If I have 8th-grade students who debated all 7th-grade year and attend 3 or more tournaments do they have to compete in varsity?  No, they are currently in middle school so they may stay in the novice division.

3.  If my 9th-grade debater debated in middle school but only attended two tournaments do they have to debate in varsity? No, they did not meet the 3 tournament threshold to qualify for a year of novice debate so they may stay in the novice division. 

4.  If my 9th-grade debater attended 1 tournament in 7th grade and 2 tournaments in 8th grade do they have to compete in the varsity division?  Yes, they have competed in 3 total tournaments during middle school so that counts as a full year of competition.

5.  Does attending a tournament in LD or Public Forum count toward my novice policy experience?  Yes, debate is debate.  While the events are different they share many of the same skill sets: flowing, line-by-line argumentation, calculating impacts, etc.  

 Currently enrolled High School students are not considered qualified judges and MAY NOT BE ENTERED AS JUDGES, even in Novice CX.

Individual Events and Duo Interp  

Entries: Students solely participating in IEs can enter up to six events, two in each pattern. However, due to draw considerations we do not recommend students in extemp crossing over within patterns. Students competing in debate may not cross over into individual events.

Rounds: There will be two preliminary rounds, quarter-finals (where warranted—no more than 50% of an event entry population will advance to elimination rounds), semi-finals, and finals in each of the events. No presentation should be comprised of material used by the student in competition prior to the current school year. As well, no student may use a piece or cutting in more than one event.  For advancement, events will aim for 24 advancing students in each event, up to a maximum of 32 depending on the mathematical cutoff using ranks followed by rank reciprocals to break ties.

IE Judging: Any school entered in individual events must provide a judge for every 12 individual event or Duo slots. Schools may pay fees in lieu of judges at a rate of $20 per uncovered slot. Missing judges or requested hires are fined at a rate of $250. Judges cannot cross over into other divisions. All judges will be committed through the end of the quarter-final rounds. Judges affiliated with schools with semifinalists will be committed through the final rounds. Judges without pre-assigned rounds must remain on stand-by and in close-proximity to the ballot table until the all-clear is given FOR EACH ROUND.

If your school enters Congress, you must (without exception) provide or pay for one qualified Parliamentarian who may be used either in that role or as a scorekeeper. All individual events judges must be available for all preliminary and all semi-final rounds. You may pay fees in lieu of judges if necessary. Schools with students advancing to semi-finals in speech events are required to be available for all final rounds. Debate judges must be available for all preliminary rounds, through the octafinal debate AND one round past your school’s elimination.

Awards:

All quarterfinalists, semifinalists and finalists in each of the individual events will receive awards. All debating teams reaching the elimination rounds will receive awards (in round). Top speaker awards will also be given. Debate Sweepstakes will be calculated on the top two entries in each debate category per school (based on prelim records). The Texas Forensic Union reserves the right to give additional awards at our discretion. Awards will not be mailed to schools departing early. We anticipate 5 school sweepstakes awards each in Debate, Speech, and combined Overall categories. Speech sweepstakes also will be calculated based on the top 2 entries in each category.

Debate: Prelim win=3, loss=1

Individual events & Congress: 1 pt for non-advancing quarter: 2 pts for non-advancing semi; 14, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4 for finals 1-6 place (and 2 pts for non-placing finalist in Congress; 1 pt for non-advancing semi-finalist in Congress).

 General Rules

 The following rules are not meant to come across as mean or overbearing. They are the result of errors made by individual teams and certain coaches visiting the UT campus in past years.

Purchase orders will not be accepted in lieu of payment by check or cash. Please arrange with your business office to insure ability to complete registration processes. Schools who fail to register and complete payment may have students rendered ineligible and removed from the systems.

An adult supervisor for each school must be in attendance at all times.

UT Classes on Friday last until 7:00 PM. Parking will be tight, even in adjacent pay lots. Please have bus drivers drop off in the vicinity of 21st and University. IMPORTANT: There is no longer an ability for buses to drop off directly at the UTC. Roads no longer are accessible in the PCL/Jester intersection. Your best drop off location is in the vicinity of 21st and University. 

For auto and van parking, please see the UT parking maps available at: https://utdirect.utexas.edu/apps/fasweb/parking/nlogon/maps/

Please note that SMOKING IS PROHIBITED in all locations while on the University of Texas campus. Violators will be ticketed by University of Texas police and students rendered disqualified.

Judges who fail to pick up assigned ballots will render their students ineligible for elimination round competition and fees will be assessed.

Students are responsible for notifying their judges if they are cross-entered in Individual Events patterns by signing in to rooms where judges may need to wait. Due to the continual use of rooms between debate and speech categories, judges can not wait in competition rooms beyond the scheduled times. Please consider this factor when making decisions about entering multiple events within each pattern. Any student failing to arrive or sign-in more than 30 minutes after the start of a round will be listed as a no-show.  Extempers are responsible for departing other pattern events in time to arrive at Extemp Draw before their designated draw times.

Any person caught vandalizing UT property, including the removal of any campus postings or flyers, will be required to leave the campus immediately and will render the sponsor school’s competitors ineligible for further competition. In loco parentiis rules apply at all times, meaning that entering schools are responsible for ensuring abidance of these rules at all times and paying costs associated with any damage to University of Texas property. An emergency cell phone contact for the adult supervisor must be provided at registration.

Results packets will be distributed electronically at the conclusion of the tournament, and awards will not be mailed.

Please note that the highest standards for etiquette and professionalism are expected of all students, judges, and coaches while in attendance at the tournament. Please be courteous and respectful to all competitors, coaches, and especially University representatives, including our tournament staff.  

FEES: 

Due to previous non-payments, PURCHASE ORDERS will not be accepted. Please arrange to have your school check prior to your departure for Austin or be prepared to submit a personal check to hold pending school payment.

All entries should be recorded at joyoftournaments.com no later than November 13 at 12:00 noon. You may make changes to that entry without penalty until November 25 at 5:00 p.m. Note that this is the day we will close off entry. Categories may reach maximum capacity earlier than this date, so please do not try to wait until the last moment to get your entries in.

There will be a $25 school fee, which will be assessed the day the entry is received. The school fee pays for general hospitality and admin fees. However, please note that even if your entire entry is dropped, you are responsible for the school fee and any assessed drop fees according to the following guidelines.

All changes and drops made after the drop deadline will incur a $10 drop fee plus the original entry & applicable judge fees for PF, CX, and LD debate, and a $10 drop fee plus applicable judge and entry fees for Individual Events and Duo.

Drops made after the drop deadline (including at registration) will incur the judge and entry fees plus a $50 drop fee for PF, CX, and LD and entry fee plus $25 for IE and Duet.

Unreported drops or no shows will incur the entry fee plus a $100 drop fee and will be billed directly to the administration of the school. 

Judges dropped after the drop deadline will incur the judge fees plus a $100 drop fee. Judges dropped on the day of the tournament will incur the judge fees plus a $200 drop fee. All debate judges must be listed by name by 5pm Tuesday, November 26th or they will be purged and appropriate judge fees assessed.

Judges who fail to pick up a ballot for an assigned round will incur a $50 fee for the first instance ($75 for elims). A second instance will incur a $100 nuisance fee, plus judge drop fees, plus calculated judge fees. Trading of ballots is not permitted without the express permission of the tabroom. 

ALL fees must be paid prior to the announcement of elimination rounds or students will be rendered ineligible for elimination round competition.

Teams should pay by check or cash. Cash is the preferred method of payment, ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE PAYING JUDGE FEES. Due to previous non-payments, purchase orders will not be accepted. Failure to resolve all fees will render students ineligible for competition. Checks should be made out to the University of Texas Forensic Union. A credit card option will be available on request.

Entry Fee Calculation

Entry fees will be calculated and may be printed immediately upon completion of your entry at tabroom.com, and on an ongoing basis throughout the change period up to and including drop fees until the data is downloaded for scheduling. All adds/drops should be entered at tabroom.com. After the entry data has been downloaded, instructions for submitting any additional changes or drops will be placed on the website.

Base entry fees are as follows: Individual Events - $30 per entry (a Duo pair counts as one entry); LD - $65; Novice CX - $85 per team; Championship CX - $105 per team, Congress - $30; Public Forum - $85 per team; World Schools - $100 per team.

If your school enters Congress, you must (without exception) provide or pay for one qualified Parliamentarian who may be used either in that role or as a scorekeeper. All individual events judges must be available for all preliminary and all semi-final rounds. You may pay fees in lieu of judges if necessary. Schools with students advancing to semi-finals in speech events are required to be available for all final rounds. Debate judges must be available for all preliminary rounds, through the octafinal debate AND one round past your school's elimination.

Currently enrolled High School students are not considered qualified judges and MAY NOT BE ENTERED AS JUDGES, even in Novice CX. 

Judges may NOT count for both Debate and IE requirements. A single judge may cover one group of the following: 12 individual events/duet slots, or 4 LD slots, or 2 CX/WS teams, or 4 PF teams, or as the required Scorekeeper or Parliamentarian for Congress entries. NCX only judges cannot cover championship entries. Currently enrolled High School students are not considered qualified judges and MAY NOT BE ENTERED AS JUDGES. No half judges may be purchased in debate events.

All school judges covering commitments must be listed by November 24 at 5:00PM. If your entry at that time necessitates judging fees, your school will be charged. After November 24 at 5:00PM the judging fees will be charged, with appropriate penalties as listed above, even if there is a drop in your school's entries. If you have name changes for judges after this date, they must be communicated to us by noon November 24, since we will be releasing strike sheet information shortly thereafter. After November 24^th, if you have changes in debate judging, please email directly brendon.bankey@austin.utexas.edu.

Debate Judging: Each school is expected to provide one qualified judge for each two CX debate teams or four LD or PF entries. Schools unable to provide judges may hire a limited number of Texas judges at the rate of $200 each. No half judges can be purchased. All collected judge fees will go to paying judges. While we will do our best to hire judges, it is ultimately a school's responsibility to cover judging for its competitors. All judges will be committed through the octofinal debate and one round after their team's elimination. Judges can only fulfill responsibilities in ONE area: CX, LD, PF or IE. However, if we do use your judges in other areas and your school has fully met its judging obligations, we will compensate them. Judges must be available for all scheduled events.

Any school entered in individual events must provide a judge for every 12 individual event or Duet Acting slots. Schools may pay fees in lieu of judges at a rate of $20 per uncovered slot.

 
All fees are used exclusively to benefit the University of Texas Forensic Programs

Purchase orders will not be accepted.