SCJFL SP

SCJFL SPEECH TOURNAMENT

ATTN: Parents who are looking to judge must first,

1) complete the judge certification process - click here
2) review the "how to give feedback" guideline - click here

You will need to upload the proof onto the registration form. Failure to do so will result in your child not being able to participate.

Friday, 2 October 2026

DEADLINE

26 Sept 2026
NO REFUNDS AFTER THIS DATE

ELIGIBILITY

Speech only
Open to middle school students

PLATFORM

Online through
forensicstournament.net and 8x8

Information

Greetings! For the 2026–2027 season, the Southern California Junior Forensics League is pleased to announce six regular-season middle school speech tournaments. Three tournaments will be held in person, and three will be held online. This document shall serve as the invitation for all six tournaments. All times are Pacific.

The following events will be offered:
Assigned Platform
Declamation
Dramatic Interpretation
Duo Interpretation
Extemporaneous Speaking
Humorous Interpretation
Impromptu Speaking
Informative Speaking
Persuasive Speaking
Poetry Interpretation
Prose Interpretation
SPAR
Storytelling
Program Oral Interp (for this tournament date only)
Speech to Entertain (for this tournament date only)

Competitor Eligibility: Middle school competitors must be enrolled in grades 6–8 or be at a comparable academic level consistent with the spirit of middle school competition.

Multiple Entry: Competitors may enter no more than two events at each tournament. Competitors entered in Extemporaneous Speaking may not enter a second event. Triple entry is not permitted. Competitors entered in two events are responsible for notifying both judges and proceeding promptly between their assigned rooms.

Judging Requirement

All judges are obligated to remain available for every round, including the final round, unless dismissed by tournament staff.
All judges must submit their ballots electronically. Each judge must have a laptop or tablet with a reliable Internet connection. Judges participating in an online tournament must also have a functioning camera and microphone.
Judge training is the responsibility of the judge. Judges must also attend any judge-training session provided by the Tournament Host at the beginning of the tournament.
Every ballot must include the required rankings and sufficient substantive feedback. Oral comments are not a substitute for a completed written ballot. Judges who submit blank or substantially incomplete eBallots may be charged a missed-ballot fee. Ballot sufficiency shall be determined by the Tournament Director and/or Ombudsman.
Judges may not disqualify competitors. If a judge believes that a rule violation has occurred, the judge should evaluate the round as though no violation occurred and report the matter to tournament staff.

Finals
A final round will be held when required under the SCJFL bylaws. Events conducted in a single preliminary section may conclude without a separate final round. The Tournament Director will determine the appropriate break based on the number of competitors who participate.

Recording
Competitors, judges, coaches, parents, and spectators may not record any tournament performance or round without prior authorization from the SCJFL President. Teams are responsible for informing their parents and spectators of this prohibition.

Rules
All tournament rules are contained in the SCJFL Charter and By-Laws, available at SCJFL.org.

Appendix: Judge Pre-Round Preamble
All SCJFL judges must read the official Judge Pre-Round Preamble aloud before each round, making only those adjustments necessary for the specific event, including time signals, online procedures, and Internet-use rules.

“Hello everyone, and welcome.
My name is [Judge Name], and I will be your judge for this round of [Event Name]. I have read the rules for this event and will follow them as I make my decision. Before we begin, I need to share a few reminders:
[If online] Please keep your video cameras turned on during the round.
[If online] Keep your microphones muted unless it is your turn to speak.
According to the rules for this event, Internet use is/is not allowed. If I am uncertain, I will contact the tab room before we proceed.
For time signals, in this event [the judge should state whether time signals are being used and, if so, explain what the signals are].
If you have any questions about the rules or about how the round will run, please ask me now.
If there is something you need to check with the tab room, please do so before we begin.
Once everyone is ready, we will start the round.”

Entry Price

One Speech Event and parent is judging $70
Two Speech Events and parent is judging $90

One Speech Event and parent is OPTING OUT OF judging $140
Two Speech Events and parent is OPTING OUT OF judging $160

Registration will not be complete until payment is received.

Fines, please read:

Judges who do not accept their assigned ballot will be charged a $25 no-show fee for the first offense. The second offense will be $50. Each subsequent no-show from the judge will warrant a $50 charge. Judges can avoid this fee by coming to the judge table/standby room for their ballot assignment and notifying tournament staff; sometimes e-mails delay delivery for any number of reasons that are outside the control of the tournament staff. By notifying the tournament staff, judges can be messaged their ballot directly so that they aren’t marked as having missed the round.
All changes or drops after the deadline will be charged a $25 nuisance fee for each change.
Students who drop from the tournament will be charged a $25 no show fee for each student if the coach notifies the tournament before the first dropped round.
Students who drop without notifying the tournament will be charged a $35 no show fee.
Judge changes after the close of registration will be charged a $50 judge nuisance fee.
Judge drops on the day before the tournament will be charged a $150 judge no-show fee in addition to any fees generated from having uncovered event-entries.
Judges who submit incomplete eBallots (with little to no substantive feedback) may be charged a judge no-show fee for failing to complete their judge assignment which includes both ranking the speakers along with giving sufficient comments. Unsatisfactory ballots will be determined by the tabulation staff.
Delay of tournament fees may be assessed from $20-$100 based on the severity of the delay.

Schedule

All times are Pacific Standard Time.

4:15–5:30 PM: Round 1
5:45–6:45 PM: Round 2
7:00–8:00 PM: Round 3
8:30–9:30 PM: Final Round, where required

Although the tentative schedule lists the start and end times, please keep in mind that there are various factors that may arise during a tournament that can cause rounds to be delayed. Therefore, if you are signing up for this tournament, please make sure you do not double book yourselves on these dates. Keep your schedule open and DO NOT leave the tournament without notifying the GSA chaperones first.

Drop Fee

All changes or student drops after the deadline will be charged a $25 nuisance fee for each change or drop. Judge drops after the registration deadline will be charged a $150 no-show fee.

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

STUDENT INFORMATION
Suggested attire for the tournament can be found here.

Competitor Guide
Judge Guide
Tournament Best Practices

* Indicates required field

Student Name *

First

Last

Student Email *

Student Phone Number *

If I had not done so in the past, I need to verify my email and agree to the competitor waiver. A notification for these will be sent to the competitor email within 24 hours of signup. *

YES I UNDERSTAND AND WILL DO

PARENT CONTACT INFORMATION
Your email address will be the one included when we send the logistics email.

Parent Name *

First

Last

Parent Email *

Parent Phone Number *

EVENT SELECTION

Competitors may enter no more than two events at each tournament.
Competitors entered in Extemporaneous Speaking may not enter a second event.
Competitors entered in two events are responsible for notifying both judges and proceeding promptly between their assigned rooms.

JUDGE PROVISION

If you are signing up to judge, you must be available for the entire tournament schedule.
For this tournament specifically, debate judges may be asked to adjudicate speech rounds as well and vice versa.

Judges are obligated to be on standby for each round. If you do not get a ballot, please go to the help room and wait there in case you get called to cover for a no-show judge. This tournament is very strict in using fines for enforcing punctuality and judge presence, so make sure to follow all their rules to avoid getting charged.
Judges who do not accept their assigned ballot will be charged a $25 no-show fee for the first offense. Each subsequent no-show from the judge will warrant a $50 charge. Judges can avoid this fee by coming to the judge standby room for their ballot assignment; sometimes e-mails delay delivery for any number of reasons that are outside the control of the tournament staff. By coming to the standby room, judges can be messaged their ballot directly so that they aren’t marked as having missed the round.
Judge drops after the registration deadline will be charged a $150 no-show fee.
Judges who do not write sufficient feedback to the competitors will be fined per round. Unsatisfactory ballots will be determined by the tabulation staff.
See good ballot examples here

Will you (parent) be judging at this tournament? *

Judge Name *

Judge email *

Judge phone *

Submit Judge Certificate (if you opted to judge but fail to submit this document, your child will NOT be entered to the tournament) *

Max file size: 20MB

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

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 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 although the tentative schedule lists the start and end times, there are various factors that may arise during a tournament that can cause rounds to be delayed. Therefore, we will not double book ourselves on these dates. We will keep our schedule open and we will make sure to notify the GSA chaperones first before leaving a tournament. *

YES I UNDERSTAND AND WILL NOTIFY THE GSA CHAPERONE WHENEVER I AM ABOUT TO LEAVE A TOURNAMENT

Submit/take to payment

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

SCJFL SPEECH TOURNAMENT​