Tournament Entry

  1. Eligibility - students must have been in the sixth, seventh or eighth grade during the 2011-2012 school year.There is no qualification process; this tournament is an open invitational.
  2. A school or club may not enter more than eight (8) entries in any event.
    1. Students can enter one of three Pattern A debate events (Public Forum, Policy, Lincoln Douglas).
    2. In speech events, students can enter two events per pattern (A or B).
    3. Any student entered in Pattern A Debate also can enter in either Congressional Debate or Extemp. or two events in Speech Pattern B.
    4. Any student entered in Congress or Extemp also can enter in either one Pattern A Debate event or two Pattern A speech events.
    5. A coach may pre-enter up to 8 individuals, pairs or 3-student teams in the exhibition event TV Commercial; students must be pre-registered in order to participate and not still competing in an elimination round held at the same time TV Commercial rounds are held.Pre-registered entries are not required, however, to participate at the tournament.
  3. We wish to encourage only those who are genuinely interested in evaluating students to provide an educational experience to judge at this tournament. All judges are committed through the end of the tournament, and are expected to judge any round assigned within their event group. The NJFL Web site features instructional guides for judging; coaches are expected to share these materials with judges they bring to the tournament.
  4. Fees
    1. School Fee: $125 - covers annual membership dues. In the event that a school or club is already a member in good standing, dues may be deducted from the school fee (for example if a school is a paid member of NJFL that school can deduct the $35 NJFL membership fee from their school fee). Tournament staff will check on registration each weekday, and automatically reverse fees to account for dues already paid.If you do not see the dues reversed within one business day, please contact our office.
    2. Per Student Entry Fee: $30- covers student entry in up to two events, and lifetime membership in the NJFL, if the student was not previously a member.
      1. Each additional event entry/slot is $20.
      2. Pre-registering for the exhibition event of TV Commercial is $5 per entry.
    3. A judge bond of $200 is assessed to ensure schools’ judges complete their judging obligation. This bond is in addition to entry fees and judge fees. If all judges from a school complete all rounds to which they were assigned, the $200 will be returned at the end of the tournament. Bonds are redeemable by cash, check, or can be applied to dues.Judge bonds must be redeemed by October 1, 2012, and it is the coach’s responsibility to contact the national office prior to that date.
    4. Schools must provide judges as follows, or pay a $100 fee for each uncovered judge:
      Event Group       - One judge required for:
      Speech - every 5 entries or fraction thereof*
      Policy Debate - every 2 teams or fraction thereof*
      LD Debate - every 3 entries or fraction thereof*
      PF Debate - every 3 entries or fraction thereof*
      Congress - every 8 entries (maximum/limit)
      * e.g., 6 speech entries = 2 judges
    5. All fees are non-refundable after May 30, 2012.
  5. Deadlines
    1. Entries must be made online by May 18, 2012.
    2. E-mail Congressional Debate legislation by May 1 to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
    3. E-mail orations by May 30 to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ; each oration should identify quoted material, state the number of quoted words, and by virtue of submitting the script, the orator and the coach attest that the oration is the original work of the contestant.
    4. We require a icon Media Release Form (111.42 kB) to be signed by each student’s parent/guardian, since we will have photographers and video crews on hand.These must be submitted with fees by May 30, 2012.
    5. All fees, including judge bond, must be received by the national office by May 30, 2012.
      NJFL/NFL National Office 
      PO Box 38, 125 Watson St
      Ripon, WI  54971-0038 
    6. A school/club risks forfeiting participation if fees and media release forms are not received on time; a late fee of $200 will be assessed for fees and forms received after May 30.
Online registration will be available by March 20, 2012.
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