Information/Fees

Entries:           Entries will be accepted until our spaces are filled. We have a limited number of rooms, so plan on entering early! All entries dropped after 4:00 pm on Monday, September 12th will lose their original entry fee. We reserve the right to charge nuisance fees for drops that are not communicated with us in a timely fashion.

Judges:

·         Policy Debate – One judge for every two entries, or portion thereof.   YOU MUST PROVIDE AT LEAST ONE JUDGE. TOTAL BUYOUT IS NOT ALLOWED!

·         Lincoln-Douglas – One judge for every four entries, or portion thereof.

·         Public Forum Debate – One judge for every four entries, or portion thereof.

·         Congressional Debate – One judge for every eight entries. If you have more entries than sections, we'll put this judge in another pool.

·         World Schools Debate – One judge for every two teams.  NO BUYOUT IS ALLOWED.

·         Individual Events, divided into Interp and Public Speaking – One judge for every six entries, or portion thereof.

*All judges/hire requests must be entered on the website by Monday, September 12th at 4:00 pm or you will be assessed missing judge fees, which will be set. We need to get an accurate idea of how many judges to hire. Provided judges are always preferred to fees. Schools of judges who are scheduled to judge rounds and do not pick up ballots will be assessed a fee of $25 for every missed round. Committing to a judge and then not providing that judge will result in a missing judge fee assessed on the day of the tournament.

Debate Event Topics:

·         Cross-Examination Debate – NFHS Topic

·         Lincoln-Douglas Debate – September/October NSDA Topic

·         Public Forum Debate – September/October NSDA Topic

·         World Schools Debate – Round 1 (Impromptu), Round 2 (#3 Age Limit), Round 3 (#4 Teacher Unions), Semis (Impromptu), Finals (#7 Environment vs. Economic Rights)

·         Congressional Debate – The current TFA docket will be used.

o   Specifically, we will run items #16-20 in prelims, items #11-15 in semifinals (if necessary), and items #21-25 in finals.

Fees:

·         Missing Debate Judge - $150

·         Missing IE Judge - $150

·         Individual Event, Duo/Duet Entry - $15

·         LD, Congress Entry - $25

·         PFD, CX Entry - $50

·         World Schools Team - $75

Payment of Fees:       Schools should mail a check payable to Lindale High School Speech and Debate to cover all fees. While we understand that there may be some delays of payment, we would appreciate it if you can have a Purchase Order or proof of payment (emails with business offices would suffice) by the start of the tournament. If you are unable to do this, we understand but will require that all accounts be paid in full within 30 days after the tournament. All delinquent accounts are subject to a $100 fee.

Cross-Entering:          Students may participate in one debate event. Students may not cross-enter between debate and Individual Events. There are no cross-entry restrictions within Individual Events, but extreme cross-entry will be done at your own risk.

*Novice divisions will be collapsed without sufficient entry. We will make the final call regarding novice divisions by Monday, September 12th. Novice is defined as any first-year competitor. Competing in an event for the first time does not necessarily make a competitor a novice. Trying to manipulate this rule has an extremely negative impact on our activity. Please double-check your entry to make sure that your students are entered in the appropriate division.  If we have novice division in extemp, prelims will only be topics about the US Economy.  Elims can include the US Economy, US Social Issues, and US Politics.

Student Behavior:      All competitors and judges are held to the rules and regulations of the Texas Forensic Association. A coach (or another teacher) from every school or a parent must accompany students from the said school during competition. Parents/Guardians may attend the tournament with (and be responsible for) their child(ren) if a school representative is unavailable. Failure to comply with these guidelines may result in forfeiting the school from competition.

Other Notes:

·         We will make every effort as a tournament to run on schedule and will attempt to accelerate when possible. We ask for your patience and cooperation in the event that this is not possible.

·         We believe that oral critiques and disclosure are valuable teaching tools in debate. However, an oral critique does not replace a well-written ballot, as that is helpful communication at this time of the year between the judge and coach.

·         Panels will be provided for all TFA events in semifinals.

·         We will NOT break brackets in debate.

·         The third round of debate will be power-matched (hi-low).

·         Please pay attention to the TFA Constitution as it will govern this tournament.  You can find the full TFA Constitution here: https://txfa.org/documents/2021-22/TFA%20Constitution%2012-1-21.pdf

·         Questions should be directed to Rory McKenzie.