How Tournaments Work
League? State? Invitationals? Huh?!?!
Speech & Debate Tournaments are like underwear. They’re really nifty! They come
in all different shapes and sizes and varying levels of importance. Let’s begin
with League tournaments. These are the most important - you wouldn’t leave for a
weekend trip without three pairs. League tournaments are the preliminary
tournaments. We can send as many people as we like to them. You have the
opportunity to earn “WILD CARDS” at League tournaments. Each individual event
offers 6 - 7 wild cards, one for each finalist, and in debate, wildcards only go
to undefeated debaters. We can only enter 22 I.E.’ers and 9 debaters in the
State Qualifying tournaments in March, but if you have a wild card, you go as an
extra. It will be hard to earn a wild card this year, so we need to bust-a-move!
(or groove, whichever you prefer) That’s why it’s so important to do well at
League tournaments. At State Quals, the top 6 - 8 finalists in each event
qualify for the State Tournament. Sound confusing?? In other words, if you do
well at League, you go to State Quals; if you do well at State Quals, you go to
State. The National Tournament works in much the same way, but there are
separate qualifying tournaments. Also, there is no wildcard system for Nationals
Quals; participants are selected on merit and work ethic. Plus, at National
Quals, only the top 2 finalists qualify. But... it all starts with League, so be
prepared!
Now, Invitationals are those special occasion garments. They are also very
important, and lots of fun! Many of these Invitationals are out-of-town, and
sometimes we stay in hotels overnight. Invitationals tend to be bigger, more
select, and tougher ~ these are an integral part of our season, but they are of
secondary importance. You cannot attend Invitationals if you do not compete in
League.
Signing Up
Upcoming tournaments and deadlines for signing up are announced at our weekly
meetings and in our weekly bulletin. You will sign up using a 2-part form; one
page is handed in to your event chair; the other is handed in to Mrs. Brasher.
Three weeks prior to speech tournaments, students must compete in a
pre-tournament to determine their readiness and preparation. You must have your
debts paid if you want to compete. Some tournaments are limited-entry, meaning
we can only send a certain number of people in each event. Berkeley is one
example, as are all the qualifying tournaments (State and National Quals). Spots
for these tournaments are generally given to varsity members who have practiced,
and to hard working, prepared novice members. If you want to attend a
tournament, YOU must remember to attend your event meetings, so you don’t miss
the signups. The coaches will not sign you up!
Before the Tournament
Practice! Practice! Practice! As the old saying goes, practice makes perfect! So
practice with L.S.D. coaches, L.S.D.’ers, friends, random people on the street,
family, dogs, cats, mirror, refrigerator, your houseplant, anyone - just
PRACTICE!!! J
Another good idea is to get lots of sleep! With a good night’s rest before a
tournament, you can concentrate during rounds, and make sure all that practice
goes to good use! You don’t want to feel sleepy during a round. For one, you
need energy to perform well. Two, if you act sleepy or put your head down while
someone else is performing, it’s rude and looks REALLY bad to the judge. So,
don’t do that! During a round you want to look alert, and respect to the other
competitors while they perform. So whether you do HI, impromptu or debtae,
sleeping well will definitely help you! Woo-hoo! (Just in case you didn’t know,
that rhymed…)
At the Tournament
You will find out at the meetings and in the bulletins what time you need to be
at a tournament site. Generally you will arrange your own transportation there.
We sometimes take buses to out-of-town tournaments. When you arrive at the
tournament site, you will get your code number from one of our coaches.
When competition begins, a sheet with information about your round will be
posted. You will know when postings are up when swarms of people start
stampeding towards the walls. False alarms are not uncommon, and you may find
out that the trampled person who was expected to bear the postings was actually
some innocent competitor, holding a piece of paper, walking around, minding his
own business... then pow! smacked into the ground... Anyway, the postings will
list the room numbers where your event is taking place. Each room is called a
panel. In each panel, there will be 6 or 7 numerical codes listed. These
represent speakers, and one of them (hopefully) is you. Codes are listed in
order, so if yours is the third number, you will be speaking third. In debate,
postings will list your room, your competitor’s number, and your side in the
debate. In LD, it will also indicate if you are first or second flight. LD’ers
are split in half - half of the LD’ers debate first, the next half waits outside
and then debates in the same room when the first flight is done. In Congress,
postings will list which House you are in and what room to go to.
Competitions are held in rounds. Speech tournaments usually have 2-4 preliminary
rounds, and debate tournaments have 3-7. If you do well in prelim rounds, you
”BREAK” (see terminology, next page) to elimination rounds. There will always be
a final round, sometimes there are semifinal, quarterfinal, or octafinal rounds,
even triple-octa rounds depending on the size of the tournament. Stay for the
awards ceremony at the end of each tournament, where final results are announced
and trophies/medals are awarded. Also remember your Leland spirit!!! Cheer for
everybody until you’re a horse! Hmm? Oh wait... I mean until you're hoarse! We
stand for all first place winners no matter what school they attend!
An Added Perk
You earn NFL points at the tournament. NFL points? I thought we were in Speech &
Debate, not football!!! Well, boys and girls, while the NFL means the National
Football League to most Americans, to us speakers and debaters, it means the
National Forensic League! This is a national honor society. You earn membership
in it by participating in speech and debate tournaments. You earn anywhere from
1 to 6 points from each round you participate in, depending on what event you
enter and what place you earn. You need 25 points to be a member, and for each
level you reach (75, 150, 250, 500 pts.), you earn a new degree. You’ll earn
shiny, colored stickers that you get to put on your neat-o NFL certificate.
Cool, huh? They may not seem like much to the naked eye, but college admission
officers know what they mean and are impressed by them...
The Week After
The event meeting immediately following a tournament will be a debriefing
meeting. You will discuss your successes and areas in which you need to improve.
You’ll also talk about the competition from other schools. Here’s when you look
at what worked and what didn’t. From here, it’s back to practicing and getting
ready for the next tournament. At this meeting, you will also fill out
tournament critiques.