The forensics team at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is excited to welcome high school forensics teams back to the campus for the 2024 Speech Bowl! The tournament will be hosted on Saturday March 9, 2024.

 

SCHEDULE

6:57am   Deadline to text in drops (Brian Schanen’s cell: 262-689-2335)

7:45am   Registration opens, Heide Hall front lobby

8:15am   Judges Meeting, University Center Ballroom, Second Floor

8:30am   Extemp/Radio draw begins.

Extemp Draw TBD | Radio Draw TBD

9:00am   Round 1

9:45am   Extemp/Radio draw.

Extemp Draw TBD | Radio Draw TBD

10:15am  Round 2

11:00am  Extemp/Radio draw.

Extemp Draw TBD | Radio Draw TBD

11:30am  Round 3

11:30am  Preordered Boxed Lunches Available

ASAP      Finals, Hyland Hall & University Center (all judges on standby)

ASAP      Awards, University Center, Hamilton Room first floor

 

CHECK IN

On tournament day, please confirm no later than 6:57am (or your earliest possible chance; prior to this is even better) by texting 262-689-2335. Checking in via text on tournament day is essential for a smooth start to the tournament. In the text, please note the team name, event, and the name of the student dropping.

 

PAYMENT

Please make checks payable to "UW-W Forensics". Checks processed after the tournament can be mailed to UW-Whitewater, c/o Brian Schanen Heide Hall 424, 800 W. Main St., Whitewater, WI 53190

We will also accept credit cards via Square. Please let us know if you would like to go this route, and we will email you a link to pay that way.

 

*NEW* UW-SYSTEM YOUTH PROTECTION

In accordance with new UW-System policy there are youth protection policies that will be observed at this tournament.

• Judges will be required to acknowledge understanding of mandatory reporting requirements.
• All teams must have at least 1 adult chaperone. They are not required to judge, but may do so.

 

Any questions regarding UWW Youth Protection policies can be directed to Evan Arnold, Youth Protection and Event Specialist - arnoldej28@uww.edu

DEADLINES

• Wednesday Feburary 28 5:00pm - Box lunch order deadline, per campus dining policy
  • Please note, due to campus dining policy there is no lunch automatically applied for school judges.
• Wednesday March 6 5:00pm - Deadline to mark team as attending on SpeechWire
• Friday March 8, 8:00am - Drop and add deadline, any drops after this point will still be charged the event entry fee.
• Saturday March 9 6:57am - Text any drops or all present to: Brian Schanen 262-689-2335

 

BUS DROPOFF

All buses must drop-off in Lot 14 at the intersection of Prairie Street and Starin Rd. Enter Lot 14 on Starin Road. Exit Lot 14 onto Prairie Street. During the day, all lots are open for parking. Pick-up is encouraged for the same location. Entering “UWW Lot 14” into Google Maps will take you directly there. 

 

GENERAL PARKING

All campus lots are open during the tournament. Cars can park in any lot without penalty (do not add money to meters). We suggest parking in Lot 7 on Starin Road behind the Visitors Center (small building with a blue roof). Lot 7 can be found on Google as “Starin Road Lot.” A GPS address for this lot is 809 W. Starin Rd, Whitewater.

 

REGISTRATION CHANGES

Teams can and should manage their own adds, drops, and name changes on Speechwire.com until 8:00am, Friday, March 9th. After that point on Friday, email your drops immediately to SchanenBH13@uww.edu at your earliest chance.  There is no penalty for drops received by 8:00am, March 9th. Entries dropped after that time will still be charged the entry fee.

 

Day of tournament drops are strongly discouraged and may impact the start time and/or the equal balance of entries across sections. Please share this information with your students and judges. On tournament day, please confirm no later than 6:57am (or your earliest possible chance; prior to this is even better) by texting 262-689-2335. Checking in via text on tournament day is essential for a smooth start to the tournament. In the text, please note the team name, event and name of the student dropping. 

 

RULES

In years past, our tournament has been attended by an even mix of schools from both major Wisconsin associations, as well as Illinois schools. Speech Bowl will employ the most current WFCA Handbook Rules with modifications:

• Demonstration Speaking is no longer a category, but speeches of that style may be performed in the revised Informative Speaking.
• Expository Speaking has been added as a category, with a 5 minute time limit and no visual aids permitted. Notes are permitted and unrestricted.
• Informative Speaking has been changed from 6 minutes to 10 minutes, visual aids may be used or worn, and Criteria for Evaluation were rewritten. Notes are permitted and unrestricted. 

 

1. Group Interpretive Reading and Play Acting will have 12 minute time limits.
2. One 4x6 note card will be permitted in Oratory. For other categories that allow notes, they will have no specific limits, formats, or dimensions.
3. There will be no separate Public Address event, but students in Public Address can be entered in Oratory, and the judges will be alerted to this.
4. Chairs, etc. MAY be used in Solo and Group Interp. Optional speaker’s / reader’s stand may be used in the categories involving scripts or notes.

 

WISDAA and IHSA teams are sincerely welcome and strongly encouraged to attend.

 

Impromptu

The following pattern will be used in developing impromptu prompts.

Round 1: Proverb, Round 2: Single word, Round 3: Quotation (musings from Chat-GPT), Final: Major hisotrical event

 

Extemp

The following pattern will be used in developing extemp prompts.

Round 1: Domestic* political/social

Round 2: International political/social

Round 3: Domestic* & International Econ

Final: U.S. Foreign policy & International hotspot relations

*domestic will pull from both national and state

 

CONTACT INFORMATION

Direct all correspondence to Brian Schanen at SchanenBH13@uww.edu 

 

EVENTS

Duo, Expository, Extemp, Farrago, Group Interp, Moments, Informative, Impromptu, Oral Interp, Oratory, Play acting, Poetry (open & novice), Prose (open & novice), Radio, Solo-Serious, Solo-Humorous, Special Occasion, Storytelling. 

 

BUILDINGS

We use several academic buildings all in the same area of campus. While we are using virtual ballots, each building will have a "helpdesk.” We will also do our best to schedule judges in the same building or neighboring buildings throughout the day.

 

ENTRIES

• The tournament is limited to a maximum of 550 entries.
• Entries are first come, first serve.
• A school’s top 25 scoring entries will count toward Team Sweepstakes awards.
• A school's top four entries in an event will count toward Team Sweepstakes but more than four entries per event are welcome.
• Double & triple entries are allowed.
• Students in Radio, Extemp, and Impromptu are allowed to double enter, but students in Radio and Extemp should compete in those respective events first in a given round.
• A student cannot double enter in both radio and extemp, but can double enter with radio and impromptu, or extemp and impromptu.

 

NOVICE DIVISION

We love our novice competitors. It can be a challenge to get going in forensics. Please denote your novice students when entering. A novice is anyone who is in their first year of high school forensics competition.

Prose and Poetry will have a separate division for prelims and finals. So long as the number of entries warrant (greater than 10 entries in both open and novice). We will acknowledge the top novice at awards for all other events.

 

FEES

• Individual Entries: $10 per entry. Duo, Group and Play are also $10 
• Boxed lunch: $9.00 per box - must be ordered by 2/28/24, if choosing this option
  • Please note, due to campus dining policy there is no lunch automatically applied for school judges.

 

JUDGES

Each school is required to supply one trusted judge for every five entries, or portion thereof. For example, fifteen entries require three judges. Sixteen entries requires four judges. Uncovered entries will be charged an additional 15.00 per entry. For example, two uncovered entries will be charged 30.00. This is an alternative to a flat hired judge fee and it will save your team money.

If a team drops a judge after 7am on tournament day, the team will need to immediately hire a replacement judge provided by the tournament for $150 and payment is due immediately at registration. 

 

TIE BREAKERS

Prelims: 1) Cumulative rank, 2) Reciprocal, 3) Head-to-head (2-way tie only), 4) Most 1 ranks, if still tied, 2 ranks, then 3 ranks, then 4 ranks.

Finals: 1) Cumulative rank, 2) Judges Preference, 3) Reciprocal, 4) Cumulative ranks finals+prelims, 5) Cumulative ranks from prelims, 6) Head-to-head (2-way tie only), 7) Most 1 ranks finals+prelims, 8) Most 2 ranks finals+prelims, 9) Most 3 ranks finals+prelims, 10) Most 4 ranks finals+prelims.  

Team Sweepstakes: 1) Total points or Points Per Entry (depending on division), 2) Total points or Points Per Entry (the opposite rule as applied to the first), 3), Number of first-place winners in finals, second-place, etc., 4) Number of 1 ranks in finals, 2 ranks and so-on. 5) Number of 1 ranks earned prelims+finals, 2 ranks, and so-on.

Triathlon: 1) Highest total points, 2) Highest number of 1st-place awards in finals, 2nd-place, etc., 3) Highest total of events advancing to finals, 4) Best average rank in finals, 5) Best average rank across finals+prelims, 6) number of 1 ranks finals+prelims, ranks and so-on.

 

Semi-Finals

Tournament directors reserve the right to implement semi-finals in specific events, or establish "next-in" finals. Specifically in events with greater than 50 entries.

 

AWARDS

• Individual awards will be presented to all final round participants.
• Top 3 triathletes (entered in 3 events) will receive an award.
• Team sweepstakes awards will be awarded to the top scoring schools overall in each division (small, medium and large). 
• Divisions will be based upon entries as of 9:00am on tournament morning.The number of teams will be based upon the number of teams entering more than 4 entries.  
  • The largest 1/3 of teams based on the number of entries will be large teams
  • The middle 1/3 will be medium
  • Smallest 1/3 (with more than 4 entries) will be small teams.
• Large Teams: will be based on total accumulated points. No more than the top scoring 25 entires for a team count toward this total.
• Medium and small teams: will be based on quality points. The total points earned by the team will be divided by the number of entries. This creates equity for these divisions as the range of entries is larger than in the large team division.

 

FOOD - MUST BE ORDERED BY FEBURARY 28

Please note, due to campus dining policy there is no lunch automatically applied for school judges. There is a restaurant in the lower level of the University Center and a small coffee shop on the first floor of the UC that will be open Saturday afternoon. 

 

Boxed lunches will be available at-cost for purchase by students, coaches, judges, etc., on Speechwire at the time or registration. The cost is $9.00 each. A boxed lunch includes a sandwich (either Turkey or Veggie), chips, fruit, and a water. Be sure to specify the quantity of each type of boxed lunch (Turkey or Veggie) on Speechwire, if any. On tournament day, boxed lunches will be distributed at the University Center. The order must be placed by 5pm on Wednesday, FEBURARY 28(per university dining requirements). Orders placed after this time can not be guaranteed.

 

Lunch orders must be received via Speechwire by 2/28 at 5pm. Unfortunately, changes or additions cannot be made to the lunch order after that date/time because the catering order is locked in with campus catering. At registration, your team's registration packet will include lunch tickets for their respective order, if any.

 

SPECIAL ACCOMODATIONS

If you have a student or judge who needs special accommodations, please let us know in advance (ideally by 3/7) by emailing SchanenBH13@uww.edu. We can then make adjustments accordingly. 

 

THANK YOU!

We look forward to seeing you at the Speech Bowl!

Manager contact information

 

Brian Schanen

Email address: SchanenBH13@uww.edu

Phone number: 262-689-2335

 

Emily Leong

Email address: LeongEK04@uww.edu

Phone number: 262-364-8257

 

Mailing address

800 W. Main St.

Heide Hall 424, Brian Schanen

Whitewater, WI 53190

 

(vr24)