JAMES LOGAN MARTIN LUTHER KING JR INVITATIONAL

    17-19 January 2025

    DEADLINE
    8 Jan 2025
    NO REFUNDS AFTER THIS DATE
    ELIGIBILITY
    Open to middle and high school students
    LOCATION
    In-Person at James Logan High School
    1800 H Street, Union City, CA 94587​

    Information

    Coaches & Competitors,

    Welcome to the 2025 Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational. We look forward to inviting competitors, coaches, and judges to the James Logan High School campus for our 33rd year. We take pride in being able to offer an activity that continues to honor Dr. King’s legacy of empowering young voices.

    We host this tournament to further support the diversity of this activity in hopes that our youth will be inspired to engage in social change in their community and the world. Our hope is to provide a brave and inclusive space for competition where competitors can bring performances and researched cases to continue to fight for social justice.

    The tournament will take place from Friday, January 17 - Sunday, January 19, 2025 at James Logan High School in Union City, California. In this invitation letter you will find important information regarding registration, logistics, and changes to our tournament.

    If you have any suggestions, comments, or recommendations to help us improve the tournament, please feel free to contact me. If you have questions regarding any of the information do not hesitate to reach out. We are pleased you have chosen to compete at our tournament and wish you and your team the best of luck!

    IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS
    We will be hosting the tournament at James Logan High School located at 1800 H Street, Union City, CA 94587. Public parking is located on H Street, across the street from the James Logan Performing Arts Center adjacent to the swim complex & basketball courts. Please do not arrive on campus before 3:45 PM on Friday, January 17 and before 7:00 AM on the weekend.

    EVENTS
    Debate
    Lincoln Douglas (LD)
    Public Forum (PF)
    Speech
    Declamation (DEC)
    Dramatic Interp (DI)
    Duo Interp (DUO)
    Humorous Interp (HI)
    Impromptu (IMP)
    Informative (INFO)
    International Extemp (IX)
    National Extemp (NX)
    Original Oratory (OO)
    Program Oral Interp (POI)

    CROSS ENTRY
    The tournament allows cross-entry in one (1) Debate event and up to three (3) speech events. Cross-entry between Speech & Debate events are allowed.
    Triathlete competitors, or students who have entered in 3 speech events, are eligible for the annual competition awarded to the top 3 performers in the entire tournament.

    DIVISION
    The MLK tournament is a varsity competition in all events. Coaches must only enter students who are competing at the varsity level in their events. We cannot accept any independent entries at this time. All competing students must represent a registered high school. Any student competitors found in violation of this will be immediately disqualified from the competition.
    There is no middle school division this year.

    EVENT RULES
    We will adhere to NSDA rules (section 2 of High School Manual) for all national circuit events: this includes Lincoln Douglas, Public Forum, DI, Duo, HI, Info, IX, NX, OO, and POI.
    We will be following CHSSA rules & regulations for all California state events which include IMP, OI, OA, and OPP.
    If there are questions or concerns that arise regarding the rules during rounds, please have a coach submit the form to the Protest Committee within ninety (90) minutes of the conclusion of the round, or prior to the start of the next round - whichever comes first.

    TOC BIDS
    We are pleased that the MLK Invitational is a bid tournament for the 2024 National Individual Events Tournament of Champions (NIETOC) and the Tournament of Champions (TOC) at the University of Kentucky.
    Octofinals Bid
    Public Forum (Sliver)
    Quarterfinals Bid
    Public Forum (Gold)
    Humorous Interp
    Informative
    International Extemp
    National Extemp
    Dramatic Interp
    Original Oratory
    Semifinals Bid
    Program Oral Interp
    Duo Interp Program Oral Interp
    Note: Bid rounds for speech events are based on predictions from the last several years. Actual bids are based on entry sizes and are subject to change.

    JUDGING REQUIREMENT
    There will be dedicated judge pools based on events this year. Judges will need to be registered in one of the following pools: LD/PF, or Speech. There will not be a cross-entry option between judge categories to ensure an on-time tournament, allow single-flighted debate rounds when possible, and prioritize judge burnout.

    We are planning on pre-paneling rounds and posting judge obligations the day before the tournament. Missed round fines will be strictly enforced this year, so please make sure that your judging commitments are fulfilled throughout the entire tournament schedule. We reserve the right to use any and all judges for ANY event offered at the tournament, in order to ensure that we stay on schedule.

    We are asking that all parent judges complete the free Cultural Competency Judge Training offered by the NSDA to better the experience for all competitors.

    Some Judging reminders:
    • Please have judges create their own Tabroom account using their own email accounts. We will only accept the real names of each judge.
    • Please have judges enter their CELL PHONE number on their tabroom accounts as we will use this number to send text reminders throughout the tournament.
    • Please ensure that your judges can stay for their entire commitment. We do not allow judges to judge under any name but their own.
    • If a judge does not get an assignment for two rounds in a row, please have them check in with the judge lounge for support.
    • We especially need judges committed to the back-to-back debate outrounds starting on Saturday night to ensure that they go smoothly and the tournament stays on time.

    EQUITY STATEMENT
    As a community of educators, we commit ourselves to the advancement of equity, social justice, and educational opportunity for our people. We understand that we have the privilege to stand on the shoulders of such great leaders of equally great movements, like the namesake of the tournament, and because of this, our commitment to solidarity perseveres.
    Tournament officials are committed to the safety and well-being of all its participants -- students, coaches, and judges. Equity Officers will be available to address concerns that challenge safety and fairness of the competition. We have Zero Tolerance of harassment, bullying, and/or discrimination of any kind. We expect all competitors, coaches, judges, and staff to make a commitment to providing a safe environment for all students to compete.
    The Equity Committee will be able to assist in adjudication of any protests that arise. This committee will serve students and coaches to ensure our diverse populations' concerns are heard and uphold the standards of inclusion that this activity promises to have.

    The Equity Committee is honored to be led by:
    Chair
    Dr. Tommie Lindsey, Jr.
    Vice President of NSDA Board
    Director Emeritus, James Logan

    Dr. Lindsey’s equity statement:
    “As we move into unprecedented times it is important for our program to be at the forefront to initiate the ways in which the world should change. Speech and Debate students contribute a diverse, intellectual, and promising narrative for our future. Incorporating equity into our mission as an organization is putting action to the words that often just live on paper. We are committed to equity for all. This core value will allow opportunity to exist for all students.
    James Logan Forensics prides itself as a team that champions one of the most culturally diverse communities in the nation. It is incumbent on our organization to represent students in a fair and just way. Having an equity committee at the MLK tournament ensures we are holding ourselves and the community accountable so that, regardless of existing issues of access or resources, all of your voices will be heard.”

    AWARDS
    The award ceremonies will be held immediately following the speech final rounds. Names will be recognized “on stage” during the Awards Ceremony for all Speech finalists and all Debate quarter-finalists and up.
    Awards will be available for the following competitors starting at:
    • Octofinalists in Debate Events
    • Quarterfinalists in Individual Events

    BE THE CHANGE WORKSHOPS
    Included in the registration fees is an opportunity for students and coaches to participate in interactive workshops and discussions about issues within the Speech and Debate activity. This is to give folks a platform to come together to address ongoing injustices in our community, and discuss an advocacy plan for productive change.
    Workshop themes will be announced as the event draws near. Pre-registration will be required.

    PERMISSION FORMS
    Each school will be responsible for submitting a school permission form signed by their school administrator in order to complete registration. The document will be due by January 8, 2025.
    1.   MLK School Participation Permission Form → Signed by school-approved chaperone and school administrator.

    ​Entry Price

    The following fees assume that you (parent) will be judging at this tournament.

    One Speech Event $105
    Two Speech Events $160

    LD only $130
    LD + 1 Speech $185
    LD + 2 Speech $240

    PF only $100
    PF + 1 Speech $155
    PF + 2 Speech $210

    If you enter in SPEECH ONLY and parent is OPTING OUT OF JUDGING, you will pay an additional $80
    If you enter in DEBATE ONLY and parent is OPTING OUT OF JUDGING, you will pay an additional $150
    If you enter in SPEECH AND DEBATE and parent is OPTING OUT OF JUDGING, you will pay an additional $180

    Each person in a PF/Duo team would be responsible of providing their own judge, so one PF/Duo team would need to either provide two judges, both pay the judge fee, or one of each option.

    Registration will not be complete until payment is received.
     
    NOTE: We will charge set up fees if we have to create tabroom.com accounts for judges. It is recommended you do so on your own.

    Schedule

    Please note that all times are in PACIFIC STANDARD TIME (PST).

    The schedule is subject to revisions as tournament needs arise. Check back for up-to-date revisions and make sure you are looking at the correct events.
    CLICK HERE FOR SCHEDULE

    Drop Fee

    Drop fees will be the same amounts as the entry fee PLUS any fees the tournament charges us for late drops or nuisance fees. Drop requests should be made to Victor and Nadia.

    Please do not drop out last minute to avoid being charged these fees.

    Contact Info

    Victor Rivas Umana
    Contact email:  [email protected]
    Nadia Budiman 
    Contact email: [email protected]
    Or [email protected]

    Registration Form

    Before you proceed with the registration below, make sure  ALL PARENTS have signed the following liability form. Failure to do so will result in the tournament dropping you without a refund.

    MLK PARTICIPATION FORM
    mlk_form.pdf
    STUDENT INFORMATION
    Suggested attire for the tournament can be found here.
    More tournament resources can be found here.
    Max file size: 20MB
    PARENT CONTACT INFORMATION
    Your email address will be the one included when we send the logistics email.
    EVENT SELECTION
    ​JUDGE PROVISION
    Click here to complete the mandatory Cultural Competency judge training course

    Signing up a judge without having a Tabroom account will result in us charging you for the set up fee.
    ​You can do this easily on your own by going to tabroom.com. It literally takes less than a minute.

    First time judging? Click here to learn how to do it! Or watch our Youtube playlist here.
    ​There are also these training cards available that include a summary of each event's rules and comments.​

    ​Tournaments encourage judges to have a paradigm on their Tabroom account, which can be a few sentences on your preferences of debating styles, etc. See here for example. It doesn't need to be this long, but make sure to add something before you sign up. For example: "I am a parent, please speak clearly and slowly and avoid technical jargon".​

    ​    More tournament resources can be found here.
    TERMS AND CONDITIONS

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

School year Hours

M-F: 3:45 pm - 8:30 pm 
Sun: 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Telephone

510-270-8480
510-470-0531

Email (preferred)

For more info email us at: [email protected]

Locations

Fremont: 200 Brown Rd #201, Fremont, CA 94539

Cupertino: 20432 Silverado Avenue Suite 211, Cupertino, CA 95014

Aborn Institute: 2804 Riedel Road, San Jose, CA 95135 

​​​​Dublin: Loving Tree Academy, 6693 Owens Dr, Pleasanton, CA 94588​​