By-Laws

Article I. Dues and Fees

Section A. Dues

1. Annual membership dues shall be charged by the Washington Area Speech and Debate League to all member schools.

2. Dues for any given year must be paid prior to participation in any League tournaments for that year.

3. Dues for the current competition (school) year are based on a school’s number of entries at WASDL Preliminary Tournaments in the previous competition (school) year:

a. If a school had 250 or more entries in the previous year, their dues are $1,000.

b. If a school had 150 – 249 entries in the previous year, their dues are $750.

c. If a school had 80 – 149 entries in the previous year, their dues are $650.

d. If a school had 50 – 79 entries in the previous year, their dues are $400.

e. If a school had 20 – 49 entries in the previous year, their dues are $300.

f. If a school had 10 – 19 entries in the previous year, their dues are $250.

g. If a school had 0 – 9 entries in the previous year, their dues are $200.

h. Any school joining the League for the first time or returning to League membership after a three-year absence will owe dues of $150.

i. These dues cover all entries at all preliminary tournaments in all events. Entries into the MetroFinal Championship Tournaments will be in addition to these fees.

4. Notice must be given for proposed dues increases exceeding ten percent (10%) according to the Constitution, Article VIII. Section B.

5. Each school in the League will be assessed $10.00 per year to be paid to the League President. This $10.00 will be taken from the annual dues. This stipend is to be used at the discretion of the President.

Section B. Eligibility Fee for NCFL Grand National Tournament

Any student who has won a qualification for participation at the NCFL Grand National

Tournament must meet the following deadlines:

1. By the date determined by the President of the League following the Metropolitan Championship Tournament a commitment fee, as set by the President and Treasurer of the League must be received by the President of the League.

a. This commitment fee will be used by the WASDL to meet the National Tournament registration fees and other WASDL expenses for NCFL Nationals.

b. An additional deposit may be mandated by the Executive Committee for transportation to that tournament.

2. By the date determined by the President of the League following the Metropolitan Championship Tournament a letter of intention to participate at the Grand National Tournament must be received by the President. This letter must be signed by the student, the coach of the student, a parent of the student, and the principal of the member school.

3. If a student qualifies for nationals in an event and subsequently earns a qualification to nationals in a second event, they has one week to notify the President about their choice of event for competition at Nationals.

4. A multiple qualified student is required to pay the commitment fee and send the commitment letter only once for any single Grand National Tournament.

5. If a student decides not to participate in the Grand National Tournament after the commitment fee has been paid, the fee will not be refunded.

6. Deadlines set by the NCFL shall supersede the WASDL deadlines.

Section C. Fees for the Metropolitan Championship Tournament

1. A registration fee will be paid by each contestant to the final tournament. Such fees will be used by the League to hire additional judges in order to provide multiple judge panels.

a. The fee shall be $10.00 per contestant at the Student Congress and Lincoln-Douglas Debate Finals.

b. The fee shall be $20.00 per two-person debate team at Policy Debate and Public Forum Debate Final.

c. The fee shall be $5.00 per contestant per entry at Speech Finals. Double entered contestants shall pay $10.00.

2. The Vice Presidents of the events may alter the fees at finals.

Article II. League Tournaments

Section A. Preliminary Tournaments

The WASDL shall sponsor a number of preliminary tournaments during the school year.

Section B. Metropolitan Championship Tournaments

The WASDL shall sponsor a Metropolitan Championship Tournament in all events, at which time the Diocesan qualifiers to the Grand National Tournament of the NCFL will be determined.

Section C. Calendar of League Events

The calendar of the League events for the following year shall be prepared by a committee appointed by the President and presented to the coaches at the Spring Meeting.

Section D. League Officer Decisions

Individual decisions of any officer of the League (President, Vice President for Policy Debate, Vice President for Speech, Vice President for Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Vice President for Student Congress, Vice President for Public Forum Debate, Tournament Director for Policy Debate, Tournament Director for Speech, Tournament Director for Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Tournament Director for Student Congress, Tournament Director for Public Forum Debate, Tournament Director for Middle School Public Forum Debate) may be appealed immediately by any coach or coach's representative on the day of the tournament. Appeals will be heard immediately by the President, the Secretary-Treasurer, the Vice President of the event, and the Tournament Director of the event. In the event of the absence of an officer, their designee will be involved. In the absence of an officer and their designee, the three highest-ranking officers at the tournament will be involved in the decision. Both the person making the appeal and the League officer whose decision is in dispute will present their cases at the same time, and each will have at least five minutes to present their case and for cross-examination. The officer whose decision is being contested may not vote on the issue. A two-thirds (⅔) vote of the remaining League officers named above will decide the issue.

Article III. Preliminary Tournaments

Section A. General Rules

1. The League shall sponsor preliminary tournaments each year in Policy Debate, Speech, Student Congress, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, and Public Forum Debate.

a. Policy Debate shall consist of four sections: Varsity, Junior Varsity, Novice, and Middle School.

b. Speech shall consist of eleven events: Declamation, Dramatic Performance, Extemporaneous Speaking, Oral Interpretation, Original Oratory, Duo Interpretation, Impromptu Speaking, Middle School Declamation, Middle School Dramatic Performance, Middle School Oral Interpretation, and Middle School Duo Interpretation.

c. Student Congress shall provide experience for student legislators, novice student legislators, Middle School student legislators, and Presiding Officers.

d. Lincoln-Douglas Debate shall provide competition in values debate and consist of four sections: Varsity, Junior Varsity, Novice, and Middle School.

e. Public Forum Debate shall provide competition in a clash of ideas in a persuasive manner that can be understood by a “lay” judge. Competition shall be offered in Varsity, Junior Varsity, Novice, and Middle School sections.

2. In a given tournament, double entry will be permitted only within Speech categories. NO student may double enter in the same Speech category at a preliminary Speech tournament. NO student may double enter in both the Middle School and Open versions of the same event.

3. Preliminary Tournaments shall consist of three or four rounds as determined by the Vice-President of the event in consultation with the President of the WASDL. The number of rounds shall be announced not later than the close of Tournament Registration. Any change in the previously announced number of rounds – for example, from 4 to 3 due to building constraints, registration needs, or delays in tournament operations – should be made as early as possible, before or during the tournament.

4. In the event that a judge fails to show up for a round of competition after competition has begun, the school represented by the judge shall be fined thirty ($30.00) dollars for each round missed. In the event that a school drops a judge from a school’s registration after the “Entry Drop Deadline” established by the Vice President for each event, the school making the drop shall be fined one hundred twenty ($120.00) dollars for each judge dropped. Furthermore, that school will not be allowed to compete in subsequent tournaments until the fine is paid. In the event that a school provides judges that are determined by the Vice President to not be qualified to judge their assigned events, the school will not be allowed to compete in that event at the next WASDL tournament and will incur fines for each missed round. Appeals must be presented to the President of the League within forty-eight (48) hours of the completion of the tournament.

5. Housekeeping at the WASDL tournaments.

a. The responsibility for clean-up and proper order of each tournament room rests with the school of the judge in the final round of the day.

b. If this responsibility is not upheld, the school of the judge involved will be ineligible to participate in the next WASDL tournament.

c. This instruction shall be included with each tournament invitation.

d. In Policy Debate, the Tab Room will designate one of the teams in each room during Round I of the tournament to be responsible for the housekeeping of that room. This team must ensure that the room is returned to its pre-debate condition at the end of the last round of the tournament. If a room is not returned to its pre-debate condition at the end of the tournament, the team responsible for that room will forfeit any qualifications to the Metropolitan Championship or National Tournaments, and the team will be disqualified from the next WASDL tournament.

e. As deemed necessary by the WASDL Treasurer and President, in order to pay for custodial fees at any WASDL Tournament in which four, or more, of the event areas (Policy Debate, Speech, Lincoln Douglas Debate, Public Forum Debate, Student Congress) are being held on the same day at the same facility, a surcharge of up to $5 per student per entry may be required to participate in that tournament. Notice of this surcharge must be provided by the WASDL President to the WASDL Coaches at least three weeks prior to the tournament. Entries that do not pay the surcharge will not be allowed to participate in the tournament that day. However, this fee shall not apply to entries of the host school, in consideration for the expenses of hosting the event.

6. The use of computers, electronic storage and retrieval devices, etc. is allowed in rounds/sessions of Student Congress, Policy Debate, Public Forum Debate, and Lincoln- Douglas Debate, and in the Extemporaneous Speaking Preparation Room. They are not allowed in any other event. In Policy Debate, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Public Forum Debate, Extemporaneous Speaking Preparation or Competitions, and Student Congress, connectivity to any persons other than the competitors or judges in the round is not allowed. Competitors violating this rule will be disqualified from competition. No guarantee of power or of internet connectivity should be presumed. Students wishing to use digital devices must be responsible for providing these resources and for having an alternative plan if the digital devices fail. All evidence and cases presented in a round must be available to the opponents and judges as requested.

7. Video and/or audio recording of any round of competition, or portion thereof, is prohibited. Violators of this rule will be disqualified from the competition and/or dismissed from the tournament and asked to leave the tournament’s facilities. If this disqualification or dismissal results in a judge missing a round, allowable fines will be incurred.

8. No visual or audio-visual aids are permitted in any event.

Section B. Eligibility

1. Schools are eligible to participate in any League tournament once they have paid their annual dues.

2. Each school must enter as a separate member. Two schools may enter as one only at the discretion of the Executive Committee.

3. To be eligible, a school must be willing to provide room for a tournament when requested.

4. Duly appointed school representatives must be present at all times when students are entered in a tournament. Every school must be accompanied by a designated representative. Such representatives may be designated at any of the League meetings or prior to a tournament only in the event that a change in school staffing necessitates the introduction of a new coach in order for a school to compete, or when a new school joins the League during the competitive year.

a. All representatives of schools participating in the WASDL must have on file with the WASDL President a letter from a school official (Principal or Director of Student Activities) recognizing their position in order to be considered listed representatives.

b. This requirement may be waived by the President only in the event of illness or personal emergency of ALL of that school's listed representatives.

5. Students who are enrolled in junior high schools may participate either as independent Middle School Members of WASDL and NCFL, or as non-member feeder schools under the sponsorship of a member school. Such students shall enjoy all the privileges and incur all of the obligations of contestants from the sponsoring member school. All other contestants of a given member school must be bona fide students of that institution.

6. Any contestant registering for a tournament and failing to compete in that tournament may be ruled ineligible for the following tournament in that event unless notice is given to the respective Vice President or their designated representative by the deadline specified for that tournament. The Vice President may decline to impose the above sanction if, in their judgement, there was sufficient cause for the failure of notification.

a. Only contestants in grades 9, 10, 11, and 12 are eligible to represent WASDL to the NCFL Grand National Speech & Debate Tournament. Middle School students are eligible to represent WASDL to any NCFL Middle School Tournament, consistent with the participation rules of the NCFL.

b. As deemed necessary by the President, and Event Vice-Presidents, and in consultation with the host of a tournament, the number of a school’s entries in a particular event may be limited due to available space in the host school. A host school may be allocated additional entries above any entry limit in recognition of their service to the League.

c. A school hosting a tournament will have any entry drop or late registration fees waived for the tournament that they are hosting in recognition of their service to the League.

Section C. Policy Debate Rules and Procedures

1. The resolution for all sections of WASDL Policy Debate shall be the resolution selected by the National Federation of High Schools (NFHS).

2. Policy debate sections shall conform to the following guidelines:

a. WASDL Policy debate shall consist of a Varsity section, a Junior Varsity section, Novice section, and a Middle School section.

b. Sections of WASDL Policy debate can be combined for the purposes of running the tournament, if the Vice President of Policy Debate determines that the numbers registered in the sections justify this.

3. Round Tardiness

a. A Policy debate team will be given a forfeit if either one or both members of the two-person team is ten minutes late for a round. A forfeit is imposed only by the Tab Room. Under no circumstances may a judge impose a forfeit on their own initiative. If a team or speaker has missed the ten-minute deadline the judge shall send one of the speakers present to the Tab Room for instructions. The Tab Room determines if a forfeit is imposed.

b. A forfeit will be imposed if both of the following apply:

(1) The ten-minute deadline has passed according to the current time standard in effect as verified by the Tab Room.

(2) There are no extenuating circumstances applicable, such as delay in publication of schematics or the like.

4. One copy of the ballot for debate must be returned at the conclusion of each round. Failure to return a ballot within ten minutes of the conclusion of the round will disqualify the judge from the remainder of the tournament (if the judging pool permits) and from all future tournaments. The school the judge represents shall be fined $20.00 for each round the ballot is missing, and an additional $20.00 for each round from which the judge was disqualified at the tournament, unless the school the judge represents provides a qualified replacement judge. All judges must turn in the remaining copies of all ballots by the deadline for the final round of the day.

5. A qualified judge must accompany each entry of four debaters or fraction thereof. The number of entries shall be determined by the total entered in all sections of debate from each school. Debaters who are not accompanied by a judge shall not be allowed to participate.

6. Policy Debate eligibility is as follows (by grade level):

a. Varsity section shall be open to all grade levels.

b. Junior Varsity Sections are open to all grade levels if both team members are in their first or second year of Policy debate. Students on the winning team of a prior Junior Varsity Metropolitan Championship Tournament round are no longer eligible to compete in the Junior Varsity section.

c. The Novice section is open to all grade levels if both team members are in their first year of debate competition in the 7th-12th grade (Policy, Public Forum, Lincoln-Douglas, or Student Congress). Students who have placed in the top two teams in any Policy Debate section at a preliminary tournament will be permanently ineligible to compete in the Novice section. Any student who has ever qualified to the WASDL Metropolitan Championship Tournament in any section of Policy debate is ineligible to compete in the Novice section.

d. The Middle School section is open only to students in 7th or 8th grade.

e. Qualifications in a section of debate are lost if a team qualifies in a higher section of debate. Though a team of Middle School participants only may remain in the Middle School section if they so choose.

f. If a student has qualified in a section of debate, that student may not debate in a lower section; though a Middle School participant only may remain in the Middle School section if they so choose.

7. There shall be four constructive speeches no longer than eight minutes beginning with a member of the affirmative team and alternating thereafter.

8. Immediately following each constructive speech, a member of the opposing team may cross examine the first speaker; the other team member shall give the second cross examination. The maximum time for cross examination is three minutes per speaker.

9. Each debater shall then present a rebuttal of five minutes maximum length beginning with a member of the negative team and alternating thereafter.

10. Each team shall have eight minutes of preparation time in all debate sections. Against this preparation time shall be charged:

a. Any "set-up" time used to prepare for an actual debate which exceeds the forfeit deadline. In the event both teams are not ready to proceed at that point, preparation time will be charged against the last team to notify the judge that it is ready to proceed. In particular, this would apply to a team that is late.

11. A debate decision and speaker points will be handled as separate decisions. The win/loss of a round will be determined by the judge and reflected in their comments. The points for each speaker will be based on the ability of the speaker to convince the judge through analysis and speaking ability of their position.

a. The speaker points should be weighted in favor of the speaking style and delivery; whereas, the decision on win/loss should be weighted in favor of analysis and argumentation.

b. The losing team may have higher speaker points than the winning team.

c. The speaker points shall be used to determine first, second and third speaker positions at the tournaments.

d. The speaker points shall be used to break a win/loss tie for pairing and final positions at a tournament.

e. If a tie exists after determining record and speaker points, the tie will be broken on the basis of speaker ranks.

12. Schools intending to enter a tournament must submit their entry list to the Vice President for Policy Debate or their designated representative prior to the deadline set by the Vice President. They may grant an exemption from this deadline but is not required to do so. If an exemption is granted, the school must pay an additional registration fee of $5 per student per entry made after the deadline for Preliminary Tournaments, and an additional fee of $25 per student per entry for Metropolitan Championship Tournaments. Schools failing to provide the information specified by the Vice President prior to the deadline may not participate in the tournament.

13. All sections of Policy Debate competition shall be two-person with alternating sides throughout the tournament, insofar as power-pairing permits.

14. All debate teams shall debate at least three rounds during a tournament.

15. At all preliminary tournaments Policy Debate registration will take place between 8:00 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. Teams not registered as present with their judge(s), must not be included in Round I. If a team so eliminated from Round I chooses, it may participate in the remaining rounds and shall be assigned a loss, with zero speaker points and seven ranks for Round I.

16. Power-pairing in the debate division will be as follows:

a. Rounds I and II in all sections shall be paired at random.

b. In Round II:

(1) Side constraints will be observed.

(2) No team will meet another team from the same school.

(3) No team may meet a team it previously met.

c. Round III shall be power-paired based on Rounds I and II:

(1) No team will be paired against a team it previously met.

(2) No team will be paired against a team from the same school.

(3) Side constraints do not apply in this round.

(4) Power-pairing in this round is mandatory for the Varsity section with the exception of teams from the same school and teams that have previously met.

(5) The Junior Varsity, Novice, and Middle School sections shall be power-paired in a similar manner, if time permits.

d. Round IV in Varsity shall be power-bracketed based on Rounds I and II:

(1) Side constraints will be observed in this round.

(2) Debate teams should not be permitted to meet twice at any WASDL tournament where eight or more teams are registered in that section, except in the elimination rounds of the Metropolitan Championship Tournament.

e. Round IV in the Junior Varsity, Novice, and Middle School sections shall be power-paired, if time permits. Power-pairing in this section shall be same as for Round II; if possible, side constraints shall be observed, no school shall meet itself, and no teams will meet for a second time.

17. Final standings in all sections shall be based on the following criteria in the order listed, as totaled for the entire tournament:

a. Win/Loss Record.

b. Total speaker points for both speakers.

c. Total ranks for both speakers.

18. Utilization of debate evidence shall be based upon the following criteria:

a. During their speech a debater must read at least a partial citation for each piece of evidence. This partial citation must include the date and either the author or title of the publication.

b. The quality of evidence may be a part of the debate. In fact, good debaters often make evidence comparisons. If a debater claims evidence is of low quality, from a disreputable source, uses a flawed methodology, etc., the judge should decide the issue in the course of the debate based on the arguments made by the debaters.

c. Judges may, at their option, choose to read the evidence after the debate round. If a debater/team cannot produce evidence they read, the judge should disregard the evidence in their decision and pretend it was never mentioned.

d. If a debater/team alleges that their opponent’s evidence is fabricated, judges can request to review the evidence and decide how it impacts their decision.

e. If a debater/team alleges that their opponent’s evidence is fabricated, this claim would stop the round for the judge to determine the win/loss in the debate based solely on the evidence challenge. Please confirm that this is the team’s intent before stopping the debate.

f. Judges can consult with the WASDL President, Vice-President and/or Tournament Director for Policy Debate, for help resolving these issues, but the Tab Staff cannot make the round decision for you.

g. The WASDL Executive Committee may by majority vote at its Fall Meeting set limitations on the scope of evidence, positions, or case areas permitted in the Junior Varsity and/or Novice Debate Sections for the academic competition year. Unless otherwise specified by the Coaches at the Fall Coaches Meeting, WASDL will use the National Debate Coaches Association case limits in the Novice division only for the entire competition year. If registration at tournaments is small, Novice division will not be collapsed into JV. If Novice registration numbers are low, debaters may only have 3 rounds. Varsity and JV may be combined, but only if it’s necessary to complete four competition rounds.

19. The Novice and Middle School sections can be combined for purposes of running the tournament, if the Vice President of Policy Debate determines that the numbers registered in either section justify it. In the event the sections are combined, awards will be given in each section as if they were separate tournaments.

20. In order to be eligible to judge the Novice or Middle School section, a judge must have at least one year of experience in judging Policy debate. The Vice President of Policy Debate can waive this requirement on an individual basis. Junior and Seniors who have participated in Policy Debate for at least two full competition years, and at least one full competition year in the Varsity Section, are allowed to judge the Middle School section only. All ballots will be reviewed by the Tab Staff for appropriate content. Student judges who act or comment inappropriately will be removed from the tournament immediately and the school providing them will be fined for a missing/dropped judge. Such judges will be prohibited from judging at any WASDL Tournament until they are graduated from high school for at least 15 months.

21. In the event that a school drops an entry from a school’s registration after the “Entry Drop Deadline” established by the Vice President for Policy Debate, the school making the drop shall be fined ten ($10.00) dollars for each entry dropped, and twenty-five ($25.00) dollars in the case of a drop from the Metropolitan Finals Championship Tournament. In the event that a drop was not reported at registration and is discovered, the school shall be fined an additional ten ($10.00) dollars for each entry dropped, and twenty-five ($25.00) dollars in the case of an unreported drop from the Metropolitan Championship Finals Tournament. The school will not be allowed to compete in subsequent tournaments until the fine is paid. Appeals must be presented to the President of the WASDL within forty-eight (48) hours of the completion of the tournament.

Section D. Speech Procedures

1. Round Tardiness

a. It is the responsibility of the student to report to the correct room for competition in a prompt manner. Students who are double entered should notify the judges of both rooms prior to the start of the round by writing the code number, title of piece, and the words "will return" on the blackboard.

b. Any student who fails to report to their assigned room by the time established by the Tab Room as the end of the round will forfeit the round. A forfeit is to be imposed by the Tab Room only. Under no circumstances may a judge impose a forfeit on their own discretion. If a judge believes that a speaker has forfeited, they should report to the Tab Room at the end of the round for instructions. The Tab Room will impose the forfeit if both of the following apply:

(1) The time for the end of the round has passed. The end of the round will be computed as the start time of the round plus ten minutes per contestant assigned to the round according to the current time standard in effect as verified by the Tab Room.

(2) There are no extenuating circumstances applicable, such as a delay in the publication of schematics, or double-entered contestants arriving late to the second competition after a delay in the first.

c. If a student reports to the wrong room for competition, their performance in that room will not be counted. The student will instead receive a forfeit for the round and will not be eligible for an award or a qualification to the Metropolitan Championship Tournament.

d. A judge may readjust the assigned speaking order of a round to accommodate double entries and guarantee the timely flow of the tournament.

2. A qualified judge must accompany each entry of five speakers or fraction thereof. The numbers of such entries shall be determined by the total entered in all sections of all events. Speakers who are not accompanied by a judge shall not be allowed to participate.

3. Speech Eligibility

a. Declamation is open to contestants in grades 7 through 10.

b. All other events are open to all contestants in grades 7 through 12.

c. Events designated as Middle School (Middle School Declamation, Middle School Dramatic Performance, Middle School Oral Interpretation, and Middle School Duo Interpretation) are open to contestants in grades 7 and 8.

4. Registration shall be from 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. when the tournament is scheduled for Saturday. Registration times for afternoon tournaments will be specified by the Vice President for Speech.

a. Any contestant or judge not present at the designated registration time shall not be included in Round I.

b. A contestant missing Round I may participate in Rounds II, III and IV. However, they shall not be eligible for any awards or qualifications at that tournament.

5. There shall be no more than seven contestants in a room.

6. Pairings shall be random in all rounds.

7. No rank lower than five in a section of an event will be recorded.

8. Ranking of the contestants at the conclusion of the tournament shall be based on the lowest total ranks. Ties in ranks shall be broken using reciprocals, ties in reciprocal ranks will be broken by highest points.

9. All contests shall be conducted simultaneously as far as possible.

10. Judges shall be given instructions prior to Round I.

a. Judges shall fill out a critique sheet for each contestant.

b. Judges' comments shall not be discussed in either oral or written manner with the contestants prior to the conclusion of the tournament and the presentation of awards.

11. Judges shall observe the instructions on the ballots provided by the League.

12. Schools intending to enter a tournament must submit their entry list to the Vice President for Speech or their designated representative prior to the deadline set by the Vice President. They may grant an exemption from this deadline but is not required to do so. If an exemption is granted, the school must pay an additional registration fee of $5 per student per entry made after the deadline for Preliminary Tournaments, and an additional fee of $25 per student per entry for Metropolitan Championship Tournaments. Schools failing to provide the information specified by the Vice President prior to deadline may not participate in the tournament.

13. In the event that a school drops an entry from a school's registration after the “Entry Drop Deadline” established by the Vice President for Speech, the school making the drop shall be fined ten ($10.00) dollars for each entry dropped, and twenty-five ($25.00) dollars in the case of a drop from the Metropolitan Finals Championship Tournament. In the event that a drop was not reported at registration and is discovered, the school shall be fined an additional ten ($10.00) dollars for each entry dropped, and twenty-five ($25.00) dollars in the case of an unreported drop from the Metropolitan Championship Finals Tournament. The school will not be allowed to compete in subsequent tournaments until the fine is paid. Appeals must be presented to the President of the WASDL within forty-eight (48) hours of the completion of the tournament.

14. A selection shall not be used by a contestant in more than one event area in any competitive tournament.

Section E. Speech Event Rules

1. Declamation and Middle School Declamation

a. A selection used in Oratorical Declamation must have been originally delivered in the form a speech by its author, a person other than the present speaker. The speaker should have an introduction which is at most one minute and names the work, author, and describes the circumstances under which the speech was originally presented. The original speaker's words must not be altered for the presentation with the exception that cutting is permitted. Material being performed at the tournament must match the student’s original script. Selections may include professional speeches, public orations, eulogies, and sermons. Any non-speaking expressions such as singing or dancing should not be excessive or dominate the performance. Judges’ ranks may reflect if non-speaking expressions have dominated the performance.

b. The selection must be memorized. If the speaker refers to prepared notes of any kind or a script during the presentation, the speaker shall receive a rank lower than last place in the round.

c. The speaker should develop the ability to convey the message in a sincere, honest, and realistic style. The mechanics of Speech must be observed faithfully: poise, quality of voice, effectiveness and ease of gesture, emphasis, variety, and enunciation. In addition, the speaker must be able to interpret the meaning of the speech and be able to carry the interpretation over to the minds of the listeners. The speaker must be able to interest the listeners and to hold their attention.

d. No particular style should be demanded of the speaker; rather, the contestant should be free to select and to develop a personal style and be judged according to the degree of perfection attained and the effectiveness in influencing the listeners. While the specifics of the speech and any style of delivery which the speaker adopts should be judged in light of the purpose of the speech, artificiality is to be discredited. This event is an interpretation, not an impersonation.

e. This event is limited to 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th grade students.

f. Time limits: Maximum - 10 minutes, including at most a 60 second introduction to the selection. If the speaker goes over a 30-second grace period, that contestant may not be awarded first place. No minimum time.

g. No properties or costumes of any kind may be used. Using “properties” means manipulating articles of clothing or objects to enhance the performance. Speakers using properties and/or wearing costumes will be disqualified.

h. WASDL: A student who uses a piece that results in their disqualification will not be eligible for an award at the tournament or a qualification to the Metropolitan Championship Tournament. If the forfeit is imposed at the Metropolitan Championship Tournament, the student is not eligible for qualification, or call-up to replace a qualified attendee, to the National Catholic Forensic League Grand National Tournament.

i. WASDL: A contestant may not repeat a selection which they used in a previous year in any competitive tournament.

2. Dramatic Performance and Middle School Dramatic Performance

a. The speaker must offer a memorized dramatic presentation. If the speaker refers to prepared notes of any kind or a script during the presentation, the speaker shall receive a rank lower than last place in the round.

b. The presentation must be from a single published play, single published script, or single fictional or non-fictional work, not poetry. It is the affirmative obligation of all NCFL coaches to ensure that all materials presented in interpretation events must be available and readily accessible to all members of the league. At the tournament, coaches should bring an original script with an ISBN, ISSN, or IFFN, or eBook Number and Library Name. If the script does not have an ISBN, ISSN, or IFFN, or eBook Number and Library Name, the coach or supervising adult must be able to show that the script was purchased or obtained commercially; ie. from a literary agent or publisher or bill of sale or that the manuscript is publicly accessible by a simple internet search or by a URL not requiring passwords or access codes and the retrieval date. Lines which are attributed to one character in a published play or script must not be attributed to another character in the performance. The author's words as published in the literature must not be altered for the presentation with the exception that cutting is permitted. Material being performed at the tournament must match the student’s original script.

c. The presentation may be either serious or humorous and should have some literary merit. Important consideration should be given to the quality of the selection.

d. While singing is permitted, it should not be excessive or dominate the performance. Judges’ ranks may reflect if singing has dominated the performance.

e. Single or multiple character cuttings will be allowed. When doing a multiple-characterization the performer should create effective interaction between the characters.

f. Although this is primarily a display of vocal ability, body language will play a part in the overall performance, and since it is a drama, more vocal and physical suggestion may be required in order to portray characters, conflict, and story. However, no physical action should be performed that will distract the listeners' attention from the drama being presented. The performance should display another world outside the performance setting.

g. No properties or costumes of any kind may be used. Using “properties” means manipulating articles of clothing or objects to enhance the performance. Speakers using properties and/or wearing costumes will be disqualified.

h. Time limits: Maximum - 10 minutes, including introductory and transitional material other than the author's words. Material thus used should be limited to one minute. If the speaker goes over a 30-second grace period, that contestant may not be awarded first place. No minimum time.

i. WASDL: A student who uses a piece that results their disqualification will not be eligible for an award at the tournament or a qualification to the Metropolitan Championship Tournament. If the forfeit is imposed at the Metropolitan Championship Tournament, the student is not eligible for qualification, or call-up to replace a qualified attendee, to the National Catholic Forensic League Grand National Tournament.

j. WASDL: A contestant may not repeat a selection which they used in a previous year in any competitive tournament.

3. Extemporaneous Speaking

a. The speech should be an original synthesis by the contestant of the current fact and opinion on the designated topic as presented by numerous sources. Source materials should be represented with relative accuracy in the speech. The speaker is responsible for the ethical use of source information.

b. Selection of the general topic areas and preparation of topics in each area should be made by the Vice President for Speech of the League.

c. The contestant should be held accountable for strict adherence to the precise statement of the topic selected and should be penalized for any obvious shifting to a quite different topic.

d. Information presented should be well-chosen, pertinent, and sufficient to support the central thought of the topic.

e. The speaker is permitted a personal opinion or interpretation of the subject. Speakers must not be penalized for expressing views with which the judge happens to disagree.

f. Material should be organized according to some logical plan to produce a complete speech within the time allowed. The speech must be extemporaneous.

g. Speakers shall be allowed to bring to the Preparation Room only these printed materials: magazines, newspapers, dictionaries, thesaurus, reference indices, newspaper and/or magazine clippings - files organized under general headings, almanacs and appropriate reference books, books and/or pamphlets. Participants in Extemporaneous Speaking are given the option of using laptop computers when in the Preparation Room. Materials can be on files on their computers or retrieved from an attached flash drive. Internet connectivity and prepared speeches will not be allowed.

h. All material brought into the preparation room by speakers will be subject at any time to scrutiny of the Tournament Committee and staff responsible for this event.

i. Speakers may share reference materials; however, any collaboration on speech preparation is forbidden.

j. When the speaker's code number is called, s/he draws 3 questions from among those prepared for the specific round. After consideration, the speaker returns 2 of the questions, and the contestant begins to prepare the speech. The speaker must remain in the preparation room until sent to the competition room by the Director of the event.

k. Speakers will have thirty (30) minutes of preparation time. Upon leaving the preparation room speakers must relinquish all preparation materials except the drawn question. During the preparation for, and during the competition round, students must not access any research materials, oral, written, or electronic, outside of the preparation room.

l. Time limits: Maximum - 7 minutes. If the speaker goes over a 30-second grace period, that contestant must not be awarded first place. No minimum time.

m. WASDL: Any student who is found in possession of any prohibited materials in the Extemporaneous Speaking Preparation Room will be disqualified from the tournament. The disqualification will be assessed as soon as practicable as deemed by the Tournament Director. The student will not be eligible for an award at the tournament or a qualification to the Metropolitan Championship Tournament. If the disqualification is imposed at the Metropolitan Championship Tournament, the student is not eligible for qualification, or call-up to replace a qualified attendee, to the National Catholic Forensic League Grand National Tournament. If a school team shares materials, the entire team may be disqualified.

n. WASDL: A contestant is permitted to use one 3"x 5" card at Preliminary Tournaments. There is no limit to the number of words on the card. The use of a 3” x 5” card is not allowed at the Metropolitan Championship Tournament. Any contestant using prompting or notes, other than the permitted 3"x 5" card at Preliminary Tournaments, shall receive a rank lower than last place.

o. WASDL: Any contestant failing to abide by the directions of the Extemporaneous Preparation Room Monitor shall be subject to disqualification.

4. Oral Interpretation of Literature and Middle School Oral Interpretation of Literature

a. The speaker shall prepare two programs of manuscript-based literature substantially different in content, author, and/or original source. Each program shall consist of a single piece, a cutting, or a series of short pieces united by author or theme. One program shall be published prose; the other, published poetry. If questioned, the genre of the selection must be specified in the original manuscript or must be verifiable by a simple Internet search. If using a series of pieces, all titles and authors must be cited. The performer has the burden to be clear at all times which piece is being used. In the prepared script, the pieces should be clearly delineated via highlighting or font style and spacing to enable review in case of a protest. It is the affirmative obligation of all coaches to ensure that all materials presented in interpretation events must be available and readily accessible to all members of the league. At the tournament, coaches should bring an original script with an ISBN, ISSN, or IFFN, or eBook Number and Library Name. If the script does not have an ISBN, ISSN, or IFFN, or eBook Number and Library Name, the coach or supervising adult must be able to show that the script was purchased or obtained commercially; i.e., from a literary agent or publisher or bill of sale or that the manuscript is publicly accessible by a simple internet search or by a URL not requiring passwords or access codes and the retrieval date. Each program must contain an introduction for purposes of explication, setting, or selection transitions. Lines attributed to one character in the published source must not be attributed to another character in the performance. The author's words as published in the literature must not be altered for the presentation with the exception that cutting is permitted. Material being performed at the tournament must match the student’s original script.

b. The literature chosen may include any form of prose or poetry, fiction or non-fiction. Drama, including theatrical monologues, is prohibited. Speeches written to be delivered in real-life are prohibited.

c. No properties or costumes of any kind may be used. A manuscript must not be used as a prop. Using “properties” means manipulating articles of clothing or objects to enhance the performance. Speakers using properties and/or wearing costumes will be disqualified.

d. Speakers should keep eye contact between audience and manuscript in reasonable balance. Speakers who fail to maintain the illusion of reading from the manuscript must not be ranked first.

e. Speakers should keep gesture and bodily movement to a minimum. The selection should be delivered from center stage. Movement and gestures, if used, should be appropriate to the selection. Speakers should not walk during performances. They should emphasize vocal variety and facial expression to enhance the literary interpretation. While singing is permitted, it should not be excessive or dominate the performance. Judges’ ranks may reflect if singing has dominated the performance.

f. Speakers may use a persona, and they may use character voices, but they are not necessary.

g. Important consideration should be given to the quality of the selection.

h. Time limits: Maximum - 10 minutes. This includes at most 1 minute of introductory and transition material other than the author's words. If the speaker goes over a 30-second grace period, that contestant must not be awarded first place. No minimum time.

i. WASDL: The two pieces, one poetry and one prose, are alternately presented in succeeding rounds. The Vice President or Tournament Director for Speech shall determine whether the first round will be prose or poetry.

j. WASDL: A student who uses a piece that is not published as explained above will receive a forfeit for all the rounds that piece was used. The forfeit will be imposed as a rank of one more than last in the round with zero speaker points. The student will not be eligible for an award at the tournament or a qualification to the Metropolitan Championship Tournament. If the forfeit is imposed at the Metropolitan Championship Tournament, the student is not eligible for qualification, or call-up to replace a qualified attendee, to the National Catholic Forensic League Grand National Tournament.

k. WASDL: A contestant may not repeat a selection which they used in a previous year in any competitive tournament.

5. Original Oratory

a. The speaker should be expected to discuss with a degree of originality, and in an interesting manner, the topic chosen.

b. The speakers should be given wide latitude in the ideas they express, but they should be held closely accountable for the manner in which they are expressed. Speakers must not be penalized for expressing views with which the judge happens to disagree. It is suggested, but not obligatory, that the topic be a subject of contemporary significance.

c. The speech must be one that has been composed by the student delivering it.

d. The speech must be memorized. If the speaker refers to prepared notes of any kind or a script during the presentation, the speaker shall receive a rank lower than last place in the round.

e. The number of words quoted from authors other than the contestant must not exceed 150. Extensive paraphrasing of other sources is prohibited and constitutes grounds for disqualification.

f. Original orations should be composed from the standpoint of the present speaker. However, the use of a persona for a maximum length of 1 minute shall be permitted.

g. Visual and audio-visual aids are not permitted. No properties or costumes of any kind may be used. Using “properties” means manipulating articles of clothing or objects to enhance the performance. Speakers using properties and/or wearing costumes will be disqualified. While singing is permitted, it should not be excessive or dominate the performance. Judges’ ranks may reflect if singing has dominated the performance.

h. Time limits: Maximum - 10 minutes. If the speaker goes over a 30-second grace period, that contestant must not be awarded first place. No minimum time.

i. WASDL: Any student using an oration not originally composed by the speaker presenting the oration will be disqualified from the tournament. The disqualification will be assessed as soon as practicable as deemed by the Tournament Director. The student will not be eligible for an award at the tournament or a qualification to the Metropolitan Championship Tournament. If the disqualification is imposed at the Metropolitan Championship Tournament, the student is not eligible for qualification, or call-up to replace a qualified attendee, to the National Catholic Forensic League Grand National Tournament.

j. WASDL: A contestant may not repeat a selection which they used in a previous year in any competitive tournament.

6. Duo Interpretation of Literature and Middle School Duo Interpretation of Literature

a. The selection, delivered by two students each representing the same member school, must be from a single play, fictional or non-fictional work. A series of poems is permitted. The poetry may be taken from a variety of published sources united by a single poet. It is the affirmative obligation of all coaches to ensure that all materials presented in interpretation events must be available and readily accessible to all members of the league. At the tournament, coaches should bring an original script with an ISBN, ISSN, or IFFN, or eBook Number and Library Name. If the script does not have an ISBN, ISSN, or IFFN, or eBook Number and Library Name, the coach or supervising adult must be able to show that the script was purchased or obtained commercially; ie. from a literary agent or publisher or bill of sale or that the manuscript is publicly accessible by a simple internet search or by a URL not requiring passwords or access codes and the retrieval date. Lines which are attributed to one character in the published material must not be attributed to another character in the performance. The author's words as published in the literature must not be altered for the presentation with the exception that cutting is permitted. Material being performed at the tournament must match the student’s original script.

b. The material may be humorous or dramatic, or may combine both tones, depending on the work selected. Important consideration should be given to the quality of the selection.

c. Any part of the literature that a student uses in a Duo Interpretation presentation must follow the rules of Duo Interpretation or the students shall be subject to disqualification.

d. The selection must be memorized. If the speaker refers to prepared notes of any kind or a script during the presentation, the speakers shall receive a rank lower than last place in the round.

e. The introduction should name the work, the author, and set the theme or the mood. Teasers are permitted.

f. Except during introduction and transition, eye contact is aimed only in the audience's direction; focal points are to be employed during dialogue; eye contact with specific audience members during narration is permitted. Pantomime, if used, should be accurate and realistic.

g. The selection should begin from the center stage area.

h. No properties or costumes of any kind may be used. Using “properties” means manipulating articles of clothing or objects to enhance the performance. Speakers using properties and/or wearing costumes will be disqualified.

i. The two interpreters should effectively utilize pitch, volume, phrasing, vocal quality, tone, articulation, enunciation and fluency to create the characterizations desired. The dialogue between characters should reflect a genuine sense of interaction, not a mechanical exchange of lines. While singing is permitted, it should not be excessive or dominate the performance. Judges’ ranks may reflect if singing has dominated the performance.

j. Performers are not allowed to make deliberate physical contact with each other during the performance, except during the introduction. Physical movement is restricted to performers moving around one another, switching position, pivoting from side to side or turning around completely. Only the performers’ feet may touch the ground. Should the performers make deliberate physical contact with each other during the performance, except during the introduction, or make deliberate physical movements other than those permitted herein, the performers will be disqualified.

k. Physically, the characters should react to each other’s verbal and non-verbal expressions but they must not touch each other. Speakers must remain standing.

l. Time limits: Maximum - 10 minutes, including introductory and transitional material other than the author's words. Material thus used should be limited to one minute. If the speakers go over a 30-second grace period, those contestants must not be awarded first place. No minimum time.

m. WASDL: A student who uses a piece that is not published as explained above will receive a forfeit for all the rounds that piece was used. The forfeit will be imposed as a rank of one more than last in the round with zero speaker points. The student will not be eligible for an award at the tournament or a qualification to the Metropolitan Championship Tournament. If the forfeit is imposed at the Metropolitan Championship Tournament, the student is not eligible for qualification, or call-up to replace a qualified attendee, to the National Catholic Forensic League Grand National Tournament.

n. WASDL: A contestant may not repeat a selection which they used in a previous year in any competitive tournament.

7. Impromptu Speaking

a. The contestant will draw three topics while sitting in the room with the judge. The contestant will select one topic, returning the other two.

b. The total time used for preparation and the speech may not exceed seven minutes.

c. All contestants may sit in the room together and hear the speeches of other contestants since each will draw different topics.

d. One 3x5 note card may be used.

8. In the event that the NCFL adopts a different set of rules from those of the WASDL By-Laws, the NCFL rules will be followed.

Section F. Student Congress Rules and Procedures

1. Rules of order shall apply in the following priority:

a. WASDL Student Congress Manual

b. NCFL Rules for Student Congress

c. NSDA Rules for Student Congress

d. Robert's Rules of Order

2. At least ten days prior to the Student Congress, the Vice President for Student Congress will prepare a list of nine topics, three in each of the three committee areas for Congress. Bills or resolutions on any other topics require suspension of the rules on the floor of the house to consider. Students submitting bills or resolutions must bring thirty-five (35) copies, typed, double-spaced, lines numbered. One copy of all bills and resolutions must be given to the Vice President or the Tournament Director for Student Congress at the time of registration. Copies cannot be made at the Congress. Bills or resolutions written on the spot will not be accepted.

3. Schools intending to enter Congress must submit their registration to the Vice President for Student Congress or their designated representative prior to the deadline set by the Vice President. They may grant exceptions from the deadline but is not required to do so. If an exemption is granted, the school must pay an additional registration fee of $5 per student per entry made after the deadline for Preliminary Tournaments, and an additional fee of $25 per student per entry for Metropolitan Championship Tournaments. Schools failing to provide the information as specified by the Vice President prior to the deadline may not participate in the tournament.

a. Registration will include the student's committee choice and the designation of those who wish to preside, those who wish to chair a committee, those who are Middle School students (grades 7 or 8), and those who are novice speakers (attending their first Congress in the 7th-12th grade, and have never competed in Lincoln-Douglas, Public Forum, or Policy Debate). Membership on the three standing committees (Domestic Affairs, Economic Affairs, and International Affairs) must be balanced in each school's registration.

b. Student Congress is open to all contestants in grades 7 through 12.

4. Registration shall be from 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. when the Congress is scheduled on a Saturday. Registration for the afternoon Congress shall be specified by the Vice President for Student Congress.

a. All contestants and scorers must be present at the Congress at the designated time for registration.

b. A student who is late for registration or a session will not be permitted to speak on any bill or resolution they may have authored or to preside, unless no other Congressperson wishes to do so, for the duration of the tournament, provided there are no extenuating circumstances as determined by the Tab Room. This is not suspendible by the house. This penalty should not be imposed without the explicit concurrence of a Tab Room official.

5. A qualified scorer must accompany each entry of five Congresspersons or fraction thereof. Speakers who are not accompanied by a judge shall not be allowed to participate.

6. Persons registering as Presiding Officers shall be allowed one to two legislative hours to preside. If too many register to preside, the Vice President will at their discretion decide who shall preside.

7. Houses will be established with between sixteen and twenty-six students each, balanced as much as possible according to diocese, school, experience level, committee choices, and preference for presiding. Students from the same school shall be assigned so that the number of students in each house shall be approximately equal. The number one priority for assignment of students to houses shall be the pairing of a novice with an experienced student from the same school.

8. The Vice President for Student Congress may authorize a training session.

9. Scoring procedures will be as follows:

a. The Vice President for Student Congress shall establish ballots to be used at the Congresses. There shall be a ballot used in rating the speakers, a ballot for rating Presiding Officers, and a ballot to rate each house member on their use or abuse of parliamentary procedure.

b. Scoring in Student Congress is similar to judging other events in the sense that judges take notes. Speakers will usually alternate from Pro to Con and questions may be asked. In scoring speeches, however, judges need not decide the “winner”, as in a debate round.

(1) While scorers may see speakers who refute the positions of the opposition point by point, it is not necessary that they do so. Each speech should be rated on its own merit, using the categories on the ballot. Scorers are STRONGLY ENCOURAGED to make thorough and extensive comments on the ballots.

(2) Since the purpose of Student Congress is to advance debate on the policies presented through legislation, speeches from the floor should do so rather than rehash previously-delivered arguments. A quality speech may be presented even if it does not run three minutes.

(3) Scorers should NOT evaluate speakers on their use of Parliamentary Procedure in scoring their speeches. IF a student is out of the order, the Presiding Officer and/or the Parliamentarian will correct the problem. THE SCORER SHOULD NOT TAKE A ROLE IN PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURES.

(4) Scorers should not give speakers low high ranks (or low points) solely because they raise controversial issues or points you believe to be false. Each speaker is entitled to their position and should be scored based on how well they communicate and support their position.

(5) There will be two Scorers and one Parliamentarian in each Chamber during the Preliminary Sessions. The Scorers will move among the Chambers as assigned, while the Parliamentarian will remain with a Chamber throughout all the sessions.

(6) Selection of Award Winners at Preliminary Tournaments: at the end of each preliminary session, each Scorer will rank the top 8 persons who, in the Scorer’s opinion, did a truly outstanding job during the session. Each scorer must rank the eight students 1 through 8, without any ties. All ranks for each student from a Chamber will be added; each student not ranked will receive a “9” from that Scorer. At the conclusion of the sessions, the three students in each Chamber with the lowest ranks be Award Winners.

(7) The Parliamentarian will also separately rank the students in the chamber; their top-ranked students who has not advanced by total judges ranks shall be a Semi-Finalist. The ballot cast by the Parliamentarian in any Session will be used to break any ties that may occur.

c. Parliamentarians shall rate each Presiding Officer for each hour they presides. The Tab Room will keep the Parliamentarian from rating students from their own school, if possible.

d. Parliamentarians shall score each student on their overall use of parliamentary rules.

e. The minimum eligibility requirement for awards shall be two speeches. Each hour as Presiding Officer shall count as one speech. To be eligible for an award, a student must be present at all sessions of the student Congress tournament.

f. The Outstanding Congressperson award shall be presented to one Congressperson, regardless of previous qualification, in each house of each preliminary Student Congress and shall be determined as follows: At the conclusion of the tournament the students shall place in nomination for the award, by voting, the Congressperson they feel is the most outstanding. Each Congressperson receiving more than one vote on the nomination vote shall be considered a nominee. The students shall then vote from among these nominees the Outstanding Congressperson. All votes shall be by secret ballot.

g. Contestants in Student Congress competition are expected to deliver original orations. Presentation of published materials without credit will result in disqualification from the tournament and loss of any qualification to the Metropolitan Championship Tournament.

10. In the event that a school drops an entry from a school’s registration after the “Entry Drop Deadline” established by the Vice President for Student Congress, the school making the drop shall be fined ten ($10.00) dollars for each entry dropped, and twenty-five ($25.00) dollars in the case of a drop from the Metropolitan Finals Championship Tournament. In the event that a drop was not reported at registration and is discovered, the school shall be fined an additional ten ($10.00) dollars for each entry dropped, and twenty-five ($25.00) dollars in the case of an unreported drop from the Metropolitan Championship Finals Tournament. The school will not be allowed to compete in subsequent tournaments until the fine is paid. Appeals must be presented to the President of the WASDL within forty-eight (48) hours of the completion of the tournament.

Section G. Lincoln-Douglas Debate Rules and Procedures

1. The WASDL Lincoln-Douglas Topic for all sections of Lincoln-Douglas debate will be the same topic that is published by the National Speech & Debate Association (NSDA) for that two-month period for Varsity Lincoln-Douglas Debate. The topic for the Metropolitan Championship Tournament will not have been debated at a preliminary WASDL tournament for that year.

2. Round Tardiness

a. A debater will be given a forfeit if they is ten minutes late to a round. A forfeit is to be imposed by the Tab Room only. Under no circumstances may a judge impose a forfeit on their own initiative. If a debater has missed the ten-minute deadline, the judge shall send the other debater to the Tab Room for instructions. The Tab Room will determine if a forfeit is to be imposed.

b. A forfeit will be imposed if both of the following apply:

(1) The ten-minute deadline has passed according to the current time standard in effect as verified by the Tab Room.

(2) There are no extenuating circumstances applicable, such as delay in publication of schematics or the like.

3. One copy of the ballot for Lincoln-Douglas debate must be returned at the end of the round. Failure to return a ballot within ten minutes of the conclusion of the round will disqualify the judge from the remainder of the tournament (if the judging pool permits) and from all future tournaments. The school the judge represents shall be fined $20.00 for each round the ballot is missing, and an additional $20.00 for each round from which the judge was disqualified at the tournament, unless the school the judge represents provides a qualified replacement judge. All judges must turn in the remaining copies of all ballots by the deadline for the final round of the day.

4. A qualified judge must accompany each entry of four debaters. The number of entries shall be determined by the total entered in all sections of debate from each school. Debaters who are not accompanied by a judge shall not be allowed to participate.

5. Lincoln-Douglas Debate eligibility is as follows (by grade level):

a. Varsity section ........... all grade levels.

b. Junior Varsity section is open to all grade levels if a student is in their first or second year of Lincoln-Douglas debate competition. Any student finishing in the top six in Junior Varsity preliminary competition twice in the competition season will no longer be able to compete in the Junior Varsity section and must advance to the Varsity section. This rule does not affect the student’s eligibility to compete in the WASDL Metropolitan Championship Tournament at the Junior Varsity level unless the student has also qualified at the Varsity level in the same season.

c. Qualifications in a section of debate are lost if a debater qualifies in a higher section of debate. Though a Middle School debater may remain in the Middle School section if they so choose. Though a Middle School debater may remain in the Middle School section if they so choose.

d. If a student has qualified in a section of debate, that student may not debate in a lower section.

e. Novice section is open to all grade levels if a student is in their first year of debate competition in the 7th-12th grade ((Lincoln-Douglas, Public Forum, Policy, or Student Congress). Any student finishing in the top six in the Novice section at a preliminary tournament will be permanently ineligible to compete in the Novice section in the future. Any student who has ever qualified to the WASDL Metropolitan Championship tournament in any section of Lincoln-Douglas debate is ineligible to compete in the Novice section.

f. Middle School Section is open to grade levels 7 and 8.

6. The time limits for Lincoln-Douglas Debate are as follows:

7. Each debater will have four minutes of preparation time for the entire debate (5 minutes if in an Online Virtual Setting). Against this preparation time shall be charged the following times:

a. Any "set-up" time used to prepare for an actual debate which exceeds the forfeit deadline. In the event both debaters are not ready to proceed at that point, preparation time will be charged against the last debater to notify the judge that they is ready to proceed. In particular, this would apply to a debater who is late.

8. Pairing in Lincoln-Douglas Debate shall be as follows:

a. Rounds I and II shall be random paired.

b. In Round II the following pairing constraints shall apply:

(1) Side constraints will be observed.

(2) No debater will meet a debater from their own school.

(3) No debater may meet a debater they previously met.

c. Round III will be power-paired based on Rounds I and II with the following constraints:

(1) No debater will meet a debater they previously met.

(2) No debater will meet a debater from their own school.

(3) Side constraints do not apply in this round.

(4) Power-pairing in this round is mandatory for the Varsity section with the exception of debaters from the same school and debaters who have previously met.

(5) The Junior Varsity section shall be power-paired in a similar manner if time permits.

(6) The Novice section shall be power-paired in a similar manner if time permits.

(7) The Middle School section shall be power-paired in a similar manner if time permits.

d. Round IV in Varsity shall be power-bracketed based on Rounds I and II with the following constraints:

(1) Side constraints will be observed in this round.

(2) No debater will meet a debater they previously met when eight or more debaters are registered.

e. Round IV in the Junior Varsity, Novice, and Middle School sections shall be power-paired if time permits. Power-pairing in these sections shall be the same as for Varsity.

9. Schools intending to enter a tournament must submit their entry list to the Vice President for Lincoln-Douglas Debate or their designated representative prior to the deadline set by the Vice President. They may grant an exemption from this deadline but is not required to do so. If an exemption is granted, the school must pay an additional registration fee of $5 per student per entry made after the deadline for Preliminary Tournaments, and an additional fee of $25 per student per entry for Metropolitan Championship Tournaments. Schools failing to provide the information specified by the Vice President prior to the deadline may not participate in the tournament.

10. A Lincoln-Douglas Debate decision and speaker points will be treated as combined decisions. The win/loss of a round will be determined by the judge and reflected in their comments. The points for each speaker will be based on the ability of the speaker to convince the judge through analysis and speaking ability.

a. The speaker points should be weighted in favor of the speaking style and delivery; the decision on win/loss should be weighted in favor of analysis and argumentation.

b. The losing debater may NOT have higher speaker points than the winning debater.

c. The speaker points shall be used to break a win/loss tie for pairing and final positions at a tournament.

11. In all sections of debate, competition shall alternate sides throughout the tournament, insofar as power-pairing permits.

12. All debaters shall debate at least three rounds during a tournament.

13. At all preliminary tournaments registration will take place between 8:00 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. Debaters not registered as present with their judge(s), must not be included in Round I. If a debater so eliminated from Round I chooses, they may participate in the remaining rounds and shall be assigned a loss, with zero speaker points, for Round I.

14. The Novice and Middle School sections can be combined for purposes of running the tournament, if the Vice President of Lincoln-Douglas determines that the numbers registered in either section justify it. In the event the sections are combined, awards will be given in each section as if they were separate tournaments.

15. In order to be eligible to judge the Novice or Middle School sections, a judge must have at least one year of experience in judging Lincoln-Douglas debate. The Vice President of Lincoln-Douglas can waive this requirement on an individual basis. Junior and Seniors who have participated in Lincoln-Douglas Debate for at least two full competition years, and at least one full competition year in the Varsity Section, are allowed to judge the Middle School section only. All ballots will be reviewed by the Tab Staff for appropriate content. Student judges who act or comment inappropriately will be removed from the tournament immediately and the school providing them will be fined for a missing/dropped judge. Such judges will be prohibited from judging at any WASDL Tournament until they are graduated from high school for at least 15 months.

16. Final standings in all sections shall be based on the following criteria in the order listed, as totaled for the entire tournament.

a. Win/Loss Record.

b. Total speaker points.

17. In the event that a school drops an entry from a school’s registration after the “Entry Drop Deadline” established by the Vice President for Lincoln-Douglas Debate, the school making the drop shall be fined ten ($10.00) dollars for each entry dropped, and twenty-five ($25.00) dollars in the case of a drop from the Metropolitan Finals Championship Tournament. In the event that a drop was not reported at registration and is discovered, the school shall be fined an additional ten ($10.00) dollars for each entry dropped, and twenty-five ($25.00) dollars in the case of an unreported drop from the Metropolitan Championship Finals Tournament. The school will not be allowed to compete in subsequent tournaments until the fine is paid. Appeals must be presented to the President of the WASDL within forty-eight (48) hours of the completion of the tournament.

Section H. Public Forum Debate Rules and Procedures

1. The WASDL Public Forum Debate Topic for all sections of Public Forum debate will be the same topic is published for that period (one month or two months) as determined by the National Speech & Debate Association (NSDA). The topic for the Metropolitan Championship Tournament will not have been debated at a preliminary WASDL tournament for that year.

2. Public Forum Debate is a team event that advocates or rejects a position posed by the resolution. The focus of the debate is a clash of ideas in a persuasive manner that can be understood by a “lay” judge. Good debaters should display logic and analysis. They should use evidence when needed. They should win their case and refute that of their opponents. They should communicate effectively, using the fundamentals of good speaking. There are no burdens on either side.

3. Round Tardiness

a. A Public Forum debate team will be given a forfeit if either one or both members of the two-person team is ten minutes late for a round. A forfeit is imposed only by the Tab Room. Under no circumstances may a judge impose a forfeit on their own initiative. If a team or speaker has missed the ten-minute deadline the judge shall send one of the speakers present to the Tab Room for instructions. The Tab Room determines if a forfeit is imposed.

b. A forfeit will be imposed if both of the following apply:

(1) The ten-minute deadline has passed according to the current time standard in effect as verified by the Tab Room.

(2) There are no extenuating circumstances applicable, such as delay in publication of schematics or the like.

4. One copy of the ballot for debate must be returned at the conclusion of each round. Failure to return a ballot within ten minutes of the conclusion of the round will disqualify the judge from the remainder of the tournament (if the judging pool permits) and from all future tournaments. The school the judge represents shall be fined $20.00 for each round the ballot is missing, and an additional $20.00 for each round from which the judge was disqualified at the tournament, unless the school the judge represents provides a qualified replacement judge. All judges must turn in the remaining copies of all ballots by the deadline for the final round of the day.

5. A qualified judge must accompany each entry of four teams or fraction thereof. The number of entries shall be determined by the total entered in all sections of debate from each school. Debaters who are not accompanied by a judge shall not be allowed to participate.

6. Public Forum Debate eligibility is as follows (by grade level):

a. Varsity section shall be open to all grade levels.

b. Junior Varsity sections are open to all grade levels if both team members are in their first or second year of Public Forum debate. Students on the winning team of a prior Junior Varsity WASDL Metropolitan Championship Tournament round are no longer eligible to compete in the Junior Varsity section. Any student finishing in the top six in Junior Varsity preliminary competition twice in the competition season will no longer be able to compete in the Junior Varsity section and must advance to the Varsity section. This rule does not affect the student’s eligibility to compete in the WASDL Metropolitan Championship Tournament at the Junior Varsity level unless the student has also qualified at the Varsity level in the same season.

c. Qualifications in a section of debate are lost if a team qualifies in a higher section of debate. Though a team of Middle School participants only may remain in the Middle School section if they so choose.

d. If a student has qualified in a section of debate, that student may not debate in a lower section. Though a Middle School participant only may remain in the Middle School section if they so choose.

e. Novice section is open to all grade levels if a student is in their first year of debate competition in the 7th-12th grade (Public Forum, Lincoln-Douglas, Policy, or Student Congress). Any student finishing in the top six in the Novice section at a preliminary tournament will be permanently ineligible to compete in the Novice section in the future. Any student who has ever qualified to the WASDL Metropolitan Championship tournament in any section of Public Forum debate is ineligible to compete in the Novice section.

f. Middle School Section is open to grade levels 7 and 8.

7. Order and time limits of the debate:

8. Each team shall have three minutes of preparation time in all debate sections (4 minutes if in an Online Virtual Setting). Against this preparation time shall be charged:

a. Any "set-up" time used to prepare for an actual debate which exceeds the forfeit deadline. In the event both teams are not ready to proceed at that point, preparation time will be charged against the last team to notify the judge that it is ready to proceed. In particular, this would apply to a team that is late.

9. Schools intending to enter a tournament must submit their entry list to the Vice President for Public Forum Debate or their designated representative prior to the deadline set by the Vice President. They may grant an exemption from this deadline but is not required to do so. If an exemption is granted, the school must pay an additional registration fee of $5 per student per entry made after the deadline for Preliminary Tournaments, and an additional fee of $25 per student per entry for Metropolitan Championship Tournaments. Schools failing to provide the information specified by the Vice President prior to the deadline may not participate in the tournament.

10. All sections of Public Forum competition shall be two-person with alternating sides throughout the tournament, insofar as power-pairing permits.

11. All debate teams shall debate at least three rounds during a tournament.

12. At all preliminary tournaments Public Forum registration will take place between 8:00 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. Teams not registered as present with their judge(s), must not be included in Round I. If a team so eliminated from Round I chooses, it may participate in the remaining rounds and shall be assigned a loss, with zero speaker points and seven ranks for Round I.

13. Power-pairing in the debate division will be as follows:

a. Rounds I and II in all sections shall be paired at random.

b. In Round II:

(1) Side constraints will be observed.

(2) No team will meet another team from the same school.

(3) No team may meet a team it previously met.

c. Round III shall be power-paired based on Rounds I and II:

(1) No team will be paired against a team it previously met.

(2) No team will be paired against a team from the same school.

(3) Side constraints do not apply in this round.

(4) Power-pairing in this round is mandatory for the Varsity section with the exception of teams from the same school and teams that have previously met.

(5) The Junior Varsity, Novice, and Middle School sections shall be power-paired in a similar manner, if time permits.

d. Round IV in Varsity shall be power-bracketed based on Rounds I and II:

(1) Side constraints will be observed in this round.

(2) Debate teams should not be permitted to meet twice at any WASDL tournament where eight or more teams are registered in that section, except in the elimination rounds of the Metropolitan Championship Tournament.

e. Round IV in the Junior Varsity, Novice, and Middle School sections shall be power-paired, if time permits. Power-pairing in this section shall be same as for Round II; if possible, side constraints shall be observed, no school shall meet itself, and no teams will meet for a second time.

14. A Public Forum Debate decision and speaker points will be treated as combined decisions. The win/loss of a round will be determined by the judge and reflected in their comments. The points will be based on the ability of the speakers to convince the judge through analysis and speaking ability.

a. The speaker points should be weighted in favor of the speaking style and delivery; the decision on win/loss should be weighted in favor of analysis and argumentation.

b. The losing team may NOT have higher speaker points than the winning team.

c. The speaker points shall be used to break a win/loss tie for pairing and final positions at a tournament

d. If a tie exists after determining record and speaker points, the tie will be broken on the basis of adjusted speaker points.

15. Final standings in all sections shall be based on the following criteria in the order listed, as totaled for the entire tournament:

a. Win/Loss Record.

b. Total speaker points for both speakers.

c. Total ranks for both speakers.

d. Adjusted team points, dropping one high and one low, for each team.

16. The Novice and Middle School sections can be combined for purposes of running the tournament, if the Vice President of Public Forum Debate determines that the numbers registered in either section justify it. In the event the sections are combined, awards will be given in each section as if they were separate tournaments.

17. In the event that a school drops an entry from a school’s registration after the “Entry Drop Deadline” established by the Vice President for Public Forum Debate, the school making the drop shall be fined ten ($10.00) dollars for each entry dropped, and twenty-five ($25.00) dollars in the case of a drop from the Metropolitan Finals Championship Tournament. In the event that a drop was not reported at registration and is discovered, the school shall be fined an additional ten ($10.00) dollars for each entry dropped, and twenty-five ($25.00) dollars in the case of an unreported drop from the Metropolitan Championship Finals Tournament. The school will not be allowed to compete in subsequent tournaments until the fine is paid. Appeals must be presented to the President of the WASDL within forty-eight (48) hours of the completion of the tournament.

18. Utilization of debate evidence shall be based upon the following criteria:

a. During their speech a debater must read at least a partial citation for each piece of evidence. This partial citation must include the date, the author and title of the publication.

b. If a piece of evidence is challenged, a debater must supply a full citation immediately after the round if requested by the judge. If a full citation cannot be presented, that piece of evidence must be eliminated from the round, and the judge must disregard it in arriving at a decision.

19. In order to be eligible to judge the Novice or Middle School sections, a judge must have at least one year of experience in judging Public Forum debate. The Vice-President of Public Forum can waive this requirement on an individual basis. Junior and Seniors who have participated in Public Forum Debate for at least two one full competition years, and at least two full competition years are allowed to judge the Middle School section only. All ballots will be reviewed by the Tab Staff for appropriate content. Student judges who act or comment inappropriately will be removed from the tournament immediately and the school providing them will be fined for a missing/dropped judge. Such judges will be prohibited from judging at any WASDL Tournament until they are graduated from high school for at least 15 months.

Section I. Awards

1. In preliminary tournaments awards shall be presented to the following:

a. First through sixth place teams in Varsity Policy Debate.

b. First through sixth place teams in Junior Varsity Policy Debate.

c. First through sixth place teams in Novice and Middle School Policy Debate.

d. First through sixth place contestants in all Speech events.

e. First through three place contestants in each chamber of Student Congress.

f. First through sixth place debaters in Varsity Lincoln-Douglas Debate.

g. First through sixth place debaters in Junior Varsity Lincoln-Douglas Debate.

h. First through sixth place debaters in Novice and Middle School Lincoln-Douglas Debate.

i. First through sixth place teams in Varsity Public Forum Debate.

j. First through sixth place teams in Junior Varsity Public Forum Debate.

k. First through sixth place teams in Novice and Middle School Public Forum Debate.

2. In preliminary tournaments certificates will be presented to the following:

a. Top three speakers in all sections of Policy Debate.

b. Outstanding Congressperson in each house of Student Congress.

c. Top four Novice and Middle School Congresspersons in Student Congress.

3. At the Metropolitan Championship Tournament, trophies will be presented to the following:

a. Finalists and semi-finalists teams in Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Middle School Policy Debate.

b. First through sixth place contestants in all Speech events.

c. First through fourth place contestants in Student Congress.

d. Finalists and semi-finalists debaters in Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Middle School Lincoln-Douglas Debate.

e. Finalists and semi-finalists teams in Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Middle School Public Forum Debate.

f. To all students, excluding call-ups, qualifying for the NCFL Grand National Tournament.

g. In Student Congress, the top Presiding Officer from each diocese, determined by the Presiding Officer scores from the preliminary rounds, with ties broken by appeal to parliamentary score and then to speaker point scores.

h. All students who have participated in all preliminary tournaments and the Metropolitan Championship Tournament will receive a certificate. The award shall be called the “Eleanor Wright Spirit of Competition Award.”

i. A student who has qualified by receiving an award or being an additional qualifier at a tournament in more than one of WASDL’s four event categories (Speech, Congress, Varsity Policy Debate, Varsity Lincoln-Douglas Debate) shall receive a certificate. The award shall be called the “All WASDL Team Award.” A student who has qualified to NCFL Grand Nationals in more than one event is designated as a member of the “First Team of the All WASDL Team.” A student who has qualified to the Metropolitan Championship Tournament in more than one event is designated as a member of the “Second Team of the All WASDL Team.”

Article IV. Sweepstakes

Section A. Sweepstakes Awards

1. Awards will be given to the top three schools in Overall Sweepstakes points; to the top three schools in Policy Debate; to the top three schools in Speech; to the top three schools in Student Congress; to the top three schools in Lincoln-Douglas Debate; and to the top three schools in Public Forum Debate.

2. If a school wins an Overall Sweepstakes award, that school will not be eligible for an individual event (Policy Debate, Speech, Student Congress, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Public Forum Debate) award.

3. The top Sweepstakes Award will be named the Daniel S. Masterson, Jr. Sweepstakes Award.

4. A category of Sweepstakes Awards known as the President’s Award shall be established to recognize achievement by the top three schools across all categories of league events during the current competition year. This award will be named the Judy L. Seward Sweepstakes Award.

5. In the case of a tie between schools when awarding the individual event sweepstakes awards (Policy Debate, Speech, Student Congress, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, and Public Forum Debate), ties will be broken as follows: (1) If a school wins an Overall Sweepstakes (Daniel S. Masterson Sweepstakes) Award or Judy L. Seward Sweepstakes Award, that school will not be eligible for an individual events sweepstakes award; (2) highest total Masterson Sweepstakes Points as of the Individual Events Sweepstakes Award date; (3) highest total Seward Sweepstakes Points as of the Individual Events Sweepstakes Award date.

Section B. Policy and Public Forum Debate

1. All teams in a section (Varsity, Junior Varsity, Novice) shall be ranked. No points shall be awarded for competitors in the Novice section.

2. The top third shall be awarded 16 points; the middle third shall be awarded 12 points; and the bottom third shall be awarded 8 points. This shall apply to the top two teams from a school.

Section C. Speech

1. All contestants in a category shall be ranked.

2. The top third shall be awarded 8 points; the middle third shall be awarded 6 points; and the bottom third shall be awarded 4 points. This shall apply to the top four contestants from a school.

Section D. Student Congress

1. All speakers in each house shall be ranked.

2. The top third shall be awarded 8 points; the middle third shall be awarded 6 points; and the bottom third shall be awarded 4 points. This shall apply to the top four speakers from a school.

Section E. Lincoln-Douglas Debate

1. All debaters in the Varsity and Junior Varsity sections shall be ranked. No points shall be awarded for competitors in the Novice section.

2. The top third shall be awarded 8 points; the middle third shall be awarded 6 points; and the bottom third shall be awarded 4 points. This shall apply to the top four debaters from a school.

Article V. Metropolitan Championship Tournaments

Section A. Policy Debate Eligibility

1. In Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Middle School sections of Policy Debate all award winners at the preliminary tournaments are eligible to compete at the Metropolitan Championship Tournament (Metrofinals). At the Championship Tournament there shall be three sections of Policy Debate: Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Middle School.

2. In Policy Debate, the top three teams from the Varsity section, from each diocese at each preliminary tournament, shall be eligible to compete in the Varsity section at the Metropolitan Championship Tournament for diocesan representation at the NCFL Grand National Tournament.

3. If one or more teams earning qualification in a preliminary WASDL tournament has previously qualified, then one additional team will be qualified. If both members of a team have previously qualified with different partners, that team will be considered previously qualified.

4. A team in the Varsity or Junior Varsity or Middle School sections will automatically qualify for the Metropolitan Championship Tournament if that team has at least 3 Wins and 1 Loss at any two (2) preliminary WASDL tournaments, or if that team has a record of 4 wins and 0 losses at any single WASDL Preliminary Tournament.

5. Policy Debate teams qualifying for the NCFL Grand National Tournament or NCFL Middle School Tournament may not change partners for Nationals.

6. The first-place finisher in the Novice section at each preliminary tournament will automatically qualify for the MetroFinal in the Junior Varsity section. The second through sixth place competitors in the Novice section at each preliminary tournament shall be considered to have earned a record of 3 wins and 1 loss in the Junior Varsity section for purposes of determining MetroFinal qualifications. An entry in the Novice section finishing less than first place with a record of 4-0 in the Novice section shall be considered to have earned a record of 3 wins and 1 loss in the Junior Varsity section for purposes of determining MetroFinal qualifications.

Section B. Speech Eligibility

1. All award winners in all Speech events at each preliminary tournament are eligible to compete at the Metropolitan Championship Tournament.

2. At each preliminary tournament the top three contestants from each diocese in each event will be qualified to compete for diocesan representation to the NCFL Grand National Tournament. When the number of entries in any Speech event exceeds fifty (50), the number of qualifiers will be increased from three to four per diocese for that event. If a contestant is previously qualified, an additional person will be qualified.

3. Any student who enters the same event in three of the preliminary tournaments will be eligible to compete in the Metropolitan Championship Tournament. Any student with accumulated ranks totaling ten (10) or fewer at a preliminary WASDL tournament will be called-up to the MetroFinal Tournament. It will be the responsibility of the student's coach to notify the Vice President for Speech of the student's eligibility and to provide the data necessary to verify said participation and ranks. Notification must be made within forty-eight (48) hours of the conclusion of the final preliminary WASDL tournament.

4. Duo Interpretation Teams qualifying for the NCFL Grand National Tournament or NCFL Middle School National Tournament may not change partners for Nationals.

Section C. Student Congress Eligibility

1. All medal winners at the preliminary student Congresses are eligible to compete at the Metropolitan Championship Tournament.

2. At each preliminary Congress the top two Congresspersons in each house from each diocese shall be qualified to compete for diocesan representation at the NCFL Grand National Tournament. If a contestant is previously qualified, an additional person shall be qualified.

3. If there are less than sixty (60) entries in a given house of the Metropolitan Championship Tournament, then additional call-ups shall be made for that house (Arlington or Washington) based on the ranking of each student’s highest total score at a single tournament during the preliminary season. Call-ups made to the Metropolitan Championship Tournament on this basis shall not cause the entries in either Diocesan League of the Championship Tournament to exceed sixty (60).

4. After the NCFL determines how it will hold an NCFL Middle School Championship, the President of WASDL, Vice-President for Student Congress, Tournament Director for Student Congress, and WASDL’s Representatives to NCFL are empowered to determine the procedures for a WASDL Metropolitan Championship for Middle School Student Congress. Such procedures must be announced not later than the conclusion of the last WASDL Preliminary Student Congress Tournament.

Section D. Lincoln-Douglas Debate Eligibility

1. All award winners at each preliminary tournament in the Varsity and Junior Varsity and Middle School sections are eligible to compete at the Metropolitan Championship Tournament. At the Championship Tournament there shall be three sections of Lincoln-Douglas Debate: Varsity and Junior Varsity and Middle School.

2. At each preliminary tournament in the Varsity section the top three debaters from each diocese will be qualified to compete for diocesan representation at the NCFL Grand National Tournament. In addition, if a debater is previously qualified an additional debater shall be qualified.

3. A student in the Varsity or Junior Varsity or Middle School sections will automatically qualify for Metrofinals if that student has at least 3 wins and 1 loss at any two (2) preliminary WASDL tournaments, or if the student has a record of 4 wins and 0 losses at any single WASDL Preliminary Tournament.

4. The first-place finisher in the Novice section at each preliminary tournament will automatically qualify for the MetroFinal in the Junior Varsity section. The second through sixth place competitors in the Novice section at each preliminary tournament shall be considered to have earned a record of 3 wins and 1 loss in the Junior Varsity section for purposes of determining MetroFinal qualifications. An entry in the Novice section finishing less than first place with a record of 4-0 in the Novice section shall be considered to have earned a record of 3 wins and 1 loss in the Junior Varsity section for purposes of determining MetroFinal qualifications.

Section E. Public Forum Debate Eligibility

1. In Varsity and Junior Varsity and Middle School sections of Public Forum Debate all award winners at the preliminary tournaments are eligible to compete at the Metropolitan Championship Tournament. At the Championship Tournament there shall be two sections of Public Forum Debate: Varsity and Junior Varsity and Middle School.

2. In Public Forum Debate, the top three teams from the Varsity section, from each diocese at each preliminary tournament shall be eligible to compete in the Varsity section at the Metropolitan Championship Tournament for diocesan representation at the NCFL Grand National Tournament.

3. If one or more teams earning qualification in a preliminary WASDL tournament has previously qualified, then one additional team will be qualified. If both members of a team have previously qualified with different partners, that team will be considered previously qualified.

4. A team in the Varsity or Junior Varsity or Middle School sections will automatically qualify for the Metropolitan Championship Tournament if that team has at least 3 Wins and 1 Loss at any two (2) preliminary WASDL tournaments, or if that team has a record of 4 wins and 0 losses at any single WASDL Preliminary Tournament.

5. Public Forum Debate teams qualifying for the NCFL Grand National Tournament or NCFL Middle School National Tournament may not change partners for Nationals.

6. The first-place finisher in the Novice section at each preliminary tournament will automatically qualify for the MetroFinal in the Junior Varsity section. The second through sixth place competitors in the Novice section at each preliminary tournament shall be considered to have earned a record of 3 wins and 1 loss in the Junior Varsity section for purposes of determining MetroFinal qualifications. An entry in the Novice section finishing less than first place with a record of 4-0 in the Novice section shall be considered to have earned a record of 3 wins and 1 loss in the Junior Varsity section for purposes of determining MetroFinal qualifications.

Section F. Metropolitan Championship Tournament Procedures

1. Student Participation Any student not participating in all preliminary rounds of Metrofinals Speech, Policy Debate, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Public Forum Debate, and all sessions of Student Congress in the Metropolitan Championship Tournament will not be considered for a position on the national team regardless of section position in Speech; wins and losses, points and ranks in Policy, Public Forum Debate and Lincoln-Douglas Debate; or Speech scores and parliamentary points in Student Congress. No sweepstakes points will be awarded for partial participation. The only exception to this rule will be an excuse granted by the Vice President of the event in case of a student emergency.

2. Policy, Lincoln-Douglas, and Public Forum Debate Procedures

a. Varsity

(1) Six rounds.

(a) Preliminary (within Diocese). 1) If 5 or 6 compete in a diocese ... round robin. 2) If 7 or more compete: a) Round I and II – random – no school meeting itself; no teams meeting for a second time; side constraints. b) Round III and IV – straight power – no team meeting for a second time. If 14 or more teams compete, no school meets itself; side constraints. c) Round V and VI – straight power – no team meeting for a second time. In Round VI, if power breaks side constraints, teams will flip in the room. 3) In any round in which a school meets itself, the following procedures will be employed: A current, through the round prior, results sheet for the division showing each team's win/loss record, total points and total ranks will be posted in an area of the Tab Room. The pairing for the current round will be posted, with or without judge assignments. This posting will be available for all coaches to view after ballots have been recorded and rounds paired. Coaches may choose to reveal only their teams’ records to their teams. Coaches may not reveal records of other teams either to their own or to other teams. a) The coaches will have ten (10) minutes from the time the posting is made available to inform the Tab Room how to handle school meeting school debates. b) The coach may indicate win, loss, or split decision. Speaker points will be the average of all other speaker points earned by the team through the prior round. 4) If, as a result of byes, any team entering Rounds III or V has completed an unequal number of affirmative and negative rounds, there shall be an enforceable side constraint upon that team unless to do so would require breaking the power-pairing. For purposes of this rule, rounds where two teams from the same school meet and choose not to debate shall be considered byes. 5) For the purposes of determining qualifiers to the Metropolitan Championship Final rounds and to the NCFL Grand National Tournament, ties on record will be broken by dropping one high and one low ballot; then points and ranks. .

b. Junior Varsity and Middle School

(1) If 5 or fewer teams compete: double round robin.

(2) If 6 or 10 teams compete: single round robin.

(3) If 11 or more teams compete:

(a) Round I and II – random – no school meeting itself; no teams meeting for a second time; side constraints in Round II.

(b) Round III – straight power on the basis of rounds one through two – no school meeting itself; no teams meeting for a second time.

(c) Round IV – power bracketed on the basis of rounds one through three – side constraints; no school meeting itself; no teams meeting for a second time.

(d) Round V – straight power on the basis of rounds one through four – no school meeting itself; no teams meeting for a second time.

(e) Round VI – power bracketed on the basis of rounds one through five – side constraints; no school meeting itself; no teams meeting for a second time.

(4) If a tie on record occurs, drop one high and one low ballot.

c. Judging

(1) All judges in Varsity and Junior Varsity must be Varsity qualified with at least one year experience judging Varsity level; no high school students may be used as judges. Judges for the Middle School division can be experienced Junior Varsity judges with no Varsity judging experience, but they must have experience judging the particular debate event they are registered for. Schools will be required to submit all judge names, and back-ups, by the Registration Deadline provided by the Vice-President of the event. The WASDL Executive Council will evaluate the qualifications of all judges submitted. They may request additional evidence of qualification as necessary. The Executive Council reserves the right to reject judges they deem unqualified. This rejection does not relieve schools of their judging requirement. Judges that have not been submitted by the deadline may not be accepted as judges at Finals.

(2) Varsity – two judge panels; pairing resting on ballots, points, and ranks.

(3) Junior Varsity and Middle School – one judge; pairing resting on ballots, points, and ranks.

3. Speech Procedures

a. Double entry, but no triple entry will be allowed.

b. more than six contestants will be in any section.

c. If six or fewer participants are in any Speech event from one diocese there will be three rounds with one judge.

d. In all other cases, there will be four preliminary rounds with two judges per section.

e. The top three in each diocese will advance to a MetroFinal round, with three judge panels in each event.

4. Student Congress Procedures

a. A seeding list, based on performance in all preliminary Congresses, will be published and mailed to all schools involved.

(1) Presiding Officers will be selected based on this list.

(2) Committee Chairpersons will be based on this list.

(3) Ties in seeding will be broken first by the number of Congresses attended, then by the total average score for the student during WASDL preliminary tournaments.

b. The number of entries in a Diocesan League’s chamber will be split into one to four approximately equal chambers, each consisting of 12 to 26 entries. Chambers held online virtually should not exceed 16 entries. Chambers held in-person should not exceed 26 entries.

(1) If there is only one chamber in a Diocesan League Competition, then there will be between four and six sessions of competition, each not less than 1 hour 15 minutes. Three speeches will be required for qualification for the NCFL Student Congress. The number of sessions will be determined by the Vice-President of Student Congress, in consultation with the Tournament Director for Student Congress, and the League President, and will be announced at least one week in advance of the start of the tournament. An additional time for Chamber Caucus may be established prior to the first session as determined by the Vice-President of Student Congress.

(2) If there are three to four chambers in a Quarter-Final Diocesan League Competition, then there will be two or three sessions of competition, each not less than 1 hour 15 minutes. The number of sessions will be determined by the Vice-President of Student Congress, in consultation with the Tournament Director for Student Congress, and the League President, and will be announced at least one week in advance of the start of the tournament. An additional time for Chamber Caucus may be established prior to the first session as determined by the Vice-President of Student Congress. The number of speeches required for qualification for the Diocesan League Semi-Final Competition will be the same as the number of sessions held. The top half (truncated) of each of the quarter-final chambers in the Diocesan League semi-final Competition will advance to a Diocesan League Semi-Final Competition.

(3) There shall be two Scorers for any Quarter-Final Session. The Scorers and the Parliamentarian in each Chamber will each rank the top eight members of the Chamber; each student unranked by a Scorer or Parliamentarian will receive a rank of “9”. The ranks will be totaled and the students with the lowest totals will advance to the Diocesan League Semi-Final. The top-ranked student on the Parliamentarian’s ranking who has not advanced by total judge ranks shall also be a Semi-Finalist.

(4) If there are two chambers in a Semi-Final Diocesan League Competition, then there will be two or three sessions of competition, each not less than 1 hour 15 minutes. The number of sessions will be determined by the Vice-President of Student Congress, in consultation with the Tournament Director for Student Congress, and the League President, and will be announced at least one week in advance of the start of the tournament. An additional time for Chamber Caucus may be established prior to the first session as determined by the Vice-President of Student Congress. The number of speeches required for qualification for the Diocesan League Final Competition will be the same as the number of sessions held. The top half (truncated) of each of the two Semi-Final chambers in the Diocesan League Semi-Final Competition will advance to a Diocesan League Final Competition. If a Quarter-Final Competition was held, then for the purposes of the Diocesan League Semi-Final Competition all scores and speaker precedence are re-set to 0. The Presiding Officers for the Diocesan League Semi-Final will be chosen by the seeding of the Presiding Officers in the Diocesan Quarter-Final Session. Committee Chairmen will be chosen by the seeding of the participants in the Semi-Final Session that are not Presiding Officers.

(5) There shall be between two and four Scorers for any Semi-Final Session. The Scorers and the Parliamentarian in each Chamber will each rank the top eight members of the Chamber; each student unranked by a Scorer or Parliamentarian will receive a rank of “9”. The ranks will be totaled and the students with the lowest totals will advance to the Diocesan League Final. The top-ranked student on the Parliamentarian’s ranking who has not advanced by total judge ranks shall also be a Finalist.

(6) For the purposes of the Diocesan League Final Competition all scores and speaker precedence are re-set to 0. The Presiding Officers for the Diocesan League Final will be chosen by the seeding of the Presiding Officers in the Diocesan Semi-final Session. Committee Chairmen will be chosen by the seeding of the participants in the Final Session that are not Presiding Officers. There will be between one and three sessions of Diocesan League Final competition, each not less than 1 hour 15 minutes. The number of sessions will be determined by the Vice-President of Student Congress, in consultation with the Tournament Director for Student Congress, and the League President, and will be announced at least one week in advance of the start of the tournament. An additional time for Chamber Caucus may be established prior to the first session as determined by the Vice-President of Student Congress. Two speeches will be required for qualification from this Diocesan League Final competition for the NCFL Student Congress.

(7) There shall be between two and four Scorers for any Final Session. The Scorers and the Parliamentarian in each Chamber will each rank the top eight members of the Chamber; each student unranked by a Scorer or Parliamentarian will receive a rank of “9”. The Scorer and Parliamentarian ranks will be totaled to determine the final placement of students.

c. Qualifications for the NCFL Grand National Tournament:

(1) Three speeches shall be required for qualification for the NCFL Student Congress from a single chamber Diocesan League Competition, or two speeches will be required for qualification for the NCFL Student Congress from a Diocesan Final Chamber that is held after a two-chamber Diocesan Semi-final.