KAREN KEEFER BIF

Dear Colleagues,

The Mountain View and Los Altos Speech and Debate team cordially invites you to the 3rd annual Karen Keefer Invitational Swing, which will take place on October 30th-31st on the virtual NSDA Campus platform. Mrs. Keefer is a former speech-parent-turned-Diamond-coach who volunteered with MVLA and the Coast Forensics League for over twenty years.

The debate portion of the swing will run from 8:30 AM to 6:30 PM on Saturday. There will be 4 rounds of novice and JV Lincoln-Douglas and Public Forum debate, with hidden finals in round 4 for the top two teams in each division. Awards for those with winning records or better will be announced and presented at the end of the tournament, and the champions of the final will be recognized.

The speech portion of the swing will run 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM on Sunday. There will be 3 preliminary rounds of novice and JV speech, with divisions breaking to a final round if size warrants. Divisions may be broadly collapsed into a collective Interpretation division and a collective Original/Platform division for divisions with low entry. Students in speech may double enter. Awards for those making the final round, or the top three in divisions not breaking to a final will be announced at the end of the tournament.

The tournament will utilize tabroom.com and NSDA Campus for pairings, virtual rooms, and results of all events.

Middle and high school students are welcome. We encourage all debaters to be respectful of their peers and judges, in order to maintain a safe and welcoming debate environment.

In order to facilitate the social aspect of tournaments, we will hold collective games run by senior students during downtime between rounds. More announcements on this to come!

WHICH DIVISION SHOULD I REGISTER FOR?

Who is a Novice?
A novice is any high school or middle school student who has competed in any event for less than one year who has not broken at any tournaments at the time of registration.

Who is JV?
A junior varsity entry is any high school or middle school student who has competed in any event for two or fewer years at the time of registration. Someone cannot be considered JV if they have broken at any varsity tournament.

"Speech" and "debate" are considered separate for eligibility purposes (e.g. if a student had some experience in debate but no experience in speech, they could be considered as "novice" in speech).

Lincoln Douglas
Lincoln Douglas will use the September/October topic as presented on the NSDA official website, and will follow the 6 - 3 - 7 - 3 - 4 - 6 - 3 format. Maximum prep time will be 4 minutes. Notice that the tournament will follow NSDA rules, not CFL rules. Evidence will be held to the highest standard and complete citations are highly encouraged.

Public Forum
Public Forum will use the September/October topic, and will follow the 4 - 4 - 3 - 4 - 4 - 3 - 3- 3 - 3 - 2 - 2 format (in accordance with the NSDA pilot rules). Each team will have access to 3 minutes of prep time during the round. Sides and order will be locked to postings.

Speech
We will offer the following speech events:
Mixed Extemp, Impromptu, Humorous Interp, Dramatic Interp, Oratorical Interp, Original Oratory
We reserve the right to collapse interpretation events into a single division or to collapse JV and novice divisions as entries warrant.

Judging
Judges who are called for ballots but fail to appear will be fined $100 per round missed. Varsity students are welcome to cover obligations, but please use your best judgement about the students you provide, who should be substantially experienced sophomores or more. We encourage parents to volunteer even if this is their first time judging. We may provide a brief judge training in the morning. Half-day commitments are not permitted. Tabroom.com accounts are mandatory for all judges in order to access online ballots for rounds.

Platform Use & Communication

Using NSDA Campus
All participants must have a Tabroom account prior to the tournament start date. We will send additional use instructions out prior to the event.

Slack
Primary communication will be on Slack. Everyone must join the workspace and information will be sent out prior to the event. We will also hold games between rounds and those Zoom links can be accessed on Slack. The join link is TBA.

Help Line
Email: tournament@mvlasdb.org

Tournament Logistics
All competitors and judges should be in their NSDA Campus call at the time noted on the schedule or report technical issues to the help line. The forfeit time for teams or individuals who have not reported technical issues is 10 minutes after round start time.

Each round will have one NSDA campus call and will be listed on personal Tabroom accounts.

When all competitors for the round and the judge are there, start round, regardless of whether it is before the allotted time. For example, if everyone is there by 9:05 and rounds start at 9:20, you may start at 9:05.

Behavioral Norms
Coaches or other adults should not communicate with students during rounds.

Use the helpline to contact tournament officials if necessary. Use of the chat function on NSDA Campus should be limited and should not contain any text that could be construed as argumentative in nature. In all Campus Rooms, if not speaking, debaters/judges should stay on mute. Competitors and judges should keep their video on for the duration of the round.

Calls should be made on laptop or desktop computers, as opposed to cell phones. Debaters and judges should all use headphones or headsets. Students with financial need who cannot access these resources should contact us as soon as possible.

We will have a “warm room” available for inter-student interaction and questions. Norms on there will be the same as in a normal tournament. Anyone who engages in unprofessional behavior will be banned from the “warm room” or face similar consequences.

There is no recording of rounds allowed. If someone is caught recording rounds, they will be removed from the tournament and the infraction will be reported to their institution. Recording children without their parents’ permission is illegal, and the tournament is not collecting permission forms for recording.

I will keep a copy of this form for reference. *

YES

We are signing up with the understanding that my child will work to be ready by the tournament date. If we choose to drop out because my child is not ready that will be considered when making assessments for future classes. *

YES

I understand that if I fail to drop the tournament before the deadline that I will still be responsible for the fees of both my son or daughter, along with that of his or her partner and the fines. *

YES

I understand that if payment is not received we won't be registered and our spot will be given up to someone else. *

YES

I confirm that I have completed all necessary paperwork for this tournament. *

YES

I understand that The Golden State Academy has no control over tournament entries other than the initial sign up. I understand that my child's priority will be based on either the last time I signed up OR the date paid, whichever is latest. *

YES

I understand that my child must check in and check out periodically at the tournament with the coach and that if I do not my child will be barred from participating in following tournaments. This is to ensure coaches can see where students are at competitively and to give any initial feedback for improvement. *

YES

I understand that I can check my entry status through tabroom.com. *

YES

I am a consenting adult. I understand that by submitting this form I agree to all that has been covered. *

YES

KAREN KEEFER JV NOVICE SWING

30 October 2021 - debate
31 October 2021 - speech

Information

Entry Price

Tentative Schedule

Drop Fee

Contact Info

Registration Form

We would love to have you visit soon at one of our open houses.
Check our home page for the schedule!

School year Hours

Telephone

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Locations

KAREN KEEFER JV NOVICE SWING ​

30 October 2021 - debate31 October 2021 - speech