Dragon's Backbone

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General information

This is a High School tournament in Colorado.

View manager contact information

 Cheyenne Mountain High School

Dragon’s Backbone

Speech and Debate Invitational

The Cheyenne Mountain High School team would like to invite you and your team to the Dragon’s Backbone Invitational on Saturday, November 16, 2024. We will be running a wave-style tournament, including powered debates, doubling and finals in all events. This tournament will follow CHSAA rules for all events.

If you have any questions, please call or text Liz Koop (719-227-1832) or email lizkoop@cmsd12.org.

Location and Payment Address:

Cheyenne Mountain High School

1200 Cresta Road

Colorado Springs, CO 80906

Registration:

Please register your team at www.speechwire.com by Tuesday, November 12.  Early registration is encouraged.  We will charge $10.00 per single entry of Drama, Humor, Poetry, POI, Extemp (NX & IX), Info, and Oratory and $15.00 for all Debate and Duo entered in the tournament and $7 per Congress entry.

You may have up to 4 entries per competition event except Congress which will be limited to 10 entries per school. Additional entries may be waitlisted. Tournament entry fees will be based on your pre-registration numbers; any drops made after November 12 will forfeit the entry fee.  

Please make checks payable to Cheyenne Mountain High School Speech and Debate, noting which school has made the payment. Please wait to pay until after the tournament when invoices will have been adjusted to reflect any incurred judge fees.

Doubling:

Maroon Wave: USX, IX, OO, Drama, Humor, Novice PF, Varsity LD, Congress A

White Wave: Duo, POI, Poetry, INFO, Novice LD, Varsity PF, Congress B

Students may enter in one Maroon Wave and one White Wave event (But they cannot double in two debate events unless one–not both–of those events is Congress).

NOTE: Extempers who double are not guaranteed prep time.

Extemp Draw:

Draw will take place in the library 30 minutes prior to the scheduled start of the round. 

Schedule:

Rounds will be run as soon as possible.  Please watch the postings.

 7:00 AM Registration Opens  

 7:20 AM Registration Closes 

 7:45 AM Judges Meeting 

 7:50 AM Extemp Draw Begins 

 8:00 AM Maroon Wave Round 1 (Extemp will start at 8:20) 

 9:30 AM White Wave Round 1 

11:00 AM Maroon Wave Round 2 

12:30 PM White Wave Round 2 

 2:00 PM Maroon Wave Round 3 

 3:30 PM White Wave Round 3 

 4:30 PM Finals will begin (All Finals will start as soon as possible) 

 6:30 PM Awards 

 7:30 PM Head Home 

Competitors more than 10 minutes late to a round forfeit that round. Competitors will speak in the order they were assigned.  Please remind students not to enter a room until the judge is present.

If you are running late the morning of the tournament, please call or text my cell phone (below) to let me know when you will be arriving.  Arrivals after 7:30 may be dropped from the first round.

Debate Topics:

LD (Nov/Dec topic): Resolved: The United States ought to adopt a wealth tax.

PF (Nov/Dec topic): Resolved: The United States should substantially reduce its military support of Taiwan.

Debate/Congress:

PF debaters will use the November-December NSDA Topic. LD debaters will use the November-December NSDA Topic.  Debate rounds will be power matched after round 1. Cell phones may be used as timers, provided they are in airplane mode. 

We will use CHSAA rules for internet usage. Students will have access to the internet. 

Warning: it is filtered.

BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS: We must have any submissions by Wednesday, October 30, to Liz Koop (lizkoop@cmsd12.org) . Your legislation will only be considered if it has been thoroughly proofread and is in standard NSDA format; please submit legislation as Word documents. I will plan to get your bill packets out on Monday, November 4, by email to everyone who has pre-registered.

Judges:

Each school must provide judges based on competitors: 1-5 Speech/Interp entries will require one judge, 6-10 will require 2 judges, etc.; 1-2 Debate entries will require one judge, 3-4 will require 2 judges, etc. Congress judges will be categorized under the Speech requirement. Judges must be available for the three preliminary rounds and the final round–if you are dividing a judging requirement across multiple judges, please ensure there is judge coverage for the whole duration of the tournament. Judges should be entered by Tuesday, November 12, as well. An uncovered judge requirement on Saturday may incur a fee of $50.

We will be using eballots, so be sure that your judges have Speechwire accounts and that they bring their laptops. Here is a video to help judges understand eballots on Speechwire: Judging Speech and Debate on Speechwire

Awards:

Ribbons will be awarded to 1st -6th place winners as well as outstanding and superior speakers.  Plaques will be awarded for Sweepstakes.

Food:

Breakfast, lunch and snacks will be provided for judges and coaches. Competitors will need to bring their own food or purchase food available at our concessions stand. 

School Rules:

• The tournament will be governed under the rules set forth by CHSAA and Cheyenne Mountain School District 12.

• The Cheyenne Mountain School District schools are tobacco-free campuses. 

• Please respect the teachers who allow us to use their rooms by leaving the room in the same condition in which you found it.  

• A responsible coach must be available ON SITE and via cell phone at all times during the tournament.

Looking forward to seeing you soon!

Liz Koop and Natalie Crow

CMHS Speech and Debate Coaches

Manager contact information

Liz Koop
Email address: lizkoop@cmsd12.org
Phone number: 7192271832

Mailing address

1200 Cresta Road
Colorado Springs, CO 80906