• COMPETITIVE SPEECH AND DEBATE CIRCUITS

     

    National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA)

     

    The National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) formerly known as the National Forensic League (NFL) was founded in 1925. NSDA offers a system of incentives for students to participate in debate and forensics. Students may earn points in accordance with their success at tournaments. After a student earns over 25 points he/she is eligible for lifetime membership in the NSDA. The points are cumulative for the students’ career. There is a one-time $15.00 membership fee which is paid by Lake Travis HS Speech and Debate. Students will receive a certificate that will  hang in the debate classroom and given to students upon graduation from Lake Travis High School. Only NSDA members are allowed to compete in the NSDA District tournament (this qualifies students for the NSDA National Speech & Debate tournament). Prominent NFL alumni include President Lyndon Johnson, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, Academy Award winner Don Ameche, Emmy Award winner Daniel J. Travanti, actress Shelly Long, television host Oprah Winfrey, news anchor Jane Pauley, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and thousands of other leaders in politics, business, education, law and public service. Since its founding in 1925, NFL has enrolled over 1.2 million members in all fifty states.

     

    General Information

     

    Point Levels:           Degree:                            Stone Type:

     

    0-24                         Non-member                       No Stone

     

    25-74                       Merit                                   No Stone

     

    75-149                     Honor                                  Emerald

     

    150-249                   Excellence                           Sapphire

     

    250-499                   Distinction                          Ruby

     

    500-749                   Special Distinction              Double Ruby

     

    750-999                   Superior Distinction            Triply Ruby

     

    1000-1499               Outstanding Distinction     Quadruple Ruby

     

    1500                        Premier Distinction             Quint Ruby (student)

     

    1500                        Diamond                             Single Diamond (coach)

     

     

    Texas Forensic Association

     

    Texas Forensic Association (TFA) is a statewide organization that was founded in 1972 and hosts the largest state speech/debate tournament in the nation. High schools across the state apply each year to be TFA State qualifying tournament. Students who place in these tournaments earn TFA State points. Students who earn 12 TFA State points in a given event qualify to participate in the TFA State tournament. The location of the tournament rotates between each of the five TFA regions. Information regarding the TFA can be found on: www.txfa.org.

    The website also includes a running total of qualification points for each school and student by event.

     

    The Tournament of Champions

     

    Debate TOC

    The Tournament of Champions was founded in 1972. All teams attending must earn the right to compete based on “bids” earned at select events throughout the country. Any TOC Bid tournaments will be indicated on our schedule - most students will need to obtain 2 bids in order to attend.. At the TOC, Lincoln Douglas, Policy, Public Forum and Congressional debaters compete for the right to be called the TOC Champion. https://ci.uky.edu/toc/

     

    NIETOC

    The National Individual Events Tournament of Champions or NIETOC will bring the nation's best and brightest students and teachers in Oral Interpretation and Oratoty together to participate in a Tournament of Champions.

    The TOC will provide students exposure to a diverse group of performers and literature in Oral Interpretation and Oratory. This event will provide renewal for teachers with guided workshops, networking opportunities with programs nationwide, and strategies for increasing student achievement.

    The NIETOC will offer competition in: Dramatic Interpretation, Duo Interpretation, Humorous Interpretation, Original Oratory, and Duet Acting. We will also offer the supplemental events of Prose and Poetry and Expository. Champions in Main Events and Supplemental Events will receive scholarships. http://www.nietoc.com

     

    Extemporaneous Speaking TOC

    This tournament will continue its tradition of offering an unparalleled challenge to extemporaneous speakers across the country: the opportunity to compete against the best speakers in the nation in an environment that showcases the event of extemporaneous speaking. Held on the Northwestern University campus in Illinois each year. http://comm.soc.northwestern.edu/toc/

     

    University Interscholastic League

    Debate is the League’s longest-running contest, dating back to 1910. A small group of debate coaches met in Abilene and enthusiastically began an interscholastic forensic program to motivate their students and provide them with a practical application for the skills they were developing. It was then that UIL was born. Ten teams representing ten divisions of the state competed in the first state tournament. One hundred years later, the UIL Cross-Examination Policy Debate State Meet is celebrated as the largest high school debate tournament in the nation.

    At the first state meet, educators voted to add declamation as a state-qualifying contest. Since that time, the League has expanded speaking competition to include two debate contests, two public speaking contests and two oral performance contests. Thousands of students from across the state of Texas compete each year in Cross-Examination Debate, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Extemporaneous Informative Speaking, Extemporaneous Persuasive Speaking, Prose Interpretation and Poetry Interpretation.

    Three students will be selected to compete at District in each event. The top 3 placing students in our UIL District will advance to regionals, and the top 3 placing students in each event at region advance to the State Tournament and qualify for the TILF Scholarship pool. http://www.uiltexas.org/speech