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The Golden State Academy
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    SCJFL FEBRUARY SPEECH TOURNAMENT

    Friday, 7 February 2025

    DEADLINE
    2 Feb 2025
    NO REFUNDS AFTER THIS DATE
    ELIGIBILITY
    Speech only
    ​
    Open to middle school students
    PLATFORM
    Online through
    forensicstournament.net​ and 8x8

    Information

    Greetings!  For the 2024-2025 season, the SCJFL is happy to announce two online tournaments. All times are Pacific.
    ​​​
    ​​Location: online
    ​
    Events:
    Informative
    Impromptu
    Duo
    Declamation/OI
    DI

    ​​Double Entry: Students may enter up to two events.
    Postings will be e-mailed.
    Rules: For a complete list of rules, please visit the SCJFL.org website and click on RULES & BY-LAWS.
    ​
    ​Judging Instructions: 
    • Please remember that judge training is the responsibility of the judge himself/herself. 
    • 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 judges must submit their ballots electronically.  Thus, each judge should bring a laptop or tablet to complete the ballot.
    • 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.

    ​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

    Schedule - PST:
    ​
    4:00 PM – Round 1
    5:30 PM – Round 2
    6:30 PM – Round 3
    8:00 PM – Final Round
    9:30 PM – Awards

    Drop Fee

    All competitor changes or drops after the deadline will be charged a $25 nuisance fee for each change or drop. Judge drops on the day before the tournament will be charged a $150 judge 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 
    ​


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

    EVENT SELECTION
    You may enter up to two events.

    ​JUDGE PROVISION
    • 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.
    Judge 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.
    • 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.
      ​​See good ballot examples here

    ​First time judging? Click here to learn how to do it!
    Or watch our Youtube playlist here.
    Next, we found this judging guideline from the platform that we will be using.
    Also, if you are using eBallots for the first time, check out how they work on this link here.
    ​There are also these training cards available that include a summary of each event's rules and comments.​

    *Judges changes after the deadline will be charged a $50 judge nuisance fee.  Judge drops after this date will be charged a $100 judge no-show fee.  ​
    TOURNAMENT UPDATE REGARDING JUDGE BALLOTS:
    1. We will need to begin implementing the fine for blank/nearly blank/insufficient ballots.
    2. Oral Critiques: No ballot may be returned without a written reason for decision. Oral commentary is not considered a substitute for the written ballot.
    3. Judges who are unfamiliar with events may be removed from the tournament at the discretion of the tournament staff, and fines may be applied.
    4. A good concept in writing a ballot is the compliment sandwich (write a compliment, add some constructive feedback, and end with another compliment).  It is frustrating for students to receive a speech ballot that says, “Great job!” with a 5th place ranking and with no actual useful feedback.

    TERMS AND CONDITIONS
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​​
  • Home
  • About
    • Meet Our Coaches
    • Why Speech and Debate
    • What is Speech and Debate? >
      • Speech Events
      • Debate Events
    • Why Golden State Academy
    • Tournament Photos
    • Tournament results
    • FAQ
  • Forms
  • Registration
    • MS/HS Fall 2025
    • Private Coaching >
      • Speech Private Coaching
      • Debate Private Coaching
    • Elementary Summer 2025
    • MS/HS Summer 2025
    • GSA Tournaments
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