VERSION 1.0

Any changes will be noted here:

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Information about OMAHA Nationals can be found here: http://www.omahancfl.com

Pre-Register Judges by February, 24 (President@NYCFL.org)

Register Deadline is TUESDAY, March 2^rd – TABROOM for DEBATE and Email for SPEECH

Eating in the classrooms or disregard for Stuyvesant School rules and regulation will result in immediate removal from the tournament!

All judges must be college level or higher – student judging is not allowed.

Judges in speech must be at least college sophomores

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Dear Moderator,

Let me begin by thanking all of you for making my sixth year as League Director a pleasant experience. I think the contests have run well. Our NCFL Membership Cards are in. We are a couple tournaments away from concluding a very productive season.

However, as March approaches, it is important to recognize that there is a lot at stake at the upcoming contests.

On Saturday, March 6, 2010, the NYCFL will hold three separate tournaments at Stuyvesant High School.

The tournaments are:

The Team Debate Grand Tournament – LAPTOP USE IS PERMITTED

The Lincoln-Douglas Debate Grand – LAPTOP USE IS PERMITTED

The Speech Grand – NO LAPTOPS

The Public Forum Grand – NO LAPTOPS

Connectivity is not allowed in any round of competition. Students should restrict cell phone use to the lobby and cafeteria.

These contests are particularly important, as the Grand tournaments will determine our League’s six entries in Policy Debate, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Public Forum, and our 36 Speech Entries to the National Catholic Forensic League Grand National Tournament to be held in Albany, NY over Memorial Day weekend.

*********************** P L E A S E R E A D ***********************

PARTICIPATION

· Event Participation

o In order to compete in the Speech Grand Tournament, speech schools must have participated in at least 4 speech tournaments and paid for a total of 15 entries.

o In order to compete in the Policy Debate Grand Tournament, the school must have competed at (or with the weather – been registered for) the December Debate Tournament. there is no minimum number of speakers required

o In order to compete in the LD Grand Tournament, the school must have participated in at least one of the LD tournaments. There is no minimum number of speakers required

o In order to compete in the Public Forum Tournament, the school must be eligible to participate in at least one of the above tournaments.

· All team dues and outstanding fees up until January of 2010 must be paid in full. If you have questions about your current bill, please contact Mary Jane Truckenbrodt at St. Joseph Hill Academy

JUDGES:

The Following is NEW…. PEASE READ CAREFULLY

It is our goal that all decisions that determine whether or not a student represents our league at the NCFL tournament are made by qualified judges that are making conscientious decisions. Therefore, ALL judges must be pre-registered a week and a half prior to the grand tournament.

Let me repeat that – ALL judges must be pre-registered a week and a half prior to the grand tournament.

That means that in order to register your team for the grand tournament, I must know the names of all judges by Wednesday, February 24^th.

For each judge registered, I need 4 pieces of information.

1) The name of the judge

2) Any School or Student conflicts that judge may have

3) A list of tournaments that judge has seen (minimum of 2)

*** Please – for my sake – do not overdo this ***

If a person has been judging for 10 years,

I do not need to know

EVERY contest that they have been to.

4) Your personal appraisal of the judges abilities:

A – Top Judge,

B – Good, Competent Judge,

C – New, Inexperienced Judge or a judge that you have some reservations about

This information can be sent to me, but for debate it should all be entered into TABROOM.

All judges submitted will be reviewed by the executive council.

Your entries for the Grand Tournament will not be accepted until your judges are approved. In the event that a judge does not meet the league’s requirements, the coach will be given an opportunity to find a replacement.

If a judge bails out then it will be the coach’s responsibility to find a replacement of comparable quality and let me know as soon as possible.

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LOGISTICS:

Registration will be held in the Lobby of Stuyvesant High School from 8:00 – 8:30 a.m.

*** (Please note the earlier starting time.) ***

GENERAL INFORMATION ALL CONTESTS:

*** Please read the following information very carefully, as there are a number of procedural changes from our normal tournaments. ***

School Fee:

In order to provide adequate judging, each school competing will be charged an additional $10. This does not excuse schools from fulfilling their judging quota, rather it will ensure that the contest will run smoothly.

Drops/Adds/Changes:

Call me AT HOME (914) 739-2770 with drops as late as 10 PM on Friday night.

There are NO ADDS after the pre-registration deadline has passed.

Prior to the Awards Ceremony:

The winner of the Rev. Gerald R. Rippon, S.J. Memorial Scholarship will be announced. I would urge you to encourage all of your speakers to remain for the presentation of this award after the semi-final round. The candidates for the award should be young men and women who deserve to receive the recognition of all of our league members.

Please get all applications into me by the February 14^th deadline.

<Click Here for More Information>

After the Contest:

Ballots will be released only AFTER the awards ceremony. Following the ceremony, there will be a very important meeting of all moderators of schools which qualify speakers, congresspersons, or debaters for the National Tournament. At this meeting, important information concerning the National Tournament will be discussed.

Contact Information:

** Please use the following Numbers Sparingly **

1) HOME PHONE – (914) 739-2770

Please Do NOT call After 10pm!

2) Cell Phone – (914) 649-8246

Use if you have trouble getting to the tournament

Use for last minute drops

Hired Judges:

· There are no hired judges available

· Uncovered slots will have to be dropped

************* E V E N T I N V I T A T I O N S **************

There is a lot of information (I know, I typed it). Please read it all very carefully. Some mistakes can be quickly corrected. Others may jeopardize your students’ participation in this contest.

The Debate Grand Tournament:

Registration:

8:30 to 9:00 a.m.

** Note earlier than usual starting time **

Entries:

Each school, which has met the requirements for active membership, may enter up to three (3) Debate teams, up to three (3) public forum teams and up to three (3) Lincoln-Douglas debaters. All competition is at the varsity level.

Resolutions:

Policy debate will use the national topic:

Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.

L-D will use the NFL March/April topic:

Resolved: In the United States, the principle of jury nullification is a just check on government.

Public Forum will use the NFL March/April topic:

Resolved: Affirmative action to promote equal opportunity in the United States is justified.

Judging requirements:

Team Debate

One judge per team

L-D Debate

One judge per speaker

PF Debate

One judge per PF team

Please remember the importance of this contest when recruiting judges. All judges must be experienced, qualified adults.

** Please note **

League rules state that all judges must have judged at least three previous tournaments in the area in which they will be judging. (These tournaments need not be CFL contests.) Please make every attempt to provide judges who need not be constrained against other teams besides your own entries.

Judge Qualifications MUST be provided prior to Pre-Registration they must be submitted on or before February 25.

**This policy is different from the rest of the year **

Pre-Registration:

Grands Registration for Debate is on www.TABROOM.COM. Before you register on TABROOM, you MUST have sent me your judge names and qualifications.

Please provide the following information:

1) Your Name

2) A Contact Number or E-Mail Address

3) The School Name

4) The Number of Entries in LD and Policy Debate

5) The number of Judges you will be providing for LD and Policy Debate

6) Names Must Be Provided at the Time of Registration

Additional Comments:

• Please do not register students unless you are positive they will attend the tournament.
• There are no hired judges, if you cannot cover your judging requirement, then your students cannot compete
• If your school has been pooling judges during the year, that’s fine. However, I need to know all judges and any constraints.
• If your judges are being supplied by someone else, tell me that when you register.

Fees:

• $6.00 per student
• Please be certain that you have paid all other outstanding fees prior to this contest.

Tournament procedure:

• The tournament will run four (4) rounds.
• The first two will be randomly paired, and schools will draw into the prepared schematic.
• Round 3 will be paired high-low within bracket
• Round 4 will be paired high-low within bracket
• Judges
• All Team Debate rounds will be heard by two judges.
• All P-F and L-D rounds will be heard by three judges. (unless under 20 teams are registered in an event, then that event would use 2 judges per round)
• At the end of the four rounds, the six national qualifiers will be selected based on total number of ballots received during the tournament.
• If there is a tie, it will be broken on ranks for Team Debate, and on points for L-D.
• Under rare circumstance, a runoff round may be necessary.
• Contestants MAY be eliminated after Round 2 if they have not picked up any ballots

• Contestants MAY be eliminated after Round 3, if;
• they cannot mathematically finish in the top 6
• they would be certain to qualify even if they lost both ballots in Round 4 (they would BYE into nationals)

Swing Teams:

Any school which is already entering its full quota in Team, PF, or L-D may offer to provide the “swing.” In this way, there will be no ‘byes.’ The “swing” WILL be eligible to win a slot to the national tournament, but no more than three entries from a school may qualify for the national tournament (unless a qualifying team drops.) Swing teams are not guaranteed all rounds. Drops and changes through the tournament may activate/deactivate the swing. If you wish to offer a “swing” for the contest, please let me know when you register. I will draw from a “hat” to determine which school will provide each “swing,” and I will notify you on Wednesday evening, so that your “swing” can be prepared for the contest. Please be aware that the “swing” should arrive at the contest even if there are an even number of entries. A last minute drop on the morning of the contest would activate the “swing.”

If your school is providing a “swing” team,

that school must be prepared to cover the entry with a judge,

or the swing team will NOT be used

It would be helpful to the tournament if the swing judge judged even if the swing

didn't swing.

Prep Time:

For all Debates will use the same prep times as those used at NCFL Nationals.

Policy – 5 Mins

LD – 3 Mins

PF – 2 Mins

Forfeit Time:

Published schematics will indicate the time at which each round is to begin. If a team is not prepared to begin at that time, prep time will begin, and if prep time elapses, a forfeit will be declared.

Final Remarks:

• At the end of a Debate round, the judges should clear the room
• Judges must reach their decisions independently and absolutely no communication in any form of the judges’ decisions is to take place, either among the judges or between any judge and anyone else
• The judge must clearly indicate their decision on the ballot along with a clear RFD
• Judges must not reveal their decision to ANYONE at any time before the end of the tournament
• Be certain that your judges are aware of these rules

The Speech Grand Tournament:

I am providing these reminders in order to prevent as many difficulties as possible. Your attention and cooperation are greatly appreciated. Speakers HAVE BEEN disqualified from the Grand Tournament. The guidelines below are intended to protect you and your speakers. They are not intended to be all-inclusive, but rather to highlight areas that may be problematic.

Also, if you have seen or heard a piece throughout the year that you deem may be in violation of the rules, please bring it to my attention PRIOR to the Grand Tournament. Disqualifying speakers at a National Qualifier is unpleasant to all involved and should be avoided if at all possible.

Please feel free to share this with your students and your judges.

1) Manuscripts

• In Duo, DP, and OI, you must bring the original manuscripts (not just the cuttings that your students are using).
• If a cutting is challenged, it is up to you to be able to defend it, rather than the executive council’s responsibility to prove it is illegal.

2) Original Oratory

• Students must have a copy of the speech that matches the one that they are using in the rounds.
• Any words inside quotation marks must be highlighted and counted.
• Do not exceed 150 quoted words.

4) Cuttings

• Cuts can be made for time and continuity only.
• No words can be added to the original text.
• Offensive language may be substituted with less graphic references (However at the National Grand Tournament, no word substitutions may be made at all!).

5) Duo

• Presentations must be memorized
• Multiple Characters are Allowed, but not Required
• Students must remain standing (squatting and jumping is not permitted).
• Movement is allowed, but presentation must be delivered from center stage.

6) Drama

• Presentations may be from a published play or book.

7) Extemp

• Topic areas will be – Foreign, Domestic, Domestic Economic, Potpourri
• Use of NOTE CARDS is prohibited
• Foreign Economics will be used in the event a tie breaking round needs to be run
• Extemp draw will be done with individual topic slips (turn over 3 and select 1)
• While use of computers will be ALLOWED at Nationals, the use of electronic storage and retrieval at the Grand Tournament is prohibited

Registration:

8:30 to 9:00 a.m. on Saturday morning.

** NOTE EARLIER TIME **

Categories:

Extemp (One Level Only)

Original Oratory

Oral Interpretation of Prose/Poetry (One Level Only)

Duo Interpretation of Literature (Memorized, Multi-Character Allowed)

Declamation

Dramatic Performance

Entries:

Each school which has met the requirements for active membership may enter up to 18 entries, with no more than 3 in any one category.

** Please Note **

A student who has qualified for the NYCFL Congress Grand,

will forfeit that qualification by registering for this tournament.

Fees:

$6.00 per speaker

Please be certain that you have paid all other outstanding fees prior to this contest.

Pre-Registration:

** Pre-Registration Deadlines Will Be Strictly Enforced **

You may pre-register in one of two ways:

1)       E-Mail me no later than 9:00 PM on Tuesday, March 3^rd at President@NYCFL.ORG. (I will confirm e-mail registration with a one-word “received” reply)

2)       Call me no later than 9 PM on Tuesday, March 3^rd at my school number – (914) 632-0714 EXT 351. (leave all necessary information on my answering machine)

Please provide the following information:

1)       Your Name

2)       A Contact Number or E-Mail Address

3)       The School Name

4)       The Number of Entries

5)       Number of judges

6)       Any and all judging conflicts must be brought to my attention

Judging Requirements:

You must provide one judge for every three (3) entries or fraction thereof. Please make every attempt to provide judges which will not have to be constrained against other schools. All judges must be qualified adult judges (college SOPHOMORES or older) who have judged at least two previous tournaments (not necessarily CFL tournaments). Because of the importance of this tournament, it is IMPERATIVE that all judges be of the highest quality. ALL judges must attend the judges' meeting on the morning of the tournament. But is it also the responsibility of the moderator to be certain that each judge provided is WELL BRIEFED BEFORE COMING TO THE CONTEST.

ONE qualified judge for every THREE entries or fraction thereof. If schools (especially ones with a small number of entries) could bring 1 more judge than their judging quota, the contest will run much faster. If there are not sufficient judges available, then semi-final rounds may have to be flighted.

A judge is qualified to judge at this tournament under NYCFL rules, if

He or she is a college SOPHOMORE or older

AND

Is the coach of a program

OR

Has judged at least 2 prior tournaments

OR

Participated in forensics as a student

Judge Qualifications MUST be provided prior to Pre-Registration they must be submitted prior on or before March 7^th.

Tournament procedure:

The tournament will include three preliminary rounds with two judges hearing each round. The lowest of these six preliminary round scores for each speaker will be discarded, and on the basis of the five remaining ranks, the top 12 speakers will advance to a semi-final round. Each semi final round will be heard by three judges. Based on the cumulative total of their eight ranks, the top six speakers will qualify for the national tournament. There will be no final round held. However, in the case of an unbreakable tie, the tied speakers will be heard by three (or five, if possible) judges, to determine the winner of the national qualifier slot(s).

Extemp Topics:

Extemp topics will be based on current events since January 1, 2010

I would request that the following people provide 12 extemp topics in the requested areas:

Domestic Social – Mr. Beck

Foreign – Mr. DiMichele

Domestic Political – Mrs. Truckenbrodt

Economics – Mr. Vaughan

Foreign Economics (in case a run-off round is required) – Mr. Vaughan

These MUST be emailed to Ms. Bratt by 3pm on Tuesday, March 2 – brattm@fordhamprep.org

Please don't hesitate to call me if you have any questions. Good luck to you and to your team at the contest, and I'll see you on the 6th.

Sincerely,

Charles J. Sloat Jr.

President, NYCFL