SpeechWire Tournament Services - Forensics Tournament Software

The Madison West High School Forensics team invites your team to our 9th annual invitational forensic tournament. It begins with student congress on Friday, March 20 and speech events on Saturday, March 21.

WFCA rules will be used for all events (For a list of rules see www.wfcaforensics.org).

Oratorical Declamation will be offered using NCFL Rules. Declamation will not count toward team sweepstakes points.

7:30-8:15 Registration
8:30 Radio/Extemp Draw Begins
8:30 Judges Meeting in the library
9:00 Round 1
10:10 Round 2
11:20 Round 3
1:15 Final Rounds Begin
2:30 Awards in the Auditorium

Entries
Students are allowed to enter one or two events, but not both Extemp and Radio. The same material may not be used in separate events.

Due to space constraints, we are limited to 400 total entries. Please get your team entered early to avoid any last minute disappointment.

Judges
Each school must provide one judge for every five entries or portion of five entries. Each Duo, Group Interp or Play Acting is considered one entry. You must enter the names of all judges you are bringing into Speechwire. Please try to bring your own quality judges. Your judge commitment will be based on your entry as of Thursday, March 19th. ALL judges are committed to being available through final rounds. Make sure you indicate that your judges are for your Saturday commitment by choosing “Speech” in the “Judge Type” drop-down menu.

We may have a small number of hired judges available for you at a cost of $100 per judge, first come, first served.

This year we are piloting the use of online or e-ballots. This allows the judge to leave feedback and critiques for each performance and enter the ranks from a laptop, without the need for paper ballots or critique sheets. For this to work, all judges need:

Coaches enter the email of the judge when filling out your team’s registration. Judges will be emailed from Speechwire with instructions on accessing their Speechwire account and ballots at the tournament. Coaches can access the ballots through their own Speechwire account.

A limited number of chromebooks will be available for checkout at the tournament, for judges who want to do e-ballots but don’t bring a device.

Judges who want to write out their critiques and ballots on paper can still do so, but we encourage everyone to give e-ballots a try.

Instructions will be given at the tournament, and can be downloaded here or from the Files for Download section in Speechwire.

Awards
Trophies will be presented to the top three competitors in each event and medals to the remaining finalists. Individual placement of all finalists will be determined by their cumulative ranks through the preliminary rounds combined with their three ranks from the final round.

Your top 25 entries will count toward team scores with a maximum of four entries counted per event.

Team trophies will be awarded to the top three schools in these divisions:
Large Team: based on total points
Small Team: based on team average

Deadlines
• Please register via Speechwire.com by 4:00pm, Friday, March 13th.
• There is no penalty for drops received by 10:00pm, Thursday, March 19th. Entries dropped after that time will still be charged, and your judge commitment will remain the same.
• Coaches can manage their own drops on Speechwire.com until 7:00AM, Saturday, March 21st. After that point, text drops to John Rademacher, 608-335-4837 at your earliest possible convenience.
• Day of tournament drops are strongly discouraged. Make sure you have an updated cell phone number in Speechwire, so tournament personnel can contact you in case a member of your team fails to check-in by 8:00am.

Fees
A fee of $9.00 for each individual entry and $12 for group entries (Duo, Group Interp, Play Acting). Entry fees are per entry, not per student. Fees will be based on your confirmed entries as of 10:00 pm March 19.

Food
The magnificent West Forensics Parents will have breakfast and lunch for sale. Our menu will include:

If anyone on your team has any allergies or special dietary restrictions, please let us know prior to the tournament.

Speechwire
If you encounter any problems with the online registration, don't hesitate to email jrademacher@madison.k12.wi.us. When entering judges, be sure to designate them as either Speech or Congress. If the same person is judging both, enter their name twice.

A registration confirmation will be emailed out after registration closes. Coaches can also view up-to-the minute fees on Speechwire.com.

Parking
Cars may park on the streets surrounding West High School, but be mindful of the neighbors’ driveways and of the signs indicating residential permits required. There are a limited number of spaces in the staff lot behind the school, entered from Van Hise Street.

Buses may park on Speedway Avenue, to the southwest of the school, at the Regent Street and Highland Avenue intersection behind West.

Congress
On Friday night, we will host a student congress. Registration begins at 3:45. The plan is for 2 sessions, beginning at 4:15.

Email legislation to Tim Scheffler, TimScheff@aol.com , by Monday, March 16. The fee is $8 per student, and each school must bring one qualified congress judge. The fee includes a slice of Little Cesar's Pizza and a can of soda.

Register your congress entries using speechwire. When entering a congress judge, make sure you indicate they are for your congress judge obligation using the “Judge Type” drop-down menu.

We are looking forward to hosting you! If you have any questions, feel free to contact us!

John Rademacher
Coach, Madison West Forensics
Work: 608-204-3199
Cell: 608-335-4837
E-Mail: jrademacher@madison.k12.wi.us

John Rademacher
Email address: jrademacher@madison.k12.wi.us
Phone number: 608-335-4837

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