San Diego/Imperial Valley Speech League
THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU START!
Events:
We have twelve (12) individual events:
1. Original Oratory (OO)
2. Original Advocacy (OA)
3. Informative (INF)
4. International Extemp (IX)
5. National Extemp (NX)
6. Impromptu (IMP)
7. Dramatic Interp (DI)
8. Humorous Interp (HI)
9. Duo Interp (DUO)
10. Original Prose and Poetry (OPP)
11. Program Oral Interpretation (POI)
12. Declamation (DEC)
We have five (5) debate events:
1. Policy Debate
2. Lincoln Douglas Debate
3. Public Forum Debate
4. Parliamentary Debate
5. Student Congress
Kinds of Competitors:
Varsity Speaker/Debater - This is a student who, while in high school, has participated in a speech or debate tournament in a previous school year. It may have been only one event and at only one tournament, but he/she is still a varsity competitor for all events, not just the one or two he/she may have competed in. There is an exception for Policy, Lincoln-Douglas, Parli, and Public Forum debate. Varsity speakers may still compete as novices in these debate events, so long as they have not debated in any debate event in a prior season.
Novice Speaker - This is a student who, while in high school, has NOT participated in any speech or debate tournament.
New coaches should remember that they don’t have to do all events! Select several that you and your students like and feel comfortable with and start there.
More information on these events available at the CHSSA website (listed below). Click on “About CHSSA”, then “Rules and Regulations”. You can also access videos of events on the Curriculum page of the website.
Types of Tournaments:
You will seek out information on two types of tournaments:
League tournaments - The league tournaments are hosted by the San Diego
Imperial Valley Speech League. There are nine (9) to twelve (12) of those a year:
League Tournament #1A, #2A, (#3A), State Quals A – Public Forum/Parli
League Tournament #1B, #2B, (#3B), State Quals B – IEs
League Tournament #1C, #2C, (#3C), State Quals C - LD/Policy/Congress
Invitational Tournaments - Invitational tournaments are usually held by high schools and colleges and serve as a fundraising event for the forensics team. Depending on the invitational, there may or may not be novice and varsity divisions.
The first five of our regular League tournaments will feature a novice division and a varsity division. It is important to get your novice speakers to League tournaments with a novice division to get them the chance to compete against others with limited experience. Don’t wait. At early contests, new speakers are seldom totally prepared. Remember, attending just one tournament will give the speakers a tremendous boost, and if your students are still just observing and preparing, they will get further behind. (The old “sink or swim” concept).
If your students are hesitant to participate, bring them to observe to learn about events, rounds, posting, awards etc. There they can watch up to four debate rounds and eight rounds of IEs and it will provide an opportunity for you and your students to become a unified team. This will also give you as the coach the opportunity to watch events and/or learn how tab rooms are run.
Dues:
CHSSA or State – (required) These need to be paid by December 1st. The forms can be found online on the CHSSA web site (www.chssa.org). They are $150.00. This form will have to be filled out and signed by you and your principal and uploaded through the CHSSA website.
SDIVSL or League - (required) These need to be paid prior to competing. They are only $60.00. These fees are waived for 1st time schools. Those will be included in your first tournament fees. There is also a membership form to complete annually.
NSDA or National - (optional) These are paid to the NSDA national office and should have been billed to your school ($149). You need to find these if your school has a chapter or an affiliate membership. The bill may be addressed to the coach who was there last year. Keep an eye out for it. If interested in starting a chapter, talk with League president or any other coach whose team participates.
SCNSDA or district – (optional) In addition to NSDA dues, schools interested in competing at Nationals must also pay district dues. They are paid in March before the district tournament. You will get a bill for them when you get the entry for the district tournament.