HYBRID RULES & PROCEDURES

~ Updated 2/22/22

The Texas Forensic Association State tournament is one of the largest and most competitive events in the United States, bringing together many individuals from five different Regions from across the state.  This year’s TFA State tournament will offer a hybrid option for programs to embrace equity, inclusion, efforts to provide options for programs during our Global pandemic. The Directors of Programs/Head Coach of record will be the individual reporting to the TFA if their teams/students from those teams will utilize the hybrid option. The TFA Executive Council did not reach this decision lightly and the majority of a diverse group of individuals believe that while imperfect, it gives members options that best serve the needs of their teams/students at this time.

Notes for Head Coaches/Directors of Programs

It is the responsibility of Head Coaches/Directors of Programs to indicate by February 19, 2022, the teams/individual students on their teams who will opt into the hybrid option. The only change after that point will be for students who are ill and based on safety protocols are unable to attend the competition in person.

It is the responsibility of coaches to remind students who are competing in Congressional Debate, Public Forum, Lincoln Douglas, Policy Debate, and World Schools Debate events to bring necessary portable equipment to debate on NSDA Campus in case they are paired against an online competitor. As in the virtual events we have experienced over the last two years, students should ensure the portable device they have can access NSDA Campus and/or Zoom. To be clear, ALL STUDENTS COMPETING IN DEBATE EVENTS SHOULD HAVE A PORTABLE DEVICE (WITH A WEBCAM) TO ENSURE THAT IF PAIRED AGAINST A STUDENT WHO IS OPTING FOR THE HYBRID/ONLINE OPTION, THEY CAN ACCESS THE INTERNET. It is not the responsibility of the Texas Forensic Association to provide devices for students, coaches, or judges to fulfill these roles.

The tournament may include in-person v in-person debates, online v online debates, and hybrid in-person v online debates. For individual events, students opting to compete virtually will do so synchronously. Other students in those rounds may opt to log in to watch those competitors speak in real-time. Students in Duo Interpretation/Duet Acting must be in the same location given the unique nature of that event.

You will know if your team is engaging in a hybrid debate because the opponent on the pairing will say “—HYBRID” or “—ONLINE.” An “ONLINE” team means all members of a team are competing at home.

When in-person v “HYBRID” debates occur, all available parties will report to the room on the pairing and conduct the debate on NSDA Campus.

When in-person v “ONLINE” debates occur, the in-person team will report to the assigned classroom on the pairing. The judge will report to a the assigned room on the pairing to judge the debate. If judges are adjudicating a round and feel that they cannot judge in an unbiased manner the round where one team/student is in the person and the other is online, that judge may access a dedicated judging space or find a place on campus they prefer to judge in. If a student opts to complete virtually in individual events, they should understand they likely will be unable to see the other competitors perform. The Texas Forensic Association expects that all judges have cameras on during the round and reason for the decision.

In World Schools, if an in-person team is competing against a hybrid/online team, the in-person team may use computers to communicate, prepare materials to ensure competitive equity.

As a refresher, all coaches and students should review the best practices for online competitions established by the VIQT committee. 

Judges (Hired and School)

All judges must bring necessary portable equipment to judge on NSDA Campus in case they are assigned to a hybrid/online round. No judge may ‘opt-out” of judging a round that may occur online if they are assigned to that round of competition.

Judges labeled “ONLINE” after their last name in the judging pool will judge either online v online or hybrid in-person v online debates.

If a student opts to compete online for those judging individual events, those students forgo their ability to watch other competitors.

In elimination rounds, if one team/student is online, members of the panel should be assigned to a room together that is not in the same room as the on-site team. If one or more judges are online and one or both teams are in person, the whole panel should participate online if feasible. If not feasible, headsets must be worn to minimize feedback.

Event-specific guidelines for online/hybrid competition.

Congressional Debate

If a student has opted to compete in Congressional Debate online/hybrid, they acknowledge that competitors will not be able to politic/caucus in the chamber in the same way those in person may be able to do. While hybrid competition does offer a student the ability to participate if they are unable to attend in person whereas they would be unavailable to compete otherwise, given the nature of Congressional Debate.

The following expectations, along with accommodations by the TFA, will work to offer the best experience to all students, whether in person or online.

The TFA requires that all students online should have their cameras on unless the debater has motioned to exit the chamber to ensure they are physically present during the rounds.

The TFA will engage in due diligence to provide the necessary technology to allow those that are competing online/hybrid, the ability to see/hear the debate in the chamber that is in person. This includes projecting the online competitor onto a smartboard for in person members of the chamber to view and hear the online competitors. 

All online students will have a mandatory check-in time as it allows the tab room to know who is missing and allows them to track that student down before the round begins.

The breaks for elimination rounds will be posted the night before the round to mitigate the impact of latecomers to the session in addition to a pre-scheduled Tabroom blast with the schedule for the next elimination round.

If there are online competitors, the goal will be to have smaller NSDA Campus rooms and/or Zoom rooms for sections with multiple competitors competing online to allow Presiding Officers the ability to see raised hands and mitigate precedence being missed.

Extemporaneous Speaking/Extemporaneous Speaking Draw 

If students are online/hybrid, they need to be in a separate Zoom/Campus room (if 12 students or under are competing online) which will be monitored by a member of the extemporaneous speaking tab room for Extemp Draw.  A break-out room will be made for each speaker number. Students are then only hearing information that’s relevant to their speaker number, and topics can be quickly dropped into the chat of specific breakout rooms avoiding all competitor confusion.

Online/hybrid competitors in Extemporaneous Speaking must have their camera on during the preparation time. 

Students who are competing online will have a section of three topics that will be provided to them via the chat function of the platform (Zoom or NSDA Campus) that we use.

Students competing virtually will have the expectation to move quickly between the preparation room and the competition room.

Impromptu Speaking

Impromptu Speaking will utilize the same process as Extemporaneous Speaking for competition to ensure they are speaking in the correct order.

Lincoln Douglas Debate, Policy Debate, World Schools, and Public Forum Debate

Students competing in Lincoln Douglas Debate, Policy Debate, World Schools, and Public Forum Debate should understand that if they are matched against an opponent that is debating online, they must have a device and be prepared to debate that round against a virtual opponent.

Individual Events

If a student is competing virtually in individual events, they should be in the digital room assigned to them and wait to perform. The judge/judges will hear those speakers in their assigned speaker order to the degree possible.

Duet/Duo Acting

If a duo team is competing online, both members of the team must be in the same location.