SOUTHERN STATES BIF

SOUTHERN STATES MIDDLE SCHOOL SPEECH AND DEBATE CHAMPIONSHIP

Saturday, April 30, 2022

DEADLINE

24 April 2022

ELIGIBILITY

Open to 6th - 8th graders

PLATFORM

Online through NSDA Campus

Information

Middle School Speech and Debate Teams:

The coaches at Northland Christian School in Houston, Isidore Newman School in New Orleans, and The Galloway School in Atlanta welcome ALL Middle School teams to the Southern States Middle School Speech and Debate Championship on Saturday, April 30, 2022. All events will be synchronous, using NSDA Campus.

All debate events except for Congress will have 4 rounds with no elimination rounds. Congress will have 3 sessions (2.5 hrs each) with no elimination rounds.
All speech events will have 4 rounds with no elimination rounds.

We will use NSDA rules in all events, except for Dec, Prose, Poetry where we will use CFL rules (note: prose and poetry will be two separate events). World Schools teams may be comprised of 3-5 students. If there are events we should add to the current set, please let us know. We are open to suggestions.

Students may enter up to 1 debate event or 2 speech events. Students in debate cannot cross-enter into speech, and students in speech cannot cross-enter in debate.

Eligibility:
Students must be in Grades 6-8

Events:

Debate:
Lincoln Douglas Debate (Topic: Jan/Feb NSDA)
Public Forum Debate (Topic: Apr NSDA)
Congressional Debate (Legislation click here)
Speech:
Extemporaneous Speaking (US and International topic areas by round to be released about a week prior to the tournament)
Informative Speaking
Original Oratory
Declamation
Impromptu Speaking (7 min total to prepare and deliver speech. Topic areas to be released about a week prior)
Humorous Interpretation
Dramatic Interpretation
Duo Interpretation (will be synchronous, no split screen performances)
Program Oral Interpretation
Prose Reading (7 min max)
Poetry Reading (7 min max)
Storytelling (5 min max)

Judges:
1. Tenth grade or older
2. If in high school, they must have competed for at least two full years (including this year). If older than a high school student, they are not required to have competed but they need to be familiar with the rules and norms of the events they are potentially judging.
3. Trusted to be responsible educators when interacting with students in the virtual rooms and filling out ballots. All are required to WRITE comments that are supportive, encouraging, and constructive. They also need to understand that the young people they are judging could be as young as 11 years old. This tournament is NOT a varsity state championship, NSDA Nationals, NCFL Nationals, NDCA Championships, UK TOC, or NIETOC.

We look forward to an exciting day of Middle School competition!

Entry Price

PF/LD and parent is judging $60
PF/LD and parent is OPTING OUT of judging $150

One speech event and parent is judging $60
One speech event and parent is OPTING OUT of judging $150

Two speech events and parent is judging $70
Two speech events and parent is OPTING OUT of judging $160

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 CENTRAL STANDARD TIME (CST).

9:30 am - Opening Assembly --- 7:30 AM PST
*Students, coaches, and parents are invited. We will have some opening remarks and a keynote speaker
10:30 am - Round 1 --- 8:30 AM PST
10:30 am - Session 1 (Congress) --- 8:30 AM PST
1:00 pm - Round 2 --- 11:00 AM PST
1:45 pm - Session 2 (Congress) --- 11:45 AM PST
3:30 pm - Round 3 --- 1:30 PM PST
4:45 pm - Session 3 (Congress) --- 2:45 PM PST
5:45 pm - Round 4 --- 3:45 PM PST

Extemp draw will begin 30 min before the round start time
LD and PF will be single flighted.
We may have an awards program after the final round

This schedule supports down time between each round for students and judges to get away from computer screens and eat some food on their own schedule. Debate judges are permitted to provide oral comments after each round, but please keep them brief so students can still enjoy a break before the next round. Judges also still need to write their complete feedback on the ballots.

Drop Fee

Drop fees will be the same amounts as the entry fee PLUS any fees the tournament charges us for late drops ($10 nuisance fee). 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: vrivasumana@tgsastaff.com
Nadia Budiman
Contact email: nbudiman@tgsastaff.com
Or info@tgsastaff.com

Registration Form

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

* Indicates required field

Student Name *

First

Last

Student Email (make sure you have a Tabroom account and do not list the parent's email) *

Student Phone Number *

Does the student have a Tabroom account? *

Yes and it is linked with GSA's account(s) Yes but it is not linked and we need you to add to your roster No but I will create one before submitting registration No but I will pay the additional $35 setup fee

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
Students may enter up to 1 debate event or 2 speech events. Students in debate cannot cross-enter into speech, and students in speech cannot cross-enter in debate.

I can only enter in either debate or speech, but not both. If I enter in speech, I may enter up to 2 events. *

Yes, I understand

JUDGE PROVISION

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

Judge Name *

Judge email (Must be linked to a tabroom account. Register first at tabroom.com before completing this sign up) *

Judge phone *

Does your judge have a Tabroom account? *

Yes No but I will create one before submitting registration No but I'll pay the additional $35 setup fee Not judging

Does your judge understand that he/she is responsible for the entire tournament schedule and that missing a round incurs fines from the tournament? *

Yes, understood Not judging but understood as well

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

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

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: info@tgsastaff.com

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

Loving Tree Academy: 36601 Newark Blvd, #83, Newark, CA 94560