Welcome to Newark CFL #2, our final tournament of the season, which will take place at Union Catholic High School on March 1.

 

Once the tournament begins, we will defer to the league’s policy for uncovered judges and require a school to drop entries to meet their quota. Paying an uncovered judge fee will not be permitted.  A judge fine of $75 per round will be owed for judges who do not pick up their ballots or for judges not qualified to judge a round (for example a student judge not being indicated as such and judging Varsity rounds).

 

We typically are very tight on judges and kindly request that if your school is able to bring extra judges, please consider doing so. The more judges in the pool, the less rounds each judge should be assigned.  

PLEASE NOTE: This year it was agreed at the Fall meeting that all judges must have at least two tournaments worth of experience that can be cited upon registration for the tournament. Judges not meeting the standard of judging may be asked to leave and entries may need to be dropped to allow scheduling of rounds to continue.

 

Congress bills are due to me by February 14.

 

Registration for COACHES ONLY will be held outside room 113. Judges and students should proceed directly to the cafeteria and do not need to check in with tournament staff.

 

Please read the following:

 

1. Make sure you create accounts for each of your students in Speechwire.  You will be unable to enter your students without them successfully creating and activating their accounts.  This video tutorial will walk you through the process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcGivaEKSuk

We are unable to provide any support with student accounts! All inquiries must be sent to support@speechwire.com

 

2. Once you have created accounts for your students, make sure they can login and subscribe to live updates. These updates tell students when schematics for rounds are posted and most importantly, tell students if they broke to elimination rounds.

It is imperative students subscribe to updates so that they can be informed and not miss their round.

This video by Ben Stewart of Speechwire is an excellent walkthrough for your students. Please share this with them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQgqptPqNtA

 

3. PLEASE be proactive and share this video with your judges for each tournament so they know how to login to their Speechwire account (this will be created for them, you do not need to do anything after you provide their email address on the registration form) as well as how to receive their ballot, use it, and subscribe to updates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJXxeVS-KgM

 

I guarantee that if judges do not watch this brief tutorial they will find judging the tournament difficult. This will result in a delayed tournament and a less than optimal experience for you, your students, and your fellow coaches and competitors.

 

If you have any questions, contact me immediately!  Good luck!

 

Best,

John

(vr24)