Dear colleagues, competitors, and friends of NCFA,

We hope you have been well during the many trials and tribulations. The Northern California Forensics Association's Fall Festival Tournament will take place online from December 4-6th, 2020.

On this site, you will find information about the events, judging, scheduling, fees, and technology usage.

We are very excited to virtually host you in December. Please contact us with any

questions or concerns

Daniel Lopez, Hartnell Forensics

drlopez@hartnell.edu

Tournament Director

Tournament Staff

Tournament director: Daniel Lopez

Tournament host/Digital ballot table: Doug Mungin

Debate Events Tab: Raman Deol

Individual Events Tab: Sue Peterson

Tech support: Ryan Guy & Shannan Troxel-Andreas

Enter your students and judges in the tournament. Registration will take place through ForensicsTournament.net (FTN). You can access registration here.

Important Dates

1. Tournament entries due: Tues. December 1, 2020 by midnight

2. Fees assessed: Thur., December 3, 2020 at 12 P.M. (Noon)

We are sensitive to the challenges of tech use during these difficult times. While we want to remain flexible, it is important to have a policy in place in case of technology failure.

General Guidelines:

• No persons may participate or contribute to students who are competing during the round.

• Single camera set-up only is allowed.

• Video and/or audio manipulation is prohibited.

• Physical audiences are prohibited from being present for the performance, with the exception of: involuntary audiences (ex: individuals/families who happen to be in the same room), and assistants/aids for individuals with disabilities. Enforcement is up to the discretion of the TD.

• Prohibit practices that would not be possible in a face-to-face environment (such as motion, video transitions, or audio manipulation).

Technology Failure During Competition

IE competitors who are giving a speech and lose their internet connection are allowed 3 minutes to reconnect before they forfeit their opportunity to finish the speech. They will then be judged on what was presented before they lost internet.

For debate Competitors, the judge will start a running clock until they return to the round and the amount of time over 3 minutes will be deducted from their speech time. If the time for the speech has expired, the debate round will continue with the following speech. In partnered debate, partners cannot finish the speech for the person who dropped.

If a competitor's internet connection is lost, they are encouraged to "dial in" to their 8x8 room. Guide: How to Dial in to an 8x8 Room

NPDA Debate in Online Formats

In accordance with NPDA Bylaws, electronic/laptop flowing by debaters in a round is allowed. Cutting and pasting previously prepared material as well as flowing done by anyone not in the round on a shared spreadsheet is prohibited. Parli partners may communicate with each other during the round by phone or electronically.

Partners in debate rounds are allowed to communicate with their partner through other lines of communication such as chats, phone calls, other video conferencing platforms, etc.

A key feature of the tournament will be a live video room available throughout the tournament. There will be a digital ballot table where you can go to get help with questions about tournament participation and technical support.

Best practices guide for students NOFF’s competitor info video

Virtual judging guide NOFF’s Judge video

General Eligibility

1. Students must be currently enrolled in a class at the college they are representing. If students fail to meet the eligibility requirement but have a compelling justification, a coach or representative from the institution may petition the executive council and tournament staff for consideration to participate.

2. Each college participating at an NCFA sponsored or sanctioned event must be represented by a coach. The coach need not be from the same school as the contestants, but must be officially recognized as their faculty representative by their institution. Students will not be allowed to compete without a faculty representative at the tournament. Exceptions can be made for student-run teams, as determined by the Executive Committee in consultation with the host.

Division Eligibility

1. Any student may enter open division, regardless of experience. Students with four semesters of collegiate experience in an event type MUST enter open division.

2. Students with less than four semesters of collegiate experience in an event type may enter junior divisions. Junior eligibility is lost when a student places first, second, or third in Junior and/or Open division at three different tournaments. If a student has been in final rounds of junior and/or open division of debate at three tournaments he/she must move to open division.

3. Novice Division shall be open only to those students meeting the following NCFA Eligibility Requirements:

   • High school experience in Individual Events--if a student has competed in high school for two semesters, the student must compete in open division.

   • College experience in debate--If a student has advanced beyond the first elimination round at two tournaments, or if the student has competed in the final round at three tournaments in any debate format (team or Lincoln-Douglas) then he/she must enter in a higher division

   • College experience in Individual Events--a novice competitor must advance to open division if he/she places (first, second, third) in an event, or like event type (i.e.-interpretation, limited prep, group event, and platform speeches), twice.

Individual events and Debate shall be scheduled opposite of one another with event restrictions described below

1. Pattern A: After Dinner Speaking, Duo , Impromptu, Informative, & Lincoln Douglas Debate

2. Pattern B: Communication Analysis, Programmed Oral Interpretation, Prose, & NPDA

3. Pattern C: Dramatic Interpretation, Extemporaneous Speaking, Poetry, Persuasion, & Lincoln Douglas Debate

4. Pattern D: IPDA (friday only).

Pattern/Division Rules

Collapsing divisions : Every effort will be made to preserve the Novice division. If we collapse events due to low entries we will recognize the top Novice competitor in each event.

• If a division in an individual event has fewer than 8 entrants, the lower division will be collapsed into the higher division.

• Any contestants entered in a lower division who qualify for the higher division final round must compete in the higher division final. Such students are to be recognized for that achievement at the awards presentations, but they will only receive awards in the higher division.

Whenever an Open or Junior division of debate has fewer than 8 entries OR insufficient entries to pair discrete preliminary rounds (no repeat matches or matches between teams from the same school), the two divisions should be collapsed into a single Open Division.

• All teams will be eligible for an Open Division elimination bracket, which will begin at a level consistent with NPDA sweepstakes rules. The results of the eliminations will be reported to NPDA/NPTE.

Cross-entries

• Students may enter UP TO 2 events per pattern.

• If students are competing in NPDA debate, they may not enter another event in that Pattern.

• Students competing in multiple events are responsible for signing in to their events before competing (leave a message in the chat of the 8x8 room you will compete in second).

• Students competing in Individual Events and Lincoln Douglas debate should do their speech event first.

Forfeits

Competitors who do not promptly attend rounds will be subject to forfeitures at the discretion of the tournament director.

Events

Limited Prep Events:

• Impromptu topics will be provided to each student in the Live Video Room chat box. Judges will need to copy/paste the topics (provided on the eBallots) in the chat window for the students. Each student will receive a different set of impromptu topics.

• Extemp questions will be provided for all speakers in a separate Extemp Prep Live Video Room. Students do not need to stay in that room after receiving the questions. The extemp proctor will copy/paste the questions into the chat window at the specified time.

Platform Events:

• While students are allowed to still use Visual Aids, they are encouraged to have them printed on 8.5x11 pages to show to the audience while presenting.

• Screen sharing to show a PowerPoint or image is not permitted due to various technology issues. Since not all students may be able to access the screen sharing function, we feel it’s best to not allow that option.

Interp Events:

• Duo partners are encouraged NOT to be in the same room to respect social distancing recommendations.

• Partners, if in the same physical room, should share one live stream. Having multiple live video rooms open on the same WiFi causes poor connections.

• Students are encouraged to try out various methods of performance ahead of time and innovate!

Debate:

1. Pattern A/C- NFA-LD debate

2. Pattern B- NPDA Debate

3. Pattern D - IPDA Debate

Debate Rules:

• Each format of debate shall consist of 4 preliminary rounds and the appropriate number of elimination rounds. Each debate format shall follow the bylaws of its national organization unless otherwise specified in this invite.

• For NPDA:

  1. All winning records shall advance to elimination rounds

  2. We will advance no more than half the number of teams competing in preliminary rounds in each division, unless the number of teams with a winning record exceeds half of the entries in a division.

  3. All teams advancing must have at least 50% win-loss records including byes.

  4. All attempts will be made to prevent hybrid teams from meeting either of the two schools in prelims or elimination rounds, except in the instance of partial elimination rounds or if both teams have been eliminated from contention.

• For NFA-LD:

  1. All winning records shall advance to elimination rounds.

  2. We will advance no more than half the number of teams competing in preliminary rounds in each division, unless the number of teams with a winning record exceeds half of the entries in a division.

  3. All teams advancing must have at least 50% win-loss records including byes.

• For IPDA:

  1. All winning records shall advance to elimination rounds.

  2. We will advance no more than half the number of teams competing in preliminary rounds in each division, unless the number of teams with a winning record exceeds half of the entries in a division.

  3. All teams advancing must have at least 50% win-loss records including byes.

• Criteria for advancing to elimination rounds

  1. Number of Preliminary Wins

  2. Opposition Wins

  3. Total Speaker Points

  4. Adjusted Speaker Points 1: Drop Low

  5. Adjusted Speaker Points 2: Drop High

  6. Adjusted Speaker Points 3: Drop High & Low

  7. Random

• In the event that judge availability is limited, the tournament and tabulation staff reserve the right to limit advancing teams/students to best utilize judges.

Tournament rules and protest procedures

In the case of protests over rules or ethical questions, the following procedure will be utilized.

1. Protests must be initiated by a coach or tournament official.

2. The first ruling shall be made by the Ombuds--- after consultation with all parties involved in the complaint.

3. Appeals of this ruling shall be directed to the Executive Committee of the NCFA.

4. After the committee reviews all available information, the ruling of the committee shall be final.

The Ombuds shall be appointed by the tournament director.

Awards

1. 1. Digital awards will be provided for all students that advance to elimination rounds in any event.

   2. Digital Team Sweepstakes awards will be provided for the top 3 institutions in 2 categories: 2-year and 4-year schools.

Competent Judge Standards

Each college entered shall fulfill the judging requirement outlined or pay the requisite judging fee. Only a competent judge may be used to fulfill this requirement. Competent judges shall be defined as one of the following:

1. A college forensics coach.

2. A former college forensics coach.

3. College instructors of Speech communication or allied disciplines.

4. A high school forensics coach or former forensics coach, teacher of speech, or allied discipline.

5. A college graduate who competed in at least one year of forensics

6. A student who has not completed a BA degree but who:

   • has retired from competition and has exhausted her/his competitive eligibility.

   • is at least one year removed from competition.

   • had a distinguished record in Open Division the type of event he/she is judging. Such a person may judge Novice Division rounds at their first tournament, and Open Division rounds thereafter.

IPDA Judging

1. In accordance with the IPDA best practices, we encourage non-traditional community and lay judging in the IPDA field. With no risk to eligibility you may enter community members, volunteers, and even students from public speaking and argumentation courses as judges.

Judge Coverage

Individual Events: 1 Judge may cover up to 5 IE slots per IE pattern.

Debate: One critic covers 2 debate entries per debate event. Each judge is obligated through the first elimination round or one round beyond the elimination of their team.

We will not be able to support entries without adequate judging. Hiredjudge.com is offering judges you can hire directly or through the tournament. Please contact the tournament director with any questions about your judging commitment.

At the beginning of the tournament you will confirm your entries and choose a payment method.

If at all possible we would ask that schools pay electronically with a credit / debit card. Invoices will be sent via Square to the person of your choosing.

If your school requires you to pay by check, NCFA Treasurer, Ryan Guy, will send you an invoice and mailing directions. Please ensure all checks are made out to NCFA.

Fee structure

School fee $25.00

• Individual event entry $5.00 per slot

• Uncovered individual entries will incur an additional $20.00 fee per slot

• IPDA/NFA-LD Debate entry $10.00 per team

• Uncovered NFA-LD / IPDA teams will incur an additional $50.00 fee per team

• NPDA Debate entry $35.00 per team

• Uncovered NPDA teams will incur an additional $100.00 fee per team

Friday December 4^th

9:00 AM-Registration

10:00 AM IPDA 1

11:15 AM IPDA 2

Lunch Break

1:00 PM IPDA 3

2:15 PM IPDA 4

3:45 PM IPDA Bronze

5:00 PM IPDA Gold

Saturday December 5^th

8:00AM-9:30AM A1 (LD 1, ADS, DUO, IMP, INFO)

9:30AM-11:00AM A2 (LD2, ADS, DUO, IMP, INFO) 9:15-10:45

11:00AM-12:30 PM A3 (LD3, ADS, DUO, IMP, INFO) 10:45-12:15

1230-115 Break

1:15-3:00 PM B1 (PAR 1, CA, POI, PRO)

3:00-4:45 PM B2 (PAR 2, CA, POI, PRO)

4:45-6:30PM B3 (PAR 3, CA, POI, PRO)

6:30PM -8:15PM PAR 4

Sunday December 6^th

7:45AM-9:15AM C1 (LD4, DI, EXT, POE, PER)

9:15AM-10:45AM C2 (LD E1, DI, EXT, POE, PER)

10:45AM-12:15PM C3 (LD E2, DI, EXT, POE, PER)

12:15PM-1:00PM LUNCH BREAK

1:00PM-2:45PM PAR E1, Pattern A Elim,

2:45PM-4:30PM PAR E2, Pattern B Elim,

4:30PM-6:30PM PAR E3, Pattern C Elim, LD E3

6:30PM-8:30PM AWARDS ASAP (PAR E4, LD E4 shall happen as necessary during this time)