The Maine Forensic Association is pleased to invite you to the I Have a Dream Tournament on January 22, 2022.

Registration deadline: 11:30 p.m. ET Wednesday, January 19
Judge entry deadline: 8 p.m. ET Friday, January 21
Fees and judge obligations frozen (nonrefundable): 8 p.m. ET Friday, January 21
Drop deadline: 8:30 a.m. ET Saturday, January 22
Nuisance fees for drops applied: 8:00 a.m. ET Saturday, January 22

Any questions, please contact Jason Curry, MFA President, by email: jcurry@msad51.org.

Registration

Minimum requirements for virtual competition

As this is a virtual tournament that will be hosted on Tabroom.com and NSDA Campus, there are three core requirements for participating in a virtual competition with the MFA:

1. All participants (coaches, students, and judges) each must have an account on Tabroom.com as posting and competition is all completed online. New students can register with Tabroom.com and ensure they are linked to their team’s roster.
2. Prior to tournament day, ensure each participant (students, judges, and coaches) have access to campus.speechanddebate.org on the network from which they will be participating. If necessary, work with respective network managers to whitelist the domain.
3. Registration must be completed through Tabroom.com by 8 p.m., Friday, January 21.

Recommendations and reminders for the new season

• Submit your membership dues and forms.
• Managing rosters for NSDA members
• Sign up Instructions for Online Tournament
• Set expectations early and often with the MFA Code of Ethics.

Entry Fees

• $7.00 per entry (New schools $3.50)
• Teams (Duo and PF) are two entries ($14 or $7)

Drops

Coaches can drop and change entries until Saturday, January 22 at 8:30 a.m. In the event you need to drop or make a change after that time, contact Tabulation and each will be assessed a $10 fine. Late add requests are not encouraged and will be accepted only at the discretion of the tournament hosts. Late adds will be assessed an additional charge of $10 per entry.

Events categories

• Lincoln-Douglas Debate: 3 levels, if numbers allow
• Public Forum Debate: 2 levels, if numbers allow
• Congressional Debate: Senate and House, as needed
• Speech: All Maine State Tournament categories, double-entry allowed

A note about Duo Interpretation

We are offering Duo Interpretation in an asynchronous format. Review carefully the guidelines and standards here. The asynchronous format allows some latitude with double-entry, so we are allowing:

• Debate and Congress competitors may double-enter in Duo Interpretation.
• Speech competitors may still only double-enter, even if one of their events is Duo Interpretation.

Event/division definitions

Novice level is for students competing in their first year of high school forensics (i.e. first year competitors). Note that Oratorical Declamation is limited to freshmen and sophomore students only.

Junior varsity level is primarily for second-year competitors, but also first year competitors who have enjoyed success.

Varsity level is for competitors with more than one year of experience who wish to try a higher level of competition.

Maverick in Public Forum Debate is a single-person team. A maverick WILL NOT be allowed at this tournament.

Double-entry is for students competing in two Speech events (ex. Humorous Interpretation and Extemporaneous Speaking). Double-entry is also allowed for entrants in debate or Congress who wish to participate in asynchronous Duo Interpretation.

Topics

Extemporaneous Speaking topics

Review carefully the high level topics for Extemporaneous Speaking here. Prompts will focus only on these topics.

NOTE: Competitors will be allowed to access sources on the web during preparation.

Congressional Debate

View the docket here.

Lincoln-Douglas resolution

Resolved: The appropriation of outer space by private entities is unjust.

Public Forum resolution

Resolved: The United States federal government should legalize all illicit drugs.

Judge Requirements

Help the meet run smoothly and fairly by supplying your required, trained judges, including unaffiliated, in accordance with MFA rules. Have all your judges finalized by 8:00 p.m. Friday, January 21.

Fractional entries round up (i.e. three LD entries = 2 judges). Third, fifth, and seventh judge must be neutral/unaffiliated for Speech, LD, PF.

• Lincoln-Douglas Debate: one judge for every 2 LD entries
• Public Forum: one judge for every 2 teams
• Speech or Congressional Debate: one judge for every 5 entries

Judges are expected to be available for ALL rounds of competition. Fines will be assessed for judges departing early unless cleared through Tabulation.

Registering judges

All tournament participants must have an account on the tournament platform AND be linked to their school to fulfill your judge quota. Complete or share the steps here prior to tournament day. Missing a judge results in a $60 fine.

Note judge conflicts or shadow needs in your judge registration on Tabroom.com. Email the tournament host for any complex judge situations. Remember a parent cannot judge the category in which their child is competing.

Best practices: Judge notes

Meeting your judge burden

The MFA is generally not able to provide judges for hire.

If you are struggling to fulfill your judge burden, many coaches have success by announcing their need to the Maine listserv and negotiating an exchange, including pay rate. In this case, add a negotiated judge to your Tabroom roster using the judge’s email address so they are appropriately linked.

If you have extra judges, contact the Tournament Director so the judge can be added to the judge hire pool.

Judging guidelines in a virtual environment

• All ballots will be accessed through tabroom.com.
• Judges are expected to have their camera on at all times during the round. Exceptions may be made for low bandwidth.
• Due to the nature of the online settings, judges often interact with students in their home spaces. If you observe a situation in which a student may be in physical, emotional, or psychological danger, notify the Tabulation staff immediately (or as soon as safely possible).
• We are all influenced by implicit bias, or the stereotypes that unconsciously affect our decisions. When judging, our implicit biases negatively impact traditionally marginalized and disenfranchised students. Before writing comments or making a decision, reflect on any biases that may affect your decision making.

Awards

Tournament sweeps will be awarded to the top three teams each in Speech, Debate, and Congressional Debate. Individual awards for first through third in each category, and honorable mention as determined by Tab. Certificates will be emailed to coaches for distribution.

Note that ties in record will be broken first by MFA guidelines. Tabulation of awards follows standards adopted by MFA.

Schedule

The schedule is subject to change. Watch the live blog on maineforensic.org/onlinetournament for updates throughout the tournament day.

7:30-8:30 a.m. ET Online check-in (see below)

• It is the coach’s responsibility to validate that all students are ready for online competition.
• Tabulation will close check-in promptly to then panel rounds.
• Note that delays or errors in affirming your check-in may delay the tournament.

8:35 Virtual breakouts for judge and student briefings. Keep an eye out for an email blast with a link to your respective virtual briefing.

9:00 Rounds begin following briefings

Debate round schedule

• Round 1 9:00-9:50 a.m.
• Round 2 10:00-10:20 a.m.
• Round 3 11:30-12:20 p.m.
• Lunch 12:20-1:30 p.m.
• Final round 1:30-2:20 p.m.

Speech round schedule

• Round 1 9:00-10:30 a.m.
• Round 2 10:45-noon
• Lunch Noon-1:00 p.m.
• Round 3 1:00-2:30 p.m.
• Final round 3:00-4:30 p.m.

Congressional Debate session schedule

• 9:15-noon Session 1
• Noon lunch
• 1:00-3:00 p.m. Session 2

Checking into tournament

To complete online check-in:

1. Confirm that each of your students, judges, and yourself are logged into the following (opening multiple tabs recommended):

1. maineforensic.org/onlinetournament. Passwords will be emailed to all participants the morning of the tournament.
2. Tabroom.com
3. Respective e-mail accounts associated with Tabroom.com. All Tabroom announcements are issued by email and/or text depending on user preference.

2. Once you have confirmed that everyone is present and prepared, follow these instructions to check into the tournament. Check-in closes promptly to accommodate paneling of rounds.