February 20, 2009
Dear C.F.L. colleague,
Once again, we are approaching our CFL Grand Tournaments to determine the Rockville Centre CFL representatives to the Grand National Tournament. Many of you are familiar with this letter and its attendant details. However, I ask that all of you read this carefully so that the contests run smoothly and that our students are not disadvantaged due to our mistakes. PLEASE NOTE: if you know that a student is not going to attend the Nationals (Memorial Day weekend in Albany), DO NOT LET THAT STUDENT ATTEND ANY OF THE CONTESTS. Please remember that your school will be liable for any costs that might be incurred by changing the registration if any of your students have to drop from the Nationals once they have qualified.
Please also have an idea of judge names and room requirements at the last tournament you are planning to attend. We need to finalize hotel arrangements before April 1.
This letter contains three invitations. The dates, descriptions, and locations are as follows:
1. Lincoln-Douglas Debate Tournament: Roslyn H.S.: March 7
2. Speech Tournament: Baldwin H.S.: March 14
3. Duo Interp, Public Forum, and Student Congress: Sacred Heart: March 21
I. LINCOLN DOUGLAS DEBATE TOURNAMENT
A. Date and Site: Saturday, March 7 at Roslyn H.S. Registration: 8-8:30 a.m.
B. Number of contestants: 4 maximum
C. Judge Quotas:
DEBATERS - JUDGES
1 Debater - 2 Judges
2 Debaters - 3 Judges
3 Debaters - 5 Judges
4 Debaters - 6 Judges
NOTES:
1. All rules for speech judges apply for debate with the appropriate changes (see below).
2. As in the past, Round I will be preset. All succeeding rounds will be power-paired, generally following NFL criteria. Debaters continue in the tournament until they have lost two debates, at which time they are eliminated. All rounds will have three judges; a “win” is either unanimous or majority. We will have a maximum 5 rounds of debate (usually 4) -- until we have determined the five representatives to Nationals.
3. L-D topic: you may access the topic (www.lifa.org) on Wednesday, February 25.
4. Be sure to register by emailing zehnle@lifa.org on or before Wednesday, March 4, no later than 9:00 p.m. (no names; just numbers). Be at Roslyn no later than 8:30 a.m. on March 7 or your student(s) could forfeit the first round.
5. Directions to Roslyn: call the school.
II. SPEECH TOURNAMENT
A. Date and Site: Saturday, March 14 at Baldwin H.S. (call school for directions)
B. Events and Number of Contestants:
1. Original Oratory: 4 maximum
2. Dramatic Performance: 4 maximum
3. Oral Interpretation: 4 maximum
4. Declamation: 4 maximum
5. Extemporaneous: 4 maximum
C. Rules: those governing the NCFL
D. NOTE: no student may compete with a speech used in a previous year. No school may send more than 17 contestants.
E. Judge Quotas:
1 - 4 speakers: 1 judge
5 - 8 speakers: 2 judges
9 - 12 speakers: 3 judges
13- 17 speakers: 4 judges
NOTES:
1. All judges must be out of high school, removed from high school forensics for at least one year and be over 18.
2. All judges must have judged at least once previously in a bona fide interscholastic speech tournament.
3. Failure to observe these restrictions will disqualify a judge and will result in the elimination of the corresponding number of students from the tournament.
4. Each coach will be asked to sign a statement indicating that all of the school’s judges meet the qualifications listed above. This will be done at registration.
5. A school may not compete if all dues and fees for the Rockville Centre CFL have not been paid in full before the contest.
6. Students will be able to purchase food for breakfast and lunch at Baldwin. Judges will be the guests of Baldwin H.S.
7. All speakers will compete in four preliminary rounds (unless the numbers warrant fewer rounds): the three best scores will determine the 8 finalists (unless the number of participants warrant fewer) in each event. In case of a tie, the fourth (worst) rank will determine the finalist (after that, the regular procedures for determining finalists will be used).
8. If a team registers after 8:30 a.m., all or some of its competitors could be eliminated.
9. Preliminary registration: coaches should e-mail their registration to zehnle@lifa.org no later than Wednesday, March 11 at 9:00 p.m. (NOTE: for any of these three tournaments, DO NOT include the names of students or judges – just provide the numbers). Schools that try to register after this time will be ineligible for the contest. Although contestants may be dropped, you may not add contestants or switch category numbers after this time. If you drop students, you are still obligated to bring the same number of judges that you registered. Failure to do so will result in a $150.00 penalty per judge.
10. If a student qualifies in speech and had previously qualified in LD, he or she must choose at the end of the contest which event he or she will compete in at the Nationals.
III. STUDENT CONGRESS, PUBLIC FORUM, AND DUO INTERP TOURNAMENT
A. Date and Site: Tuesday, March 21 at Sacred Heart Academy, 8:00 – 8:30 am
B. Number of contestants: 4 Congresspeople (maximum), 4 Duo teams (maximum), 4 PF teams
C. Rules: special local rules for Congress, and NCFL rules for Duo Interp and PF.
D. Judge quota: one judge for Congress. One judge for 1 - 4 Duo teams. All judges must be at least 18, out of high school, be removed from high school forensics at least one year, and have judged at a bona fide speech , debate, or congress tournament (for Congress) or speech tournament (for Duo). PF judge quotas are the same as in LD.
E. Registration: Preregsiter by emailing numbers to zehnle@lifa.org by 9 pm, Wed. March 18. No names, just numbers. Please be at Sacred Heart by 8:30 am. Schools that arrive after 8:30 am may have their students forfeit the first round.
NOTE: If a student has previously qualified for the NCFL Grand Tournament in speech or debate, he or she should choose to compete in the event for which he or she qualifies on this day. Students should not compete in this contest if they do not intend to participate in this event at Nationals.
NOTE: Unlike in LD, judges for PF need not have had previous judging expereince in PF.
NOTE: So that we can have the legislation in time for the congresspeople to prepare properly, I ask that you send your bills and resolutions no later than Wednesday, March 4. In order to insure that all legislation meets specifications, a web page has been set up. Please go to the website (www.lifa.org) and follow the instructions there. Be sure that your students know the difference between a Bill and a Resolution. For instance, a Bill contains no “Whereas” clauses and does not end in “Be it resolved that. . . .” The purpose of a bill is specific legislation, including enforcement and funding. On the other hand, a Resolution has “Whereas” clauses and ends with “Be it resolved that. . . .” The intent of a resolution is more philosophical than legislative. For Student Congress, Constitutional Amendments are treated like Resolutions. IF YOUR PIECE OF LEGISLATION IS IMPROPERLY WRITTEN, IT MAY BE EXCLUDED FROM CONSIDERATION. PLEASE REVIEW YOUR STUDENTS’ WORK CAREFULLY BEFORE SENDING IT TO ME. You can access the legislation on Monday, March 9 at www.lifa.org
NOTE FURTHER: A school may send a maximum of three pieces of legislation. If you send two or three, indicate on one of them that it should be used in Finals. Otherwise, I will choose bills for the Finals. PLEASE do not recycle old bills. We are all tired of them!
Good luck at the Grand Tournament.
Sincerely yours,
Bro. George R. Zehnle, S.M.
President, Rockville Centre C.F.L.