SpeechWire Tournament Services - Forensics Tournament Software

LINK TO THE LIVE DOC: COMING SOON

FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP HIGH SCHOOL

FREEHOLD REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT

281 ELTON-ADELPHIA ROAD

FREEHOLD, NEW JERSEY 07728-8021

732-431-8460

Alicia Scelso, Ed.D., Principal

Dear Coach,

The Freehold Township Speech and Debate Team is pleased to invite your team to attend the 33rd Annual Freehold Township High School Forensics Tournament on Saturday, February 1, 2025. This will be a LIVE, in-person event.

Check-in for all teams will take place from 7:30 AM to 8:30 AM.

There will be a mandatory judge meeting at 8:30 AM.

We plan on beginning round 1 promptly at 9:00 AM and have awards tentatively scheduled to begin at 4:30 PM.

THE EVENTS

We are offering competition in the following events:

Speech (Novice, Varsity)

Original Oratory

Declamation (Novice Only)

Dramatic Interpretation

Humorous Interpretation

Oral Interpretation

Program Oral Interpretation

Impromptu Speaking

Improvisational Acting

Informative

Duo Interpretation

Extemporaneous Speaking

*All speech events will have three initial rounds, a semi-final round, and a final round for all individual events. Top non-advancing novice awards will be given out in all speech events (except Declamation).

Debate

Public Forum Debate (Novice, JV and Varsity)

Lincoln-Douglas Debate (JV & Varsity)

Congress (Novice & Varsity)

*All PF & LD events will have four rounds.

*For Congress there will be two sessions and a final round of Congressional Debate, with the possibility of a novice division depending on the number of entries

Awards will be given to the top six students/team in each event. Sweepstakes awards will be given out to the top three schools overall.

REGISTRATION:

All registration may be completed via https://www.speechwire.com/. If you have never used this site before or would like assistance in the registration process, please contact me. You can print a copy of the registration and invoice directly from http://www.speechwire.com.

Only 6 entries per school per category will be registered. The rest will be placed on a waitlist until January 28, 2025, when entries will be reviewed and cleared to ensure rooms are balanced.

Each school may enter up to six contestants per category. Double entries are allowed to participate except in debate events and congress.

We ask that you make sure to mark all your novice speech competitors (ie, those in their first year of competition) in registration so that we can recognize the highest-placing novice at awards. Mavericks in Public Forum are not permitted.

Deadlines:

Registration Opens 20 December 2024 at 8:30 AM

New Entries Due 28 January 2025 at 3:00 PM

Congress Legislation Due 24 January 2025 at 3:00 PM emailed to Anthony Verdoni (averdoni@frhsd.com)

Fees & Obligations Frozen 30 January 2025 at 11:59 PM

Judge Information Due 30 January 2025 at 11:59 PM

Online Drop & Name Change 28 January 2025 at 3:00 PM

Nuisance Fine Apply After 28 January 2025 at 3:00 PM

FEES:

Please send payment in the form of cash, check, or purchase order.

Make checks payable to: FTHS Forensics

Payments sent to:

Freehold Township High School

attn. Anthony Verdoni

281 Elton-Adelphia Road
Freehold, NJ, 07728

Registration Fees

School Registration Fee $25.00 per school

Individual Event $15.00 per slot

DUO Interpretation $25.00 per slot

Public Forum Debate $25.00 per slot

Lincoln- Douglas Debate $15.00 per slot

Congressional Debaters $15.00 per slot

Administrative Fees

Late Add/Drop Fee $15.00 per change after 3:00 PM on January 28, 2025

Missing Judge $100.00 per missing judge

Dropped Judge $100.00 per judge dropped & not replaced after 3:00 PM on January 28, 2025

No-show judge fine $25.00 per round

Tournament Platform and Schedule

It is imperative that all participants understand how to access the resources available through SpeechWire and that judges be trained in the protocols and procedures for each event as well as in the use of electronic ballots prior to the tournament.

There are a number of excellent training materials available from the NSDA and New Jersey Speech & Debate League. E-ballots will be used for all events.

A tentative schedule for the tournament can be found on the SpeechWire site as well as in the live document. Adjustments will be made as needed during the course of the tournament. All participating schools will receive access to the live document approximately one week before the tournament.

JUDGING REQUIREMENTS

E-BALLOTS

All coaches must have a team roster with accurate email addresses uploaded onto SpeechWire. Likewise, coaches must ensure that judges are trained to complete electronic ballots and have a linked SpeechWire account.

Coaches should also ensure that their judges bring the appropriate chargers for their devices. Extra chargers and devices will NOT be available at Freehold Township High School.

Individual Events and Congress

One judge per five speech contestants or fraction thereof is required. No student judges allowed.

LD & PF Debate

One judge per three Lincoln-Douglas debaters or fraction thereof is required

One judge per three Public Forum teams or fraction thereof is required

Student debaters with at least 2 full years of experience may judge Novice LD or Novice PF ONLY, as long as they are clearly marked in registration notes. Failure to do so may result in a judge fee being assessed.

Student judges cannot be used to fulfill judging obligations for JV & Varsity entries.

Student judges may not be used to fulfill a school’s entire judging obligation.

***Please stress to your judges that they are obligated for the entire tournament and must be available to judge the final round of any event.***

When registering your judges, if you have a judge who is able to judge your own team without conflict, please mark him or her as “Clean” on the drop-down menu.

We may be forced to assign judges based on need, regardless of category. This is something we will try never to do, but if circumstances demand it, it would be helpful for coaches to let us know of any judges who would feel comfortable doing other events. However, speech judges will be used to judge Congress rounds. Please let your judges know this.

Additional Information:

The cafeteria will be open for the purchase of food from local businesses and other goods/snacks.

One thing no one will find is bottled water! We fully support the New Jersey Speech & Debate League's initiative to reduce waste at our events. Instead of a single-use plastic bottle, encourage your kids to invest in one of the League's reusable water bottles, which will be available for purchase along with collectible tournament stickers. All proceeds from the sale of the bottles helps support the League's scholarship fund.

Judges & Head Coaches will receive free breakfast and lunch. Judges & Head Coaches must sign-in to receive their ticket for free lunch.

The tournament is being hosted by Freehold Township High School, NOT Freehold High School. Please note the address above.

Novices are 9th or 10th grade students who are in their first year of forensics (regardless of event).

Debate divisions will follow the NSDA guidelines.

Sincerely,

Anthony Verdoni

Freehold Township Speech & Debate Coach

Email: averdoni@frhsd.com

Phone: 201-600-7383‬

See you on February 1st!

Anthony Verdoni
Email address: averdoni@frhsd.com
Phone number: 201-600-7383